Success from the INSIDE Out, Part 1: Your Expertise

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Welcome to Episode 62 of Teachers in Business. Today, we are going to talk about the first in a series of three things I am talking about as the skills you need to build success from the inside out. These are very dear to me, as I have worked and built this, my coaching practice over the past two and a half years, what I see now is that these are the skills that have made the most impact. They are part and parcel of what allowed me to build my first business, starting 2017, they are a huge part of what has allowed me to be successful in my coaching business. And they are a huge part of what I teach other people. These three skills over the next three weeks are, you know, the building blocks of success, I think, and they are the most important pieces that you can shift inside yourself. So today we're going to talk about the idea of around your expertise. I mean, basically, the way I want to start this is by talking about success as an inside job. Because success is at least at the very start an inside job, we can do all the things to be successful. But if we don't actually think inside ourselves, that success is possible for us, then all of the doing is going to be for naught, we have to believe that it's possible for us to be successful, we have to be open to the idea of success, that it is possible for us in order for it to work, because if we are not then it doesn't really work out. So today we're going to talk about expertise. And I know for me that this is one of the most important things for me that I see, it may be the most common shift, or one of the most common shifts. But I think it is the most common shift that people need to make to be successful as a business owner, particularly if you're coming from teaching to business, this is the most important shift that I have made hands down. This is it's also the biggest stumbling block I see for friends and colleagues and connections and other teachers I know, as they move from teaching to business, this thing around expertise is the place people get stuck the longest, they do the most damage to their competence, it is the reason that they they don't last in business where their business doesn't thrive, where they don't thrive. This is the piece. And so today, what I'm going to share is my story of making this shift, like over and over again, because it is a shift we make constantly internally, it's an intentional shift that we make all the time until it becomes a habit. And the simple steps that you can take starting today, to do this yourself. The best part of this series of three shifts, this success from the inside out series is that there is nothing new to learn here. Really, there's no course to take. There's no you know, tool to learn. There's no nothing there is simply work internal to yourself. You don't need other people to do this for you, you get to make these shifts. You know, sometimes it helps us to have something like a coach like I know being coached myself is a big part of why I was able to make these shifts in many cases. But this is all work you can do yourself right here right now today. You don't need anything special to be able to do this. So let's start talking about this idea of expertise. So for me, I think the shift and I'm going to name it first is moving from knowing that you have expertise that can help people right to knowing that you have to being an expert. So you go from having a knowing you have this expertise, you know, it's useful to actually embodying your expertise to being an expert that creates impact. And I think this is something I've thought a lot about for a long, long time. But the first time I ever thought about it, I was sitting in the back of an auditorium. Back when we all went to conferences long before 2020. I was at the Amli Conference, which is the Association of middle level educators which is literally quite honestly I've been to 1000s of conferences in my work life. And it is one of my favorites because like there's an ice cream cart and the people that run it are amazing. But I was at that conference, I want to say 2016 2015 A long time ago, many years ago, and I was presenting later In the day, and I went to the keynote that morning, and I was sitting in the back of the auditorium, because I knew I wasn't going to be able to stay. And you can like feel seen, I was sitting in one of those typical auditorium seats, and it was dark. And then up on the stage was a woman I knew, like a friend. She and I had really we, you know, I didn't know her super well, but I knew her knew her, like, we were friendly. And, you know, I had known her a long time, and I went to see her because I was like, Oh, this will be really great. I'll get to see her in action. You know, and she up on the stage was brilliant. She was smart. She was funny. She had great ideas. She was engaging, she was exactly who I knew she would be, and are sitting in the back of the auditorium. And it was like, yes, it's great. And also, why am I here and not there. Were had those moments where you're like, Shit, I am her, except she's there. And I'm here. Like, we have very parallel lives, may very similar experience sets, we knew a lot of the same people. We did a lot of same things. We, you know, like, I didn't sit there and think like, she knows more about this than I do. She didn't, we knew a lot of the same stuff. The way she was PAC, putting it together was really smart. And I was appreciative hearing it. But in the same breath, like I could have done it too. I would have done it differently. Like I had my own versions of those ideas. And I was like, Cool. But crap, like, what the heck. And so you know, what's interesting to me, at that point is like, Okay, so what's the deal