When I was young my father took me to the speech of an important somebody-or-other.

As Mr. Well-Known approached the lectern dad leaned over to whisper: “Now just watch, the first word out of his mouth will be ‘I.'”

Do you think, pulling the microphone towards himself, grabbing the time and space as his, and living up to my father’s prediction, this big-shot began: “I want to speak to you here today  . . .?”

He did.

And yet if, as Scott says, an expert is someone who’s made every mistake, then the training ground to get over self-import offers itself to each of us every moment of every day.

I have worked at my expertise every day since my father leaned over to whisper in my ear, will practice it again today and tomorrow too.

The real lesson is this: Where ego was, there shall god be.