How To Become An Expert At Something You Know Nothing About

Bike Riding 
Originally uploaded by kraftybkraft.

There is something so inspiring about seeing someone learn a new skill, become competent, then take it to the next level and become an expert.

I remember a few years back my sister Stacey started getting interested in mountain biking. We all thought, "Oh, that's cool, it's nice to try new things."

I don't think any of us imagined it would become the main passion of her life (she was never a super-athletic person before), but she found a mentor, learned the basics, biked every day, and with a infatigable source of determination set about to learn all she could about mountain biking.

After she learned the basics, she started learning how to repair her own bike and replace parts and stuff. Then, she decided she wanted to build her own bike from scratch, which impresses me to no end.

She was clearly going into uncharted, esoteric territory as far as our family was concerned with her requests for obscure bike magazines and bike accessories for Christmas and birthdays and with the addition of multiple tattoos of bike images on her body to express the impact this extreme sport was having on the direction of her life.

Now, probably 6 or 7 years later, she is working as the manager for a bike shop in New York doing repairs, building bikes, selling bikes and handing out advice to other biking enthusiasts.

Imagine, over the course of a few years, Stacey went from a complete novice whose physical activity was limited to the occassional stroll around the neighborhood, to pretty much an expert in the field of mountain biking.

So, what is the key to being able to go from zero knowledge to expert in your field of choice, whether it's mountain biking, doing Kung Fu, playing guitar, being a pro blogger, a life coach, a marketing consultant or anything else in life?

In his post "What are the odds of becoming a black belt?", Steve Pavlina has some helpful tips for how to gain black belt status in any field your heart desires. Steve's tips:

Have a committment to mastery.

"Pulling away from the pack in any field is largely a matter of choice. That choice is a commitment to mastery.  But very few will make this choice because it requires hard work, resolve, patience, self-discipline, and a long time perspective."

Stay with it for the long haul.

"If you want to succeed in a new field where you lack experience, you should be thinking of at least a 3-5 year commitment.  If that scares you away, then save yourself the time you would have spent dabbling, and don’t bother."

Don't let it bother you that you suck at first.

"When you start out in a brand new field with no experience, you’re going to suck… most likely really suck.  If you’re lucky your results will just be bad instead of painfully bad.  But screwing up is perfectly OK.  That’s supposed to happen. Screwing up is how you learn.  Every mistake helps you make new distinctions and increase your skill."

Don't be discouraged that most people fail.

"In many fields you only see a 1% success ratio because the other 99% are merely taking up space.  They’re just dabblers, not serious contenders.  You’ll often see this 1% figure in fields with a low barrier to entry such as [pro] blogging, acting, or music.  You’ll find a small percentage of people who are really committed to mastery, but the rest have virtually no hope of notable success. As you build skill, which normally takes years to achieve competency in any worthwhile field, you move out of the 99% and into the 1%. Dabblers will enter the field, try it for six months, and give up after concluding it’s too hard.  A challenging field is good though because it means your long-term investment in skill-building will mean something, like a black belt.  It wouldn’t be much of an accomplishment if it was too easy."

Focus on learning rather than winning at first.

"What’s unfair about easy-entry fields like [pro] blogging, acting, or music is that white belts and black belts are thrown into the same pool. White belts are forced to compete against black belts who’ve been honing their skills for years.  It’s totally unfair.  But that unfairness is what provides the challenge and makes it fun.When you’re committed, you know that early success isn’t to be expected.  This is the training phase.  Your goal is to survive and to learn, not to win. That’s where you have the advantage because as a white belt, you can develop your skills much faster than a black belt."

So, rather than being the product of luck, or genetics, or learning a skill at a young age, or statistical likelihood, achieving mastery within a certain field is largely the result of personal choice, training and commitment.

It's encouraging to remember that every expert started out as a complete novice.

• There was a time in Leonardo da Vinci's life when he knew nothing about painting.
• There was a time in Lance Armstrong's life when he didn't know how to ride a bike.
• There was a time in Hemingway's life when he wasn't that great at writing.

They only reached expert status after much perserverence, dedication and practice.

Comments

[diana]

what a nice and inspiring post !
i was just thinking about these things, cause i've recently set up a whole new major project which is very much related to my planning job, but quite different from it (i'm not sure i'm making any sense). on one hand, i'm driven by passion and enthusiasm and the challenge, and on the other hand, i'm scared to death cause i'm walking on a totally new ground.

that's why it felt so great to read your post :)

Hi Diana,

Thanks so much for your kind words. It feels like a bit of a free fall from an airplane doesn't it, to start something completely new? :-)

I think the beginning stage of a new project or business is one of the most daring, admirable and heroic stages of a person's life.

