Random Stuff 214: The Fool’s Advantage

Aaron Mashbits· Host0:00

Hello my friend, and welcome to another short episode of Something for Everybody. My name is Aaron Mashbits. Most people are too afraid of looking like a beginner to ever become an expert. If you aren't willing to look like a fool for six months, you will never ever have the chance to be the expert. The expert you admire today is simply the person who was willing to be bad at it longer than you were. They were willing to post the dumb videos that got zero views, ask the dumb questions in the boardroom or in the classroom, and fail publicly while everyone else watched from the sidelines. The greatest barrier to growth isn't a lack of talent. It's the addiction to looking like you have it all figured out. The cost of being an expert is the embarrassment of being a novice. This is the ego trap. Your ego wants to protect your current reputation, but your reputation is exactly what's keeping you stuck. To grow, you have to be okay with people not getting it for a while. This is the learning curve. The learning curve, you can't skip the cringe phase. Whether it's starting a podcast, beginning a new sport, launching a business, or mastering a new skill. The first 10% is always the messiest, but this is the fool's advantage. While everyone else is busy trying to look cool,