here? How is she there? And I'm here is what I was like, oh, man, what's happening? So I really had to think about it. I really had to, like, pause and think like, Okay, wait, what's going on here? Because I was like, that was the first time I've ever thought about that. I was like, But why is she there, and I'm here. And then, you know, it's funny, I still to this day, I am struck by how strongly I can feel this realization still, you know, almost 10 years later, what I realized was that I was sitting in the back of the auditorium, busily having my expertise. It was like something I carried around in my pocket and hoped other people noticed. I had it. I knew I was knowledgeable. I knew I had expertise, but I didn't embody it. And if she did, that was the difference. Like, the question I had in my head was like, Who the hell said she could get up there and do that? Like, who gave her permission? The answer is that she did. She gave herself permission, she stood up and was like, Hey, I am the expert, you need she applied, she carried herself with it. And while we knew all the same thing, not all the same thing, but a lot of the same things, we knew a lot of same people. She embodied expertise, and I just carried it around. Like I was sitting in the back of the auditorium waiting for someone to tap me on the shoulder and be like, okay, sir, it's your turn, come on over the stage, we can't wait to hear from you to be invited to be the expert, when she just was like, No, I'm your expert. Thanks. Let me let me jump in here. You know, people who have made the shift. And the key is that you can make this shift to like, it's, it's important, right? So there's a couple of steps in this process of moving from having expertise to being an expert. And the first thing I want you to know, in this process is that we, we tend to internally have two definitions of the word expert, we have the definition that we apply to ourselves. And we have the definition that we apply to others. You know, this is true. Because listen, if you know, someone you think of as an expert, and you went to them, and you ask them a tricky question, and they're like, You know what, I have to think about that for a while. Let me get back to you. Or, huh, I don't know the answer. But you know what we're gonna figure it out. You wouldn't be like, Oh, my God, they're not an expert. What a fraud. Right? You'd be like, okay, cool. I'm gonna I'm so glad this expert is going to help me figure this out. But in reverse, we, when we have to think of ourselves as experts. We believe internally that we have to have all the answers that we have to be able to answer all the questions that if we have questions, we can't possibly be the expert, which is ridiculous because we would never ever in a billion years expect that if someone else A and B, it's not even possible, because even the most expert expert experts have things they don't know. There are things they have questions about that. Part of being an expert is knowing there's things you don't know and you have questions about. So the first question, to ask yourself to make this shift from experts from hat, excuse me, from having expertise to being an expert, is to ask yourself, are you an expert? And when you do, like, what does your brain offer you? Do you have? Like, do you get hives from us? Do you like start to sweat a little bit? Or you're like, No, no, I am an expert. Do you know it, because you are an expert. And expertise in imperfection coexist, there is no such thing as a perfect expert, you are not going to be the first I am not going to be the second, none of this is gonna happen. But you can be an expert with what you have right now. And then you can grow as an expert. But just because you're growing doesn't mean you're not an expert. So the first thing to get your head around, is just answering the question, Am I an expert? Can I believe that I'm an expert? Are you open to being an expert? wrap your head around that first? And then the second question is, how are you showing up as an expert? Like today, right now? How do you show up in your world, in your business, and the shift you're trying to make from teaching to business or from wherever to grow in your business? And whatever you're trying to build right now? How are you showing up as the expert? Are you showing up as the expert? And how do you the expert show up out in the world? You know, like, if you could sort of remove your doubts from the inside of your head? How would it change how you actually showed up? Like, what would it look like? How is the expert version of you showing up? And how is it different from how you're showing up right now? Because it is like even for me, when I asked myself this question right now, the more expert version of me shows up even differently than I show up today. You know, a year from now me shows up differently as an expert than I do today. I show up differently as an expert today than I did two years ago, five years ago, 10 years ago, this is a growth thing. But we have to think like, Okay, how does the expert show up? What does she think? What does she do? How does she feel? What does she lead with? What's important about what she does? And how is it different than what I am doing right now? So that's the second question. And then the third step of moving from having to being is really important, because I think this is the one we miss. I think, you know, in a lot of what coaches teach other people we get like, are you an expert? How do you show up and it's expert, and it stops right there. But I think the really important thing for people like you and I who are service oriented entrepreneurs, we are people who are teachers, we love to serve other people, we are here for the people. What gets missed is that our expertise helps other people. So you