I have battled imposter syndrome for many years.

Wanting to show up for others to share and teach, I’ve felt like I needed to know everything about the topic I was speaking to — be an expert in the field — to be taken seriously.

Who would want to listen to me if I don’t know all the ins and outs of a particular subject..?

There are plenty of other people they can learn from…

Why would they want to learn from me..?

As I’ve explored ways to create offerings for others, I’ve enlisted the help of various coaches along the way. They’ve all tried to impart the same simple truth:

You don’t have to know it all. You just need to be 1-2 steps ahead of those you are trying help.

This has always made sense logically. But I’ve struggled to truly grok the words. SO many people out there touting the same ideas — box breathing, get your 8 hours of sleep, various habit change techniques, etc etc. Seems like everyone is talking about the same ideas. Why?

Because they work.

But the thing is, everyone has their own personal flavor. Each has a different audience because no one person resonates with everyone. The more people sharing these life-enhancing habits, the more they make their way into the zeitgeist, regardless of who’s sharing them.

Again, this all makes to me logically. But recently I had a chance to experience the phenomenon in real life.

I’ve been working with an incredible human, Erick Godsey, over the last year and a half through a program called Fit For Service.

During this past spring I did his Mentally Fit course, which helped to cultivate a Dharma practice (purpose) to share art with the world. Through the course he shared techniques to train the mind for focus through a practice called Dharma Sprints: 90 minute blocks of intentional, undistracted deep work.

Check out Deep Work by Cal Newport for a deep dive into this topic.

Something Erick shared with the class was his Kathedral — a system to stay organized and consciously plan out each week’s task. It’s a modern day version of David Allen’s Getting Things Done system, that Erick built in Notion.

Once he shared the template and gave instructions on how to get started, I immediately dove in. I’ve been using it for about 3 months at this point.

To put it bluntly, it has been changing my life.

I’ve gotten so much done.

I have a clear view of what I intend to accomplish each week.

And now have a system to collect all the random to-dos or ideas floating around in my head in one place, freeing up my mind to focus on whatever is in front of me.

I’ve experienced more flow states in the last 3 months than I have most of my life.

I fucking love the Kathedral and assumed everyone else in the group jumped on it right out the gate like I did. But as I spoke with others, I started to realize that was not the case. A number of them hadn’t started, and others were struggling to figure out how to implement it. The system feels daunting to a lot of people was the general vibe.

In my pursuits to provide value to others, I began answering questions others asked. I started creating short Loom videos to give walkthroughs to help get them unstuck.

Not entirely sure how it happened, but at some point I started getting viewed as the Notion expert among the group.

The fuck?

I don’t claim expert-level status in Notion. I watched a few YouTube videos to get a basic understanding, which aided in getting comfortable doing whatever tasks I needed to do.

Notion is a beast of a program and I’ve only scratched the surface.

But through spending time in my Kathedral, I’ve gotten pretty comfortable with the basic functionality. That’s all I really need at the moment to add the Kathedral into my workflow without slowing me down.

With a foundational understanding of how Notion works, I was able to study Erick’s videos and reverse engineer parts of it that were not provided with the original template. Then I began customizing to my personal taste.

Fielding questions directly, seeing a desire from others to understand how to use this tool, I saw I could provide value by sharing what little I knew to help others get going.

Our Mentally Fit class is over. But Erick created the Dharma Artist Collective on Skool for us, and others, to stay connected and do Dharma Sprints together.

I’ve offered to host a couple of sprints focused on getting started with Notion.

Last night I did my first one. Only one person showed up. Just jumping in, he was struggling to get everything set up. Through starting where he was at, and asking questions, we were able to establish a good foundation for him to get organized and start implementing this system.

Beforehand, I created a large list of topics to discuss. We only got through a couple of them before he hit information overload. But what we did get through he found quite helpful. Still have so much to share when he is ready.

It was a great learning lesson for me. A real-life example of this concept so many people have tried to get me to understand. I may not be an expert Notion user, but what I do know can help others a few steps behind.

I am sharing the exact same ideas and content as Erick. But maybe my approach lands better with certain people than his. Or I am more accessible to answer questions and walk people through the process, while he is busy working on other projects. It doesn’t really matter in the end. Whether they get set up through his videos, or on a call with me, the result is the same.

It’s a good reminder that getting the official training or certificate isn’t necessary to help others on their path. You don’t have to be a master at the top in order to teach.

Sometimes, it’s easier to learn from someone just one step ahead. Not long ago they were exactly where you are now. The steps which helped them move on are still fresh in their mind. Whereas someone with decades of experience may forget what it’s like starting out, and assume a lot of details are common knowledge.

So, this is a reminder, not just to others but to myself as well:

Teach what you have learned.

Even if you’re not an expert - what you know can help others just starting out. And the way you explain it may click in ways that doesn’t with others.

We are all teachers.

Let’s learn from each other.

With gratitude,

-Andrew Lane

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