When there’s a lot of bad advice on a certain topic, you won’t be surprised to find me writing a post like this to straighten stuff out.
You’ve probably heard people talk about a genius zone before; but for the uninitiated, your zone of genius is said to be the intersection between:
Your innate talents + your purpose
Find yourself square in the middle of these two and you’ll feel as if you’re doing exactly what you were born to do. You’ll be in complete flow, you’ll create the best work of your life and it won’t even feel like work.
Sounds awesome, right?
Part of my work with my clients is to help them identify their own zone of genius to set them up for success in monetizing their life’s mission.
Now here’s where I find most people are making a mistake.
Most advice focuses on using one of two ways to identify your genius zone:
1. Wait for clarity to strike — cue angels singing from the heavens
2. Test and experiment to see what sticks — hello wall of spaghetti
I disagree with both of these approaches because trying to FIND your zone of genius robs you of the possibility of CREATING your zone of genius.
Here’s what I mean.
If you’re like a lot of Millennials, you’ve got a degree, had some work experience, and had a couple of hobbies in your time
…but truth be told, you’re still a pretty undifferentiated amoeba.
Being an undifferentiated amoeba is both a fabulous opportunity and a crippling cause for indecision.
You have the potential to develop almost endless numbers of “genius zones”. In a world where everything is learnable, you can become an expert in anything you want simply by accessing the internet.
And this is where I believe so many people miss the point.
You no longer need to go searching or experimenting. You can simply choose the thing you want to be badass at, and then go learn how.
Ever heard that hard work trumps talent? That’s exactly what I’m getting at here.
So if you feel you have zero potential for being a genius, I’m here to tell you that that’s codswallop 😉
Now this does not mean to say that the more traditional method of experimentation and reflection isn’t valid.
This still has its place, which is why I share a seriously effective way of getting clarity on your own zone of genius right now in this other post.
Originally published at medium.com