There are many experts out there in the world. What does it take to call yourself one?
I've heard that the definition of "expert" is a person who has made every possible mistake in a particular area. Well, that would take a hell of a long time to actually do. Further, even if you go ahead and make all of those mistakes, there still could be someone who is simply better than you at it. Or someone who is having more success than you at it, or who has made more money or who has more fans or... you get the point.

Whatever skill or expertise you hang your hat on personally, when you think about it or look around hard enough, you will discover someone in your field that has something over you- something that would make them more of an expert than you. It could be one of the aforementioned factors, or something else that makes that person more qualified for the "expert" title than you are. Our brains are quite the creative machines, especially when it comes to the negative: One of those factors could be nothing to you, but it's the mental roadblock that stops someone else from ever giving themselves the "expert" title.

What you need to understand is this: You don't have to have the most of everything to be an expert. For one, there can be more than one expert in any field that exists.

Second, being an "expert," or assuming the title, is not 100% about what you've actually done (though that would be nice). It's about claiming the title and wearing it like it belongs to you. It's the Strategy of The Crown that I got from Robert Greene and discussed in my second book, The Mental Handbook. You place the crown on your head and wear it as if you were born to have it. You are an expert when you decide that you are. Present yourself as one, and eventually someone will ask why you are an expert, so you'd be smart to have some collateral, as my friend Dawnna says.

Right now, your pessimistic mind may be thinking, Well, Dre -- what if everyone reads this and uses the same strategy? Then what will I do???
Don't worry. You will have very little competition. I'll tell you why.
Most people don't want that burden of naming themselves an expert. Ever worn a crown before?  When a crown is on your head, you have to keep your head up all day. Sit up straight and maintain a confident body posture. You put your head down and look at the ground, the crown topples right off of your head. Yeah, it sounds easy until you try it. That's a burden most people don't want.

You do need to have a certain amount of credibility in your bag to label yourself as an authority on a topic. My point is that your willingness/ability to put yourself on Front Street as the expert is much more important and valuable than what you have actually done to that point. Don't waste time considering your competition -- that previous sentence will scare off 98% of your possible counterparts.

As Zig Ziglar said (or was it Tony Robbins?), there's plenty of space at the top -- there's just no room to sit down.