How to become and Expert

So how do you become an expert in your field of choice? Here are four simple aspects to think about, I like to keep it simple.

1. Experts “fail forward”. They constantly operate outside of their comfort zone and stretch their boundaries. In other words, instead of practicing something familiar within a specific skill set (like playing the piano) they practice the most difficult portions of that particular piece.

2. Emulate someone more successful than you. This brought to mind something I’ve heard Tony Robbins say a number of times: “If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you’ll achieve the same results”.

3. Evaluate past successes AND failures. A quote by Ken Blanchard comes to mind here: “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.”

4. Continually gather data. Keeping track of your progress is key. As Joshua Foer said in his presentation: “Geeking out is useful”).