There’s a quote that goes something like “If you can’t be a good example, you’ll just have to serve as a horrible warning.”

Many people are afraid to learn something new. They’re comfortable in their current expertise, their current friend circle, their current situation. Trying something new requires us to step into the unknown. And that’s scary.

But does it have to be?

If you’re young, nobody expects you to know anything. So that shouldn’t be scary.

And if you’re old enough to know something, then maybe you can leverage what you already know to make it easier to learn this new thing. It’s an idea you may have heard referred to as talent-stacking. And then that shouldn’t be scary either.

I’ve already stacked a number of skills. I’ve been a nationally certified educator since before most people have their first teenage job. I attended a top-three school in my field, and landed the job I wanted, getting my job offer the business day after my interview. I’ve helped interview others. I’ve continued to grow in my paid field. I’ve leveraged what I know to learn more things. And I keep learning, including following a continuing education podcast for financial planners in their first decade in the field, called “You’re a Financial Planner, Now What?”.

Today I had an opportunity to listen to the most recent episode of that podcast, and was pleased that I knew both the interviewer (Matt Fizell) and the interviewee (Cooper Grady). But imagine how tickled pink I was when I got to serve as the good example for the section on how to nail a gatekeeper conversation! You can listen for yourself, the relevant section is 22:20 – 23:31, where my background in biostatistics means I have a background in understanding and analyzing data, a passion for that, and how it also means I have a strong attention to detail.

Did you serve as a good example today? Or were you a horrible warning? Did you learn or apply something new?