Heal Yourself
“Physician, heal thyself” is a quote you may have heard before. It refers to dealing with your own issues and difficulties before you go about trying to solve the world’s problems. No one wants to take advice from someone who hasn’t done what they’re teaching. Entreprenuership professors who’ve never owned a business, coaches who never played the sport, etc. What’s the point, right?
Granted, I can’t be expected to teach something I’ve never done myself. But, what if I’ve done something poorly, infrequently, or only once? Can I teach then? It seems to me that, in my experience, I’ve learned an awful lot by teaching other people. You only need to read one chapter ahead in order to know more than your students, right?
If both you and the person you’re teaching approach the relationship with eyes wide open, I think that teaching something that you know very little about can be a good thing. First of all, you as the teacher need to be willing to go the extra mile to make sure you’re studying relevant sources and gaining expertise from credible experiences. Once that’s assured, however, you’ll reinforce what you yourself are learning much more thoroughly by sharing your newfound knowledge with someone else.
Of course, if given the opportunity, it’s always best to learn from someone who’s done what you’re trying to learn how to do. Who would you rather learn how to throw a football from: Joe Montana, or your grandma? But, in the absence of opportunity to get close to a true subject matter expert, and concerted effort to learn all you can, and then impart it to someone else, will get you far down the road toward becoming a true authority in your new field of study.
