Debunking,The,Myth,Genius,@fon DIY Debunking The Myth of Genius
When starting a new work at home business it is very easy to become consumed by it. We spend so much time trying to get the business up and running that we may end up becoming burned out and lose our motivation. There is so much to learn and Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in
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Whilegenius can correlate to classroom intelligence, its not restricted only toartistic or musical prodigies and the rare brainiac who scores high in math orscience. For instance, you couldpossess an unusually high degree of insight and mastery in social, kinestheticor linguistic pursuits. This view opens up awhole new universe of ways to express genius. The combination of spatial and kinesthetic intelligence can producestar athletes in basketball, pool, skiing and other arenas. Geniuses in using written orverbal language can excel as authors and public speakers. Also, the whole worldbenefits from those who have a special connection with the environment. And we all know someone whoexcels in picking up subtle communication cues, like microgestures and vocalintonation. They possess unique skills that facilitate relationships, so wecall them street wise, sensitive, or intuitive. These social geniuses enjoythriving careers and stable families, using their uncanny self-awareness andability to appreciate the uniqueness of others. In romance, they listen welland have a talent for balancing honesty with respect for their mates feelings. And businesses arerecognizing the value of employees who possess self-control, confidence, andempathy for others on their team. In an office setting, if youcan rock a spreadsheet, you could be an Excel genius. Your boss might team youup with a genius in reading gestures, then take you to a meeting with uppermanagement. As you seek your area ofgenius, recall the times from kindergarten to college that you enjoyedlearning. It was easy. It was fun. You were good at it. And remember the timesothers remarked about an exceptional ability you possess. Your brand of genius couldrelate to: The natural talents youreaware of The subjects were theeasiest to learn and/or the most enjoyable at school What other people tell youthat youre good at What you enjoy doing morethan anything else Where you are doing itmight be more important than what youre doing (e.g., you might prefer outdooractivities like sports, farming, forestry, travel, etc). YourSingular Sensationalness Theconcept of genius is woefully misunderstood, and were living with theconsequences. The most limiting myth of our time is that theres somethingmagicalor rareabout inspired genius. In fact,we all have passion, and passion inspires genius in everyone, all the time.Albert Einstein once said that everyone is a genius. I agree. Anindividual form of genius resides in each and every one of us, waiting to beexpressed. Teachers, parents, business leaders and researchers are beginning torecognize that everyday genius is the greatest untapped resource of oursociety. Truefulfillment comes from sharing whatever flavor of genius you possess, inwhatever way is meaningful to you. Butmost people go through their whole lives never knowing the unbridled joy ofpursuing their passion and expressing their genius. No matter what yourcircumstances, you have opportunities to share your knowledge, your talent, andyour caring. When youre doing whatever you love to do, your life and everyoneelses life is enriched. Whether a chef, a stay-homeparent, an accountant or a world leader, passion is the common denominator thatexalts ordinary work to the level of joyous fulfillment. Everyday genius is aform of passion that has a special intangible quality, the x-factor that takeswork to a higher level. With genius engaged, workdoesnt feel like work. Its nothard or forcedthe ideas and their implementation seem to just flow. Theres aneasiness, a naturalness that makes work more enjoyable. Becausepassion-inspired genius creates everything thats worthwhile and enduring. Iveseen it over and over: when someone has passion, they find whatever supportthey needinformation, finances, even friendshipto create the optimalenvironment for expressing their genius. Ihave witnessed these coincidences so many thousands of times, Ive come tobelieve that theres no such thing as happenstance. Only outcomes based on yourbeliefs about whats possible. Passiongives you the energy to follow through on the opportunities to pursue yourgenius. When youre open to everypossibility, youre looking for them, and youre jumping all over them when yousee them. Leveraging Your GeniusThrough Talents A lever multiplies themechanical force, or effort that can be applied to another object. Commonexamples of levers are a crowbar, a seesaw and a wheelbarrow. Another term for lever is mechanicaladvantage. If youve ever used acrowbar to change a tire or a wheelbarrow to move dirt in a garden, you canappreciate the advantage of leverage. Your intelligence is a formof power, a tool you can use consciously to create meaning in your life. Sowhen you apply the concept of leverage to your personal power, passion isthe lever that multiples the advantage of the intelligent force you apply. In