Hi Joe,

I think there are basically two ways to be an "expert"....

One way is the institutional way like Gordon said. Having a piece of paper to put on your wall and write in your resume.... I guess I'm this kind of "expert" in quantum physics, since I have a Ph.D. in this field. BUT, as Gordon said, it doesn't necessarily mean you have a lot of practical knowledge....

I read a story once about a University Professor of Business who went to open his own cafe. It flopped, and he lost a lot of money! He still had to learn from experience like everyone else!

I think after a few false starts, though, he managed to succeed in creating a profitable cafe.... EVERYONE can learn from experience if you see every "failure" as another lesson in life's business course!

I think the other way to become an "expert" is when you might start noticing that you know more about a topic than most others do, and people start coming to you for your advice! I think in this situation, you can probably call yourself an expert too.... :)

Some people do just "call" themselves experts, but there should definitely be some knowledge/experience backing it up. I think Joe Karbo (in "The Lazy Man's Way to Riches") mentioned that, you probably know more about SOMETHING than 50% of the population. That means that to at least the 50% who know less than you do in that topic, you're an expert. I think Joe Karbo was writing about this in the context of writing a book - if you know more than 50% of the people about a topic, then you can write a book to teach it to them. :)

Thanks Joe, this is an interesting topic.... :)

- Dien Rice