"I'm not an expert..."

Hi, my name is Katie and I've spent the majority of my life learning how to be happy with myself.

I was the kid journaling and reading self help books and Chicken Soup for the Soul by the age of 9.

I am the person who has invested the last 6 years in deep personal development work.

Who has read hundreds of books, podcast episodes, and articles on the subject.

Who has taken courses, paid to work individually with coaches and meditation teachers, acupuncturists, therapists, nutritionists, psychiatrists.

Who has written about and taught on her own journey and the tools I've gained along the way for the 5 years.

And who has helped over 100 people to learn to be a truer version of themselves.

But I often ask myself 'who am I to help people? I'm no expert.'

Seriously. How can I consider myself anything but an expert in this field?

We're taught that expertise must be bestowed upon us, often in the form of credentials or press. Recognition from others. PhDs.

We forget that the time we spend disproportionately on a skill or task relative to others is time that adds up to expertise.

We assume that 'everyone' who does that thing spends as much time as we do, so how could that make us an expert?

And in doing so, we belittle the skills that we do have, waiting for some external force to deem us worthy of something we already are.

And so I ask you...

Have you ever said "I'm not an expert?" and if so, in what?

What have you spent a disproportionate amount of time doing, regardless of credentials?

What are the things that people have told you you're good at? What have you done to cultivate, grow, and continue building on that?

How can you recognize that all of this adds up to an expertise beyond many others?

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