The Expensive Habit of Thinking They Know Better
This weekly receipt issue is special, because something came up while I was doing my daily reflection, a lesson which took me years to identify and learn.
One of the most expensive lessons I have learned in life is this:
Thinking they know better than me.
Thinking: because they have a PhD, because they sound polished, because they market themselves beautifully, because they speak confidently, because they have followers, because they seem successful… that they automatically know better than me.
It took me decades to understand how dangerous that mindset can be.
And perhaps the hardest part to admit is this:
Life kept teaching me this lesson over and over again… and I kept falling into the same hole.
Walking into it. Falling. Climbing out. Walking into it again.
That is exactly what I kept doing.
“They know better.” “They must know something I don’t.” “Surely they are more capable than me.”
I remember purchasing a digital product from a woman I deeply admired online.
She was intelligent. Articulate. Professional. Always in my inbox. Always appearing knowledgeable.
She announced she was selling resell rights to one of her digital bundles for $47.
And because I respected her so much, I purchased it almost automatically.
When I finally opened the files… I was speechless.
Not because the content was extraordinary. Because it was painfully basic.
And for the first time, I had a shocking realization:
“I could have created something better than this.”
That moment did not just sting — it woke me up.
Not because the product was terrible.
But because I realized how quickly I had dismissed my own intelligence simply because someone else presented themselves confidently.
And this was not the first time.
I have done this repeatedly throughout my life.
I had ideas. Creative ideas. Business ideas. Investment ideas.
But instead of trusting myself enough to explore them, I constantly searched for someone “more qualified” to validate them first.
Sometimes I even approached people asking them to partner with me because I assumed they possessed something magical that I lacked.
And now, when I look back honestly… some of the very people I treated like authorities were regularly borrowing money from me.
Yes.
I was asking financial advice from people who could not manage their own finances.
At the time, I did not even see the contradiction.
Because confidence can hypnotize you if you do not have strong self-trust.
I also remember being part of a membership led by a woman who taught about money and financial success.
At one point, I had to wait months to receive $10 she owed me back.
And after speaking with her, I realized she was going through serious financial difficulties herself.
Now, this is not about mocking or putting down people.
Human beings go through difficult seasons; I’ve experienced it personally.
But it forced me to confront an uncomfortable truth:
I had put people on pedestals simply because they knew how to brand themselves well.
And that realization changed something inside me.
I come from a culture where degrees hold enormous weight.
If someone has a PhD, people almost automatically assume:
“They know better.”
And because of that conditioning, there were so many moments where I abandoned my own instincts.
Not because I lacked creativity. Not because I lacked intelligence. Not because I lacked ideas.
But because I believed someone else’s expertise automatically diminished my own potential.
And honestly?
That mindset cost me years.
Years of hesitation. Years of overvaluing other people’s opinions. Years of shrinking myself inside rooms where I already belonged.
Because here is what I finally understand now:
People learn what they know.
That’s it.
Knowledge is acquired. Skills are developed. Confidence is practiced.
No human being descended from the sky already knowing everything.
Consider Henry Ford.
He had no formal education beyond elementary school. When he was once called ignorant in a newspaper, he sued for defamation — and during the trial, lawyers tried to humiliate him with basic academic questions he could not answer.
His response?
He pointed to the row of buttons on his desk and said: “I have a row of electric push-buttons. If I should really WANT to answer the foolish question you have just asked, or any of the other questions you have been asking me, let me remind you that I have a row of electric push-buttons on my desk, and by pushing the right button, I can summon to my aid men who can answer ANY question I desire to ask concerning the business to which I am devoting most of my efforts. Now, will you kindly tell me, WHY I should clutter up my mind with general knowledge, for the purpose of being able to answer questions, when I have men around me who can supply any knowledge I require?”
The man who put the world on wheels did not have a degree.
He had vision, resourcefulness, and the wisdom to know what he did not need to know.
Meanwhile many highly educated people remain financially unstable.
Why?
Because intelligence is multidimensional.
And society often overvalues one form while completely ignoring others:
creativity, resilience, observation, emotional intelligence, adaptability, courage, resourcefulness, execution.
This week while journaling I was forced to confront my old self and how dangerous pedestal-thinking really is.
Because when you constantly assume:
“They know better,” you slowly stop trusting your own mind.
You stop acting on your ideas. You stop building. You stop experimenting. You stop participating.
And eventually you become a spectator in your own life.
The painful truth is I cannot blame any of these people.
They did not force me to idolize them.
I was the one who unconsciously surrendered my authority.
And maybe that is the real lesson here:
Admire people. Learn from people. Study people.
But never place yourself beneath them.
Because the moment you believe someone else is inherently more capable of shaping your life than you are… you begin abandoning your own power.
And that is one of the most expensive mistakes a person can make.
Salima
Just me thinking out loud over here