Do you ever struggle to see yourself as an expert in your field? Do those doubts, fears, or imposter syndrome creep into your thoughts? Maybe you are wondering if you should even listen to this episode or read this blog post where I’m talking about this concept of leveraging your expertise.
What do you do if you feel this way? What do you do if you are trying to build a business online and you don’t consider yourself an expert? In this episode, I’ll share with you a four-step exercise that will help you move forward, no matter what.
The other day I was on a call with a bunch of women who are all part of the same mastermind. We were having a brainstorming call and we were discussing upcoming presentations that several of us had. In the midst of the discussion, a theme rose to the top: many of these brilliant women were concerned that their presentations would not be valuable enough. They didn’t want to look stupid as compared to all the other people presenting at the same event.
As I listened, all I could think was: but you are all so smart! You’re all experts, and none of you are going to look dumb!
The truth is, many times we don’t see our own brilliance. We don’t recognize our own areas of expertise, even when others do.
So in Episode 103 of the podcast, I speak into those feelings about struggling to see yourself as an expert.
Let’s start off with this hard truth: you might not be an expert… yet. It’s possible that you have tried 5 different things in your business and haven’t stuck with any of them. If that’s the case, you might not have developed your expertise yet, and that’s okay.
I still want you to stick around with me.
Because here’s the other side of the coin: many times, you DO have expertise, but you just don’t see it. At the very least, you have a level of experience and God-given gifts that allow you to do something in a different way than other people.
Here are a few practical things you can do if you struggle to see yourself as an expert.
Consider The Facts About Your Own Experience and Training
Start with taking a real assessment of your skills, experience, and knowledge. Back in Episode 35, I had you do a similar exercise when I talked about overcoming Imposter Syndrome. Ask yourself these questions, then journal and reflect on what skills, experience, and knowledge you do truly have:
- What experiences have you had in the past that has prepared you for what you are doing today?
- What investments have you made in your own personal or business development that supports the work you are doing? This can include your college education as well as any workshops, courses, conferences, online events, etc. Plus, reading, podcasts, and other free learning you’ve done.
- What practical skills do you have that contribute to your work? Are any of these skills rare or unique?
- What are your natural and spiritual gifts? Consider how these help you in your business.
Get input from others
Now that you’ve got your own list, you can start to solicit input from other people. What do THEY see as your strengths and areas of expertise?
There are 2 main ways to do this.
- Reach out to current or past clients. Ask them if they are willing to chat with you briefly to discuss how you helped them. You could hop on a call with them with a few questions, and get their feedback. You can also send them a few questions via email if getting on a call isn’t workable.
- Reach out to your network and ask for their input. Let them know you are doing an exercise in order to better serve others in your business, and you’d like to know what they see in you. Specifically, what area of expertise do you have and/or what they see as your greatest strengths.
Reflect on this information
Now that you have collected some data, you can take some time to reflect with a bit more objectivity. It’s easy to let your emotions get in the way when you are thinking about this whole issue of expertise. But now, we can think about things with some objectivity.
Ask yourself:
- What trends do I see?
- Are there particular areas of expertise that you can see in your life?
- What do others see in you that you might not see in yourself?
- Do you need more experience or training in a particular area? Or are you simply not acknowledging that you already have what is needed to move forward?
Of course, even when doing this exercise, there is still a level of subjectivity to it. You are probably still going to wrestle with imposter syndrome even if everything on paper looks legit. I’ve struggled with this myself, but the one final thing I needed to do, and that I’m going to encourage you to do is Start Doing the Work.
Start Doing the Work
The way I was able to move through the mindset issues around not being expert enough was to actually start doing the work. I launched a mastermind for Christian women, even though I didn’t totally feel expert enough to do so, and several women said yes to joining.
And then I started seeing results. And that’s when I realized I was actually an expert in strategic marketing and online business.
Final Reminder
Here’s one final thing I want you to remember: whether or not you are an expert in the type of work you do does not mean you are any less valuable to this world or any less loved by God or others. We must, as Christian women, remember where our true identity and our true value comes from… and it doesn’t come from our work or our abilities. It comes from God!
I don’t want you to confuse having an expertise with having an identity!
Don’t Miss This!
Are you ready to leverage your expertise and transfer it to a group program, course, or even a podcast interview?
The Results Code Workshop will help you create the foundational piece you need to have in place before you transition out of 1:1 work. You’ll uncover your own unique Results Code (aka proprietary process) and craft it into a strong piece of marketing that will make it easier to sell (and teach) your offers.
Head here to grab your spot! This will be an interactive workshop that is sure to help you create an asset that will allow you to share your expertise and bring results to people beyond just your 1:1 clients!
Quotes to Note:
“The people who need what you have to offer may very well look at you as an expert because they do not know or understand anything about what you are doing.”
“You have a level of experience and God-given gifts that allow you to do something in a different way than other people and get results for your clients.”
“The key to moving forward is to take action, to stop thinking about it, to stop talking about it, and just to start doing the work.”
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