It sort of feels like being a kid again, where your creativity is at its peak, and you know in your heart that anything is possible, that you can create something and that it can actually take off.

I'm looking forward to reading about your new venture on your blog!

Cheers,
Sharon

[Davida]

Thanks for posting this Sharon! Just the kind of inspiration I need as I start the launch of my VA practice. I am so worried about not being an expert and not knowing all the skills that I think I need to know, that it's preventing me from focusing my time and effort on just taking my time to learn and absorb. Well, not anymore! This article is going up on the wall above my office space for motivation and inspiration. Thanks Sharon!

*****

Hi Davida,

I'm so glad this story gave you a boost of encouragement. I remember when I was going through training to be a VA. I wanted to know everything all at once (like that's even possible!) and Stacy Brice told me, "You've got to crawl before you can walk and walk before you can run."

Being in the crawling or walking stage of development when you're in a new field feels awkward and clumsy, but after a while of struggling I told myself, "What if this is just the way I'm supposed to feel at this stage of my life? What if what I'm going through is just normal and necessary?"

Once I had that realization, I was able to relax and focus on learning rather than on winning right out of the gate. Magically, my comfort level increased, and I think that helped me transition into being a VA.

Enjoy this stage of your development--if you stay on the path you're on, you WILL reach expert status.

Cheers,

Sharon

[Shannon]

I found this post very inspiring as well, particularly because in my mid-30s, I'm still searching for my passion. It sometimes seems like everyone expects you to have yourself all figured out and your life plan all locked up by the time you graduate college, but that's just not the case. I think about this story and others like it (for instance, Julia Child did not start cooking until she was in her late 30s), when people try something completely unexpected and it turns out to be their life love, and it motivates me to keep trying new things.

Hi Shannon,

Yes, I know what you mean. One of my favorite writers, Henry Miller, didn't start writing until he was in his 40's. The actress Geena Davis, at the age of 40 took up archery and nearly qualified for the US Olympic Archery team after focusing on that sport for less than 3 years.

And my mother, at the age of 50, decided she wanted to become a dietician. She went back to college, a grandmother surrounded by teenagers and 20 year olds, and she graduated at the top of her class. She has now been working as a dietician for the past 15 years and loves it.

It seems like, although we need to dedicate adequate amount of time to learning a new skill, that what matters most is the intensity of our focus. Perhaps our focus as adults is more fine tuned than a child. As adults, we also have the mental maturity to help us deal with setbacks.

For myself, I'm not sure what I'm going to be when I grow up ;-). I imagine that by the end of my life, I will have been an artist, writer, yoga teacher, black belt, problogger, architect, designer, librarian, photographer... the list goes on and on. I just haven't gotten around to doing most of those things yet, but each will get it's turn in due time.

You have a wonderful attitude--your openness for new passions will keep your life interesting!

Sharon

[Erin Blaskie]

This post, as others have mentioned, was very inspiring!

I couldn't help wonder as I was reading it however, what if there is nothing you have at the moment that you wish to become an expert in? Is it possible to be content with your current status and not want to achieve expert status in something?

I suppose owning a business means that I have ample opportunity to become an expert in one of the many available subjects there but what about outside of work? I have no real interest at becoming an expert at anything. I am a very passionate, driven, inspired woman but yet I seek no expert status except, I suppose, where work is concerned.

Do you think this is normal or should I perhaps be finding something I have passion and drive for outside of work?

Hi Erin,

For myself, I find it very easy to get tunnel vision where work is concerned (probably all small biz owners have this problem), but I know for a fact that I'm much more well-balanced and happy if I limit the time I spend working so that I can focus on outside interests.

If I have a number of interests in a number of different areas, then if something goes wrong in any one area, then my life doesn't suffer a major impact. I have the other areas where I've invested energy to soften the blow.

But, if I put all my attention into work (and it's so tempting to do that!) if something goes wrong with work, then my world is in a shambles.

Life is like an investment portfolio--it's more stable if you diversify. :-) Plus learning new things keeps our brain cells growing and it helps bring new people into our lives.

I've noticed that if I don't consciously make an effort to restrict the amount of time I spend on work stuff, that it quickly sucks up all of my time.

That's why I often implement the 4-hour workday thing--it helps me bring my life back into balance and remind me that there is life outside of work.

It also lets me enjoy work more--it's hard to look forward to something if you're doing it all the time! :-)

Cheers,
Sharon