Be willing to look foolish
Principle 13 from the Enchiridion
Being teachable matters more than protecting an impressive image. Learning sometimes means looking inexperienced instead of pretending to know.
Original Passage
If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid with regard to external things. Don't wish to be thought to know anything; and even if you appear to be somebody important to others, distrust yourself. For, it is difficult to both keep your faculty of choice in a state conformable to nature, and at the same time acquire external things. But while you are careful about the one, you must of necessity neglect the other.
Modern Interpretation
It can show up in an ordinary moment. Progress does not always look impressive from the outside. If you genuinely want to learn, you may have to look inexperienced, ask a basic question, or stop competing to appear knowledgeable.
Epictetus warns against making your image the center of your life. If other people's reactions are always your guide, looking informed soon matters more than actually learning.
In Practice
In a meeting, the conversation fills up with terms you do not understand. Everyone else seems to be nodding, so you consider doing the same. Instead, you ask.
The question may sound basic. There is no harm in that. You understand the proposal better and no longer have to pretend.
Reflection Question
When was the last time you pretended to understand something because you were afraid to look uninformed?