I've been reading Deep Work. He talks about how you should minimize work that a grad can do in 3 months. It makes me think about the effort one needs to put in a specific field to be considered an expert.
Aggressively pursue a solution or an approach to a problem with a nearly psychotic focus. Be determined and relentless. If your solution and/or approach is original people will tell you how wrong you are all long the way and even after you have completed the work and proven the original goals. Be persistent and don't let the stupidity get you down. This is more emotionally challenging than it sounds.<p>If your work does everything it claims its value will speak for itself. People will refer to you as an expert once its clear they want the solutions you offer but cannot easily produce the fruits of your work without you.