Chasing the Bright Side: Embrace Optimism, Activate Your Purpose, and Write Your Own Story by Jess Ekstrom

Author:Jess Ekstrom
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: self help
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2019-11-05T05:00:00+00:00

YOU’RE NOT AN EXPERT—AND THAT’S AWESOME

The thought of being unqualified can be debilitating. When we think everything is out of our reach, we’ll never even try to reach it.

When I calmed down, I called the store owner and apologized and asked if there was anything we could do to earn her business back. Of course she had some snobby response and said no.

It wasn’t until later that I realized how insane the store owner’s requests were, but at the time I had nothing to compare it to, so I clearly thought I was the one in the wrong. To have a one-week turnaround time for a retailer is a big request. We do it when stores ask us to, but it’s definitely not the norm; it’s more like a favor that a lot of brands charge extra for. And if a store wants to be the only one in a certain zip code carrying a product, they have to ask for zip code protection, and typically that means a contract and a certain minimum order they have to buy in order to keep their territory. We had none of that and had never even discussed it.

But I’m clearly totally over it.

Regardless, I didn’t have that knowledge and I was already pushed out of my comfort zone starting this business, so I felt like every mistake was my lack of experience. But if we focus too much on our lack of experience or qualifications, we’ll never give ourselves the chance to evolve because we’re so worried whether or not we’re supposed to be there.

But everyone had to start somewhere. It’s crazy to think the teachers who are giving us information were once the students learning it. Or that people in the Tour de France once had to learn how to ride a bike. Or that every big business owner probably started with a lemonade stand or upselling candy at school or something like that.

If we all have to evolve into our roles, there has to be a pretty lengthy learning period because we’re not born experts. In fact, even when someone might label us as an expert, it’s still a loose term to me.

Claiming that you know everything leaves very little opportunity for new discovery. But claiming that you know less leaves many possibilities for what could be.

There are people out there who know a lot about certain things and that’s great. Wikipedia the crap out of the things you find interesting. I’ve spent hours going down a dark hole on Google trying to learn if dark chocolate is actually good for you. Always leave an ellipsis at the end of your studies for possibility, not a period.

One of my favorite things to do is laugh at a newsletter I get every day called HARO, which stands for Help a Reporter Out. Basically, reporters and journalists send out what they’re looking for in order to write particular stories they’re working on. Then people can submit what they know to hopefully get quoted in the article.

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