other words, passiongives your genius the leverage to create the best life you can imagine with theleast amount of effort. Passion is boundless,endless, and infinitely powerful. Your passion will guide you to express yourgenius in a way that is meaningful to you. One of the tools ofpassion is your individual group of talents. Youpossess natural talents based on how your brain is wired. Since brains can bewired in an infinite variety of ways, you have a specific group of things youhave a talent for, and all the rest are non-talents. Researchershave identified more than 100 behaviors that reveal how your talents play outin your daily activities. Look athow you think, how you make decisions, and how you implement them. Thesebehaviors will indicate if you have a talent for strategic thinking, conceptualthinking, organization, taking initiative, embracing challenges, socialintelligence, etc. Forexample, if you cant figure out how to get your life organized, you dont havea natural talent for it. Classes and planners wont produce the organization youseek; theyll only leave you feeling frustrated. Sodont waste your time on tools that are designed for people who have anorganizing talent they want to strengthen. Instead,partner with an organizer, delegate the task to someone else, or pay someone todo it for you. The point is to choose a strategy that doesnt rely on youdoing something youre not talented at. DebunkingThe Myth Of Weaknesses Yourdeepest fulfillment in life stems from the passionate expression of yourtalents. But keep in mind that you might not have passion for all of yourtalents. Forinstance, I have a talent for bookkeeping, but I dont enjoy it. I use thetalent to manage my personal finances, but Im not making a career of it. Soyour greatest power comes from building your life around the talents you havepassion for, and finding work-arounds for the non-talents and non-passionatetalents. Itsthrough your choice of how you use your talents that you create your experienceof strengths and weaknesses. Im going to pause here to explode yet anothermyth (you know how I love to do this!). Youdont have strengths and weaknesses. You create them by whetherand how you use your talents and non-talents. Hereshow it plays out with talents: Youcreate a strength when you relyon a talent Youcreate a weakness when you dont leveragea talent Likewise,heres how it plays out with non-talents: Youcreate a strength when you avoidusing a non-talent Youcreate a weakness when you relyon a non-talent For instance,I have a talent for organizing. I get a huge kick out of cleaning out a closet,getting rid of stuff I dont need any more, and tidying up the rest. I usethis same talent to organize my business priorities. But if I dont take amoment at the beginning of the day to use my talent, Ill get distracted. Illspend the day on a project thats fun, but not the most important thing. In theprocess, Ill miss a deadline and end up feeling frustrated. Incontrast, earlier we explored strategies that avoid reliance on a non-talentfor organizing: you could hire an organizer or delegate the task to someoneelse. Thepoint is, when you know what your non-talents are and find a way to render themirrelevant, youll never have another weakness. Wouldnt that be a great feeling? Your confidenceand sense of fulfillment will soar. WhatThe World Needs Now The more kinds ofintelligences you discover inside yourself, the better your life can be. So Idont want to leave this conversation about genius without touching on what Ibelieve is the highest form of intelligence: love. Theability to care for and appreciate yourself is the strongest predictor of truehappiness and fulfillment. Althoughits not taught in school, love is a type of intelligence that can becultivated lifelong. Andthe payoff touches every part of your life. When you learn to love yourself ina highly intelligent way: Your confidence will grow Your ability to trust yourself will growYoull deepen your self-knowledge Youllbe more willing to learn Youll tap into your innate creativity moreYoull enjoy your life more fullyYoull be more understanding and compassionate toward yourself. Butthe bennies dont stop with yourself.When you love, accept and appreciate yourself, its human nature to want toextend that experience to your relationship with others. Solets explode yet another myth of self-improvement: that personal developmentleads to selfish, narcissistic navel-gazing. In all my years of coaching, Ive seen the exact opposite. Loveremoves the obstacles to loving others more deeply and fully. Self-love imbues you with confidence, which dispelsfears about intimacy with others. When youre secure in who you are, youllnaturally want to share the fun. Infact, youll be able to love others in a similar highly intelligent way as youlove yourself. Lets apply this ideato the list above: Your confidence in others will grow Your ability to trust others will growYoull deepen your knowledge of others Youll be more willing to learn about othersYoull encourage others to express their innate creativity moreYoull enjoy your life with others more fullyYoull be more understanding and compassionate toward others. In what ways are you raisingyour love intelligence quotient?
Debunking,The,Myth,Genius,@fon