Becoming an expert in your field of interest will quickly increase your earning potential in today’s industry. Your skills have the potential to make you more desirable as a job candidate or more valuable in your current company.
Learning about the steps you can take to become an expert in a particular subject can help you evaluate whether you are ready to master a particular skill.
In this article, we discuss what it means to be an expert, how long it takes to become an expert and the steps you can take to become an expert.
Table Of Contents
1 What is the importance of being an expert?
1.1 How long does it take to become an expert?
1.2 Can everyone become an expert?
2 How to become an expert?
2.1 1. Identify what you are interested in
2.2 2. Focus on one task at a time
2.3 3. Start with the most important
2.4 4. Invest time and effort
2.5 5. Set specific goals
2.6 6. Engage in intentional training
2.7 7. Find or create an environment to practice
2.8 8. Seek specific and accurate feedback
2.9 9. Find a mentor
2.10 10. Test yourself often
2.11 11. Focus on progress
What is the importance of being an expert?
An expert is someone who achieves a very high level of performance on a particular task or in a particular subject. They are also usually one of the most informed people in their field and achieve far beyond what the average person does. Some of the important elements of expertise include skills, advanced and in-depth knowledge, and evidence of achievements such as recognition or awards.
How long does it take to become an expert?
There is no definite answer about the amount of time it takes to become an expert or expert in a particular field. While some suggest that dedicating 10,000 hours to learning and practicing a subject or skill helps you reach expert level, others believe that for some it takes 20,000 to 25,000 hours to truly master a subject.
Also, not all skills are equal, so some skills may take significantly less than 10,000 hours to master, while others may require significantly more.
Can everyone become an expert?
You can become a master in a certain subject, skill, or activity is just something you can decide once you have tried it. Deliberate practice, where you practice things outside your comfort zone and move beyond your current skill level, is needed to improve your skills. However, there is no way to say for sure whether one can become an expert with the right amount of practice and training.
Depending on the subject or skill, genuine innate talent may be required to become an expert, but for others, sheer motivation and concerted and consistent effort might make the difference between an amateur and an expert.
How to become an expert?
Take these steps to gain expertise in a specific area:
1. Identify what you are interested in
To become an expert in any field, you have to be genuinely interested and passionate about the subject. Interest is essential to dedicate the time and effort required to reach the expert level. When you are interested in a subject, the training may seem easy to you, and you are more likely to enjoy the process.
2. Focus on one task at a time
To be more effective at becoming an expert in a field, focus on one specific task at a time. For example, if you want to become an expert in web design, focus on building one particular type of website and master it before you switch to another type.
3. Start with the most important
Generally, there is a lot you need to learn or master to become an expert at something. When you are starting out with any new skill, start by practicing the basic concepts and learning the basic knowledge first before moving on to more advanced tasks.
You can often acquire this basic knowledge through books or by taking courses on the topic.
4. Invest time and effort
To become an expert in any field, you must devote time and energy to acquiring knowledge and practicing your skills. While it may or may not take the recommended 10,000 hours, it does take a lot of time and commitment.
Set aside time each day or on certain days of the week to practice the skills you are learning. Find someone else with expertise in the field who can provide guidance that complements your studies and training.
5. Set specific goals
To master any skill, start by identifying exactly what you want to improve and how you plan to improve it.
Once you’ve determined this, then you can make those specific fixes. Identify a big goal that you want to achieve, and then break it down into smaller milestones that you can complete in a shorter period of time.
For example, if you want to become an expert graphic artist and know that you need to learn the entire Adobe suite, you can set a smaller goal to learn basic Photoshop skills. Then you can move on to advanced skills for Photoshop before pursuing any of Adobe’s other products.
6. Engage in deliberate training
Deliberate practice involves constantly challenging yourself and is characterized by specific goals, progress, and conditions that allow you to progress. If you’re studying web design, intentional practice can mean testing new skills you’ve read about but haven’t actually tried for yourself.
7. Find or create an environment to practice
To keep improving, you need to have the freedom to make mistakes and find ways to improve your skills. To do this, you must find or create an environment in which you can engage in deliberate practice.
For web developers, this may mean having an inaccessible test site where you can practice what you learn.
If you are a public speaker and are practicing your skills, this may mean finding a quiet room in your home where you can give a speech in front of a mirror.
8. Seek specific and accurate feedback
Continuous, specific and accurate feedback is essential to continuously improve and become an expert. When a mentor or other expert can provide you with quick quality feedback, you can start making immediate changes in your performance and improving.
9. Find a mentor
It’s important to work with a mentor who has expertise in the area you’re studying or who has more advanced skills than your own.
The best mentor is someone who is already an expert and uses the skill or knowledge on a regular basis. Find someone who truly cares about your performance and is invested in your success, such as a supervisor at work or another coworker who has expertise in that area.
10. Test yourself often
While it is important to spend time studying, be sure to focus most of your time on activities and testing yourself to keep the new information in your mind and ensure that you understand how to apply what you learn.
As a general rule, it’s most effective to spend one-third of your time studying and two-thirds of your time doing the activities you want to master. If your goal is to become an expert in web development, spending a third of your time watching videos, doing tutorials, or attending website building classes can give you the basic knowledge to understand how to design a website.
However, two-thirds of your time dedicated to learning web development should be spent on building websites to actively practice the information you learn.
11. Focus on progress
When you see or receive feedback that you are improving in a certain area, identify the next steps you need to take to move forward. This continuous process of updating your achievements and next steps should be done frequently and guide you towards your long-term goals.
For example, if you are a graphic artist and have mastered Photoshop, your next step might be to learn the basic skills required for Adobe Illustrator. You can identify your own path to achieving your goals or talk to someone with expertise in this area who can explain the knowledge you need to also become an expert.