Becoming an expert in your field can fast-track your status and increase your earning potential in your industry. Your expertise has the potential to make you more desirable as a job candidate or more valuable within your current company. Learning the steps you can take to become an expert in a particular subject can help you evaluate if you're ready to master a specific skill. In this article, we discuss what it means to be an expert, how long it takes to become one and the steps you can take to become an expert. What does it mean to be an expert? An expert is someone who achieves exceptionally high performance levels on a particular task or within a specific subject matter. They are also typically one of the most informed people in their field and achieve far beyond what the average person does. Some of the critical elements of expertise include skills, advanced and in-depth knowledge, and proof of achievement such as recognition or awards. Related: How To Become a Subject Matter Expert in Your Field How long does it take to become an expert? There is no definitive answer on the amount of time it takes to become an expert. While some suggest that devoting 10,000 hours to studying and practicing a subject or skill helps you achieve the level of expert, others believe that for some people it could take 20,000 to 25,000 hours to truly master a subject. Additionally, not all skills are the same, so some skills may require far less than 10,000 hours to master, while others may require far more. Can anyone become an expert? Whether you can become a master in a particular subject, skill or activity is only something you can determine after you try. Deliberate practice, where you practice things outside of your comfort zone and move beyond your current skill level, is necessary for improving your skills. However, there is no way to definitively say whether anyone can become an expert with the right amount of practice and training. Depending on the subject or skill, genuine, inherent talent may be needed to be an expert, but for others, sheer motivation and concerted, 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 field: 1. Identify what you're interested in. 2. Focus on one task at a time. 3. Start with what's most important. 4. Invest time and effort. 5. Set specific goals. 6. Engage in deliberate practice. 7. Find or create an environment for practice. 8. Look for specific and accurate feedback. 9. Find a mentor. 10. Test yourself often. 11. Focus on progression. 1. Identify what you're interested in In order to become an expert in any area, you must be genuinely interested in and passionate about the subject. Interest is critical in order to dedicate the time and effort necessary to reach the expert level. When you are interested in a subject, the training can seem effortless to you, and you are more likely to enjoy the process. Read more: How To Find Your Passion 2. Focus on one task at a time To more effectively become an expert in an area, focus on one specific task at a time. For example, if you want to become an expert at web design, focus on building one specific kind of website and master that before you move on to other types. 3. Start with what's most important There are generally many things you need to learn or master in order to become an expert at something. When you're getting started with any new skill, start by practicing the foundational concepts and learning basic knowledge first before moving on to more advanced tasks. You can often obtain this basic knowledge through books or by taking a course on the topic. 4. Invest time and effort In order to become an expert in any field, you must devote time and energy to gaining knowledge and practicing your skill. While it may or may not take the suggested 10,000 hours, it does take a significant amount of time and commitment. Set aside time each day or on specific days during the week to practice the skill you're learning. Seek out others who have expertise in the field who can provide guidance that complements your study 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 have determined this, then you can make those specific improvements. Identify the big goals you want to achieve, and then break them down into smaller milestones that you can complete in shorter periods 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 might set a smaller goal of learning the foundational skills for Photoshop. Then you could move on to advanced skills for Photoshop before pursuing one of the other Adobe products. Related: How To Set and Achieve Goals 6. Engage in deliberate practice Deliberate practice involves continually challenging yourself and is characterized by specific goals, progression and conditions that allow you to progress. If you are learning web design, deliberate practice could mean testing out new skills that you have read about but haven't actually tried yourself. 7. Find or create an environment for practice To continually improve, you need to have the freedom to make mistakes and figure out how to improve your skills. In order to do this, you must find or create an environment where you can engage in deliberate practice. For a web developer, this may mean having a test site that no one else has access to where you can practice what you're learning. If you are a public speaker and are practicing your craft, this may mean finding a quiet room in your house where you can deliver speeches in front of a mirror. 8. Look for specific and accurate feedback Continuous, specific and accurate feedback is critical to continually improving and becoming an expert. When a mentor or another expert can give you swift quality feedback, you can start making immediate changes in your performance and improve. 9. Find a mentor It's critical to work with a mentor who has expertise in the area you're learning or who has skills that are more advanced than your own. The best mentor is someone who is already an expert and is using the skill or knowledge on a regular basis. Find someone who genuinely cares about your performance and is invested in your success, such as a supervisor at work or another colleague who has expertise in the field. 10. Test yourself often While it's important to spend time studying, be sure to focus the majority of your time on doing the activity and testing yourself to retain the new information in your mind and confirm that you understand how to apply what you're learning. As a general rule, it's most effective to spend one-third of your time studying and two-thirds of your time doing the activity you're striving to master. If your goal is to be an expert at web development, spending one-third of your time watching videos, doing tutorials or in class can give you the foundational knowledge to understand how to design websites. However, two-thirds of your time dedicated to learning web development should be spent building websites to actively practice the information you are learning. 11. Focus on progression When you notice or receive feedback that you are improving in a particular area, identify the next step you need to take to continue progressing. This process of continually updating your milestones and next steps should occur frequently and guide you toward your long-term goals. For example, if you are a graphic artist and have mastered Photoshop, your next step may be to learn the foundational skills required for Adobe Illustrator. You could identify your own path for achieving your goal or talk to someone who has expertise in this field who can explain the knowledge you need to have to also become an expert.

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