Most of the people usually overestimate their skills. We all have a cognitive bias towards thinking that we are better than an average person. But, sometimes overestimating your skills can actually fail you.

Are You Better than an Average Person?

EcommerceBuff Radio Episode 7

Audio Transcript

Hi, guys welcomeanother episode of EcommerceBuff radio.

My name is Oshadee. And I got a question for you. Are youbetter than an average person?

You know, most of the people usually overestimate theirskills. We all have a cognitive bias towards thinking that we are better thanan average person.

In an old Stanford Universitysurvey, 87% of the MBA students have rated their academic skills as better thanan average. Well, you see this ismathematically impossible. So, even though we like to believe that we are betterthan others, it might not be the truth all the time.

I personally like to think that I am better than an averageperson. Because that feeling gives me themorale boost to become a winner. 

But, sometimes overestimating your skills can actually failyou.

For example, it can hold you back from further learning anddeveloping that skill. So, you fail at one point.

So, I have a theory. I always over-estimate my capacity todo things. But, I usually underestimate my knowledge.

This helps me on manydifferent levels.

Now you see, when I over-estimate my capacity, I won’t getfed up doing things. If I came across with a new niche to start an onlinestore, I don’t care that I already run four other online stores. I start thatnew business. If I don’t have time, I stay up little more. But, I don’t feeltired the next day. The reason is I have hard-wired my mind to believe that I have the capacity to do things than an average personcan handle.

That feeling, keeps me going.

Then what about underestimating your knowledge? Well, if youalways think like you don’t have enough knowledge to do certain things; it willmotivate you to learn more.

I never ever think that I know better than an averageperson. It may be about marketing, about Engineering I don’t care. If a 10-year-old teaches something about marketingor Electrical Engineering, I will try tolearn something new from them.

Over time, I havetrained my mind to think that I don’t know much. So, if I got stuck doingsomething, rather than thinking like that thing is impossible, I feel likemaybe I should learn more about that field. Thatmakes my mind not to quit my work.

I found this method is particularly useful when you start anew business. You know when you start a new business, it is impossible for youto know everything beforehand. You have to learn tons of new things while you arerunning your business. So, what would happen if you over-estimate yourknowledge? And, what you happen if you underestimate your capacity?

So, most of the time it is better to overestimate your capacity and under-estimate your knowledge.

Don’t you think so? Comment below and let me know what you think about over or underestimating your skills.

We’ll see in another episode of ecommercebuff radio.

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