Booklets - Expertise is What You Think It Is
In the past 24 hours, I've had polar opposite opinions demonstrated to me from two different people on my booklets radar. One professional person who has known of my work for a long time shared with me in a phone conversation a nagging and sabotaging question about herself of "who am I to think I'm somebody, enough to be a published author of a booklet or anything else?" Wow. Really?
The other end of the spectrum is someone I've known in the publishing world for a decade who consistently becomes an instant expert. As quickly as she learns something, she tells the rest of the world how to do it, sometimes before she's got all the rough edges polished, too. And there she goes again.
When someone comes to me full of self-doubt, it represents a deeper challenge than learning how to write tips, put together a booklet, and then sell it. All of that is something that can be learned. The self-doubt is a different deal. It's from the inside out. And, in my experience, I find that the most well-educated people often have the biggest challenge with this, not the ones who are self-taught and figuring it out as they go.
In the early 1980's when I became a professional organizer for a decade and a half, there was no training, no certification, no track record. The industry was young, and I was just joining it. When someone asked what made me think I could help them, my answer was some form of "because I know I can." The people who wanted some credentials were not my clients. The people who wanted results and to be helped were my clients. By my sharing my confidence about what I could do for them, they got what they needed, and I had the personal and financial satisfaction of doing what I knew I could do.
The same is true with your booklets. You've got some body of knowledge that is helpful to others. Not everyone is your client. And so what? There are plenty who are.
Until next time,
Paulette - who knows what I know, and is still learning what I don't know
posted by Paulette Ensign @ 10:37 AM
2 Comments:
I think I know why some folks, who probably shouldn't be so full of self-doubt are. It's the ones who already know a great deal (the ones you described as the most well-educated), because they've recognized that the more they've learned, the more there is to learn, and they feel they've not learned enough to speak - yet.
It's a real dilemma. They see folks freely giving out half-truths and want to jump in, but they know that just one more piece of information might be enough to change the solution they have to offer, and they don't want to be "wrong," and be giving false information.
But there always is a point at which we have to make that decision and give what we can, even knowing we might be wrong, but hoping that it is worth the effort and holding the hope that it has value, even if it's not perfect.
Thanks for your perspective. Yes, I think you've captured it well. It's a form of perfectionism, isn't it? I am certainly not advocating mis-informing anyone. Striving for excellence is really what works. There is always more, and more, and more, and more!
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