Why I still Take Professional Certification When I don't Need To
Someone asked me why I still have to study for professional certification? She has some valid points:
- Most clients do not understand the significance of my certification
- No one sees my certificates as nobody visits my office
- I just need to demonstrate my knowledge to my clients and publish on social media
I will use amateur sports players and professional sport players to explain my justification.
A good amateur players might be able to beat 80% of other amateur players. This person may not have a lot of formal training but had played enough games to have good game sense. Enough experience to develop fancy footwork and play styles. Have solid foundations but still have gaps in basic skills.
A professional player has grasped all the foundations. May not have a lot of fancy footwork or styles. Possesses a solid down-to-earth play style, plays professionally. Win ratio is not great as there are other professionals who plays better. However, wins comfortably while playing against amateur.
My aspiration is to be the best in the market. I have encountered many agents who are more experienced and well networked than me. I have lost to these agents many times. To win in the long game is to get all my foundations right. It is the boring foundations that ensures my longevity in the market. I can only achieve that is through education and certification.
Note:
The above post is partly inspired by Brian Scalabrine, retired NBA player. Scalabrine was joked as a low-scoring bench player. He hosted a challenge called "Scallenge" by inviting top college and amateur players to play him one-on-one. He defeated them easily and completely shut many of them out. Scalabrine famously said: "I'm closer to LeBron James than you are to me".