A very good way of being adaptable, managing change and dealing with the vicissitudes of life is to become an expert in at least one field of endeavour. Are you an expert? Here are a few signs you might actually be one:

1.     Content.

You are constantly delivering fresh, relevant content that is valuable to your clients and people around you. People like having you around just because they are eager to learn from the things you say and do.

2.     Constantly learning.

Experts aren’t content with their existing content. They are constantly seeking fresh knowledge, gaining better understanding and becoming wiser with the passage of time and with more interactions. Experts learn from every project they undertake. Do you? When I was working in an overseas base, I noticed that there was a dearth of reading material and promptly sent a message home requesting that the relevant journals, magazines and other relevant publications, both local and international, be sent. You will not be an expert for very long if you stop learning and keeping abreast of what’s happening.

3.     Astute application.

Experts have a huge storehouse of knowledge, understanding and wisdom to draw on. They apply what they have judiciously to situations so that the most optimal results are obtained. Experts may still not know everything there is to know about any particular situation or topic, but experts know how to work their way through them, and they guide their clients towards the best outcomes possible.

4.     Deep and wide.

Experts go deep in their fields and in their particular subjects, of course, and they also expand that body of expertise outwards. In other words, they have roots that go down deep and are also spread far and wide. Experts are like spiders in the centre of a large 3D web. They know how to both focus on specifics as well as draw conclusions based on general observations and inferences. Experts are very good at establishing more and more neural connections, so to speak, about almost any subject they are interested in. The nature of light and the fact of parallax can be related to negotiation skills, for example. Think about steering vital truth around another person’s mental roadblocks.

Are you an expert? Like to become one? You should, it’s a noble aspiration. Everyone ought to be an expert in something or other.