need to ask yourself, how does your expertise help other people? What is the impact in the value of your expertise? Because once you know you're an expert, and you know how the expert shows up, that's all fine and well. But you know how your expertise shows up in impacts others with the value of it is makes showing up as the expert about them instead of you. And when we make this about them instead of us, when we get to show up with our heart, on the other people with our minds focused on what they need, how they are suffering, how we can help them change, how we can make an impact the change that we can put out in the world. What happens is that the mind drama of life, am I an expert? Am I allowed to be an expert? Am I showing up as an expert? How does this work? When we put their needs, their problems, their drama, their stuff in front of ours, so much of this drama that's associated with expertise just goes out the window, because we don't need it. Showing up as an expert is about more than just you and staying really connected to that makes a tremendous difference. When it is not about you. It's a lot less dramatic, right? You get to show up as an expert. You get to know you expertise, you get to know in body your expertise, you get to be an expert. For the service of others, being an expert is great. Growing into your expertise is great. Doing something with it makes a difference. And so like, can you effectively do something with your expertise? If you're not confident in it? Probably not. I mean, yes, it's really hard. It's like a really complicated way to do it, right. But what we can do, is on complicated by knowing we're expert, knowing what we want to do to show up as an expert, and knowing how our expertise impacts others. And it does. I think the key takeaway here is really that you right now are an expert. I don't know who you are listening. But I know you're an expert. You're an expert in whatever it is, you do backs, you know this, I know this, I have confidence in your expertise. And I know that your expertise has value. Truly, it does, just like mine does, just like every single one of my clients. Like I talk to new clients, sometimes I get so freakin excited, because I cannot wait to help them do their thing out in the world. Because it makes such a difference for everyone. And I cannot wait until they realize how impactful their expertise can be told, they see the fruits of that, when they really connect to the value of their expertise and its impact. It's like holy cow. And when you make the shift, the process of making the shift from someone who has expert to is an expert to being an expert, helps you procrastinate less, you're not going to be waiting, if you know what you have is valuable to people and they need it. You're going to start over less, because experts know what they're doing, or also not what they're doing. And you can let go of having to be perfect because you know experts aren't perfect, totally fine. So digging into this shift this this success shift his internal shift from having expertise to being an expert is the most important when you can make it is something that can change your entire business, it changes the trajectory of your success. And it's something I see time and time again. And clients like I can name three or four an hour. It's like, you know, I have one who works with kids transitioning from school into jobs with special needs, like having Kirsty her expertise, like now she goes into other worlds and into families and into businesses and are like, Nope, this is what I do. Like she's clear. She's saying she's asking for money she needs and deserves like, it's a big deal. I have another client who's like, oh, no, I help people communicate better, like, what I do really matters to corporate organizations. And now she gets to go like, Oh, no, no, wait, I know how to help you do this. This matters to people that work group is going to help you retain employees, I have another look, I look up at the board. Who Who knows exactly what people need to do on social media is happy to look at what they do and like and sit in her expertise and be like, Oh, no, I help you. And I know that you need to help I have. When you sit there, everything gets even easier. Because you're not questioning everything. So you know, this is an important shift. Next week, we're going to talk about getting unstuck. And the week after that, we're going to talk about the scariest one of all embracing failure. So if you have questions about this, send a message to sara@torpeycoaching.com I can't wait to talk about it if you want to do this work, where you show up and learn to fully step into your expertise and use it to make your business more effective and simpler all at the same time. This is the work I do with my one on one clients. This is what coaching gives us this is a big deal. If this sounds terrifying, doing the internal work of this alone and putting it into practice, then come for the accountability in the sport of coaching. I do this I have made these shifts. I have moved from teacher to CEO. That's what I do. I help other people make the same shifts to right now. You can send a message you can go to my website, which is torpeycoaching.com  And you can book a time to connect. And then if you're like, huh, this is really interesting the way she's formatting this. This is all in the book I wrote last year, which is a book of highly visual charts in worksheets this is there's a set of worksheets about expertise in the book. It's called just keep going in you either get it on my website, which again is torpeycoaching.com or you know Amazon you just look up just keep going book in my name which is Sara Torpey and you'll find it there so I will see you all next week for getting unstuck and until then you know have a great week