Your Curiosity is Your Expertise

I’ve met a lot of people who really want to launch a podcast, blog, book, business or similar project. Most of them have a kind of sheepish belief that they lack the standing to do so, and if they put themselves out their as a speaker, writer, host, leader, etc. they’d be a fraud.

There are plenty of frauds out there, and even more people who call other people frauds. Of course you don’t want to be one. But if you let fear of fraudulence keep you from doing something, you’re likely to be stuck forever. You’ll never have a level of expertise that shields you 100% from accusations of fraud, or the chance that you might not know what you’re talking about.

The way to combat this isn’t to fake it or project so much bombastic confidence you scare away haters. Nor is it to shut down and do nothing. The way to combat this is to completely own your status as a novice. Don’t present your knowledge to the world, present your curiosity.

People who are best at being curious are most interesting to others. Why do show hosts have a bigger platform than the narrow experts they bring on? The hosts are rarely experts in anything…except being curious. Their unique brand of curiosity, where it leads them, and how they explore it, is a form of expertise. And one that can’t be fraudulent, because it’s unique to them. Why do so many people listen to Tim Ferriss or Joe Rogan? They don’t do much talking in their shows, and they’re rarely expert on the topics at hand. But they are expert at being curious about the world and their guests in their unique and genuine way.

If you stoke and cultivate your curiosity, it will open up more doors than you can imagine. Curiosity is your best expertise. It’s the calling card that lets you do things well above your level of knowledge. People love journeying with a fellow traveler probably more than they like being talked to by an expert anyway.

This article was originally published on Isaac Morehouse’s blog.