Become a Genius

Have you ever wanted to do what you really want in life?  Do you feel trapped and constrained in the life you are currently living?  Many of us trudge through lives trapped in unfulfilling jobs or roles in life that make us feel like there is nothing for us to aspire to.  We feel that we must use discipline to train ourselves to do what we need to do to get the job done, no matter how unfulfilling or undesirable it is.  If we are not careful, we can wake up later in life and wonder what we've missed.

In the book, "THE BIG LEAP: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level" by Gay Hendricks, the author, who has served as a counselor to some of the most successful people in the world, speaks about learning how to live in your own "Zone of Genius".  According to Hendricks, your Zone of Genius is the set of activities that you are uniquely suited to do.  These are activities, that when you do them, seem like they take no time at all to do and are effortless.  They seem less like work and more like fun.  Your Zone of Genius draws upon what you are best suited to do; drawing from your own personal strengths.

While many of us navigate through life envious of others who are enjoying success and happiness, we frequently think to ourselves that only the lucky or super-talented ones gain this level of success and happiness.  This is not necessarily so.  The overwhelming majority of these super successful people are no different from us, except that they've learned how to be successful.  And this is not just being in their Zone of Genius.  What they’ve learned is how to allow themselves to become successful and be accepting of their success and happiness.  What does this mean?

Have you ever noticed how some people rocket to success and just as quickly fade from the public view?  Or, after they have achieved success, will do something that will destroy what they have achieved?  Hendricks refers to this as the “Upper Limit Problem.”  This is where a person will allow only as much abundance, success and happiness as they are comfortable with, and if they achieve anything above this comfort level, they will consciously or unconsciously do what they can to bring themselves down to the level of achievement and happiness that they think they are worthy of.

Many people put on the brakes on achieving abundance, success and happiness feeling that they are not worthy of it.  Other reasons that they may not achieve these things are that they may feel like they will distance themselves from those they care about if they become successful.  Or, others may feel like their achievements may outshine those they care about causing them to look or feel bad.   We must become aware that we are “Upper-Limiting” and when we realize this, we can let go of these limiting feelings. 

The biggest tip that we may be Upper Limiting is worry.  If we find ourselves worrying about something we should ask ourselves, “is this a real possibility?”  If the answer is yes, then pay attention to that worry, if the answer is no, then realize that it is simply Upper Limiting behavior and discard the worry thought and continue moving onward and upward.  More often than not, worries are not legitimate possibilities and can be ignored.

So now that we’ve talked about Upper Limits, let’s get to the heart of this article – your Zone of Genius.  How do you find your own Zone of Genius?  Here are some questions to ask yourself that will tell you what your Zone of Genius is:
  1.  What do you most love to do?  These are activities where, when performing them, are effortless and you can do the activity for long periods of time without becoming bored or fatigued.
  2. What work do you do that doesn’t seem like work?  Are there certain things that you do in the normal course of your day that you enjoy doing?
  3. When you do work, what produces the most gain for the least amount of effort spent?  Do these seemingly effortless activities spawn ideas that may lead to huge value?
  4. Lastly, and most importantly, what is your unique ability?  This is the one thing, where if you were able to do this all of the time, would provide the most benefit to you and to those around you.  Your biggest task is to find out what this unique skill is and then get started on making it become a reality.  You deserve it!
 
Just like a key skill can be learned, we can also learn how to be accepting of success, abundance and happiness.  The Big Leap is an excellent book to help us get the most out of our lives.  At RCGS, we highly recommend this book.  Here is a link for this book on Amazon:  The Big Leap.
 

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