This article is written by Udemy instructor Emilie Schrevens-Wester and is part of The Entrepreneur Masterclass.
A couple of years ago I discovered that a feeling I had for a long time actually had a definition in psychology. You know this feeling that people you see as stupid seem to act like they know everything? And you feel like you are stupid because you understand all the things you don’t know yet? Yep, that’s the Dunning-Kruger effect, you are not alone my friend!
For a thorough explanation, feel free to visit the Wikipedia page of the Dunning-Kruger effect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect. I’ll make a short version for you.
The more you understand how much knowledge you’re lacking, the more stupid you feel, and it’s normal. On the other hand, people who cannot even grasp the idea that they still have something to learn feel super powerful and smart, they may even be arrogant.
You can avoid being the stupid person by constantly self-assessing and being open to learning. My golden rule is to always be around people as smart or smarter than me, so I always learn something.
The downside of this Dunning-Kruger effect is that you might feel like since there’s so much you don’t know, you might simply be an idiot forever, and you will lose confidence in yourself. Obviously, finding the balance between being open to learning, being curious and having confidence is not something I can teach you here, because it depends on you (and I don’t know you personally, unfortunately), but also because it is something that a psychologist could help you with. I am not able to give you medical advice but I can point you in the right direction.
As an entrepreneur you will always have to ask yourself the following things:
Do I know enough about xxx topic?
What should I focus my learning on?
What do I need to learn today?
You will soon realize you do not need to pay a private coach, a psychologist, or an MIT course to learn something. The internet is your oyster, cheap e-books are there for you, libraries are there for you, free YouTube videos are here for you. 90% of the content that students pay for or advice that a “life coach” could give you is already out there for free on the internet, in books, etc…
Obviously, if you feel like talking to a doctor or therapist, it's better for you to do so.
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