The secret – I eluded to this issue in the 2nd part of this series.
You may not be shocked to hear that I address this with clients on a daily basis.
What you might be amazed to learn is that many of them have been in their area of knowledge for over 20 years. What’s more, many already have books, radio shows, and have appeared on TV numerous times!
How is this possible?
With just a quick peek behind the curtain you will quickly learn that a very significant number of well-known and famous therapists, speakers, authors, politicians, etc. still deal with anxiety attacks over this one common fear.
That fear isn’t public speaking or rejection.
It is “what happens WHEN someone DISCOVERS that I am not REALLY an expert?” and it is one of the subtlest forms of self-sabotage and deception.
Let’s dig down deeper on this epidemic that plagues all of us at one point or another in our careers.
Looking at the language we use has always been an effective method for seeing into our issues.
3 primary lies layered into this fear are what keep thousands of us from achieving our best and working so much harder than needed.
LIE #1 – WHEN
We have all heard the phrase “it’s not a question of if but when.” Most of us live by this concept of life. Disappointment, loss, rejection, abandonment, the list goes on forever. While I am by no means an unrealistic “dreamer”, I do believe we embody what we expect.
In the last blog post, I walked you through an exercise designed to prepare you for the “worst case scenario”. But the truth is that most of us spend our lives running from events that will never take place.
AT LEAST THEY HAVE A REASON TO RUN
In over a decade of marketing, training, speaking, directing and producing, I have never had someone try to prove that I am not an expert. The fact is, even IF you are wrong on a fact relating to your expertise, 99% of people will forgive that IF your intention was to help people.
However, if your intention was to make as much money as possible and you’re arrogant, then you deserve what happens next! I say this because that is the exact formula for ensuring the humiliation of being called out.
Plus you don’t have to constantly tell everyone you are an expert. IF you are, others will say it for you!
LIE #2 – DISCOVERS
Listen to the very intent of this word. You are already accepting you are NOT an expert and that there is something to be “discovered”. IF you are going around saying you are the world’s foremost expert in your field, then you are calling out skeptics to test your claims, but that’s not what we are doing here.
We are simply stating the truth.
An Expert is only required to be "Smarter Than the Average Bear"
You have a greater amount of experience and “working knowledge” than the average person on the street.
There is simply nothing to be “discovered”. However, it is a great exercise to acknowledge this fear and list any element of your business or marketing you feel could be “discovered” to not be true. Maybe you have just embellished facts where you didn’t intend to. Now is the time to correct that and keep your claims legit and simple.
Remember: people buy from benefits much more than they do features. You only provide benefit to a client is when you are seen as an expert.
LIE #3 – REALLY
Another tell tale sign you simply are not believing you provide the value that you do.
Always come back to the definition. Do you have a greater working knowledge of a subject than the AVERAGE person on the street? If the answer is yes, then you are a budding expert… yeah REALLY!
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