A group of professionals gets on a weekly video call to report on progress. They’ve been in countless similar meetings in their careers – but this time it’s different. The progress they are reporting on is for themselves – not for any project or goals defined by their current employers.
They are in a program called Step Into Your Genius, which uses the results-focused energy that they normally pour into their jobs and directs it to the questions: “what do I want next, and what do I need to do differently to get it?”
The program is designed around a signature innovation “springboard” process of Know-Apply-Assess-Repeat that ensures immediate success that grows over time. The process seems simple:
KNOW.
(1) Ask the right question: what do you want to create for yourself next?
(2) Define the real value that it will bring to you and those around you. (This will see you through when you have doubts!)
(3) Pick one best action to take next.
APPLY.
Do it. Whatever that next best step is, just get moving. Apply what you know and the action you’ve decided to take and see what happens.
ASSESS.
Now pause. Allow space for results to happen. Be honest about what you’ve learned, check in with others to get their perspectives, and decide what the best *next* step is.
REPEAT.
After getting clear on what you KNOW, then APPLYING and ASSESSING it with some skill, you will KNOW something new. Celebrate, take notes, and start from what you KNOW again. What you know now is different than what you knew when you started.
Step Into Your Genius adds expert and peer support to this innovation learning cycle along with guided homework and advanced skill building that helps the members break old patterns and beliefs that crop up as they move through the process.
When used consistently, these steps rewire your habitual thinking into an “innovation mindset” that carries you forward toward what you want to create.
Here is a glimpse into what they are creating:
Rhonda, who has more than 40 years of experience in water quality engineering and a long list of leadership positions and accolades to go with it, emphasizes life-long learning and the benefits of getting a “refresher” to keep developing personally throughout your life. She says:
“In terms of what this can do for people, ‘stepping into your genius’ is also opening yourself up to listen and talk to your whole self. Your body, your brain, your emotions. Everything. The physical and the emotional and the mental.”
Lisa is in her late 40s and has reinvented herself and her career several times, most notably as an award-winning copywriter across the high-stress retail, online/tech, and financial industries. She is looking to combine her experience in writing and personal training to build a business coaching 40+ women in strength and fitness. She says:
“I think it’s useful to start where you are and uncover things as you go. I prefer that method because it gives me a better feeling of progress and forward motion.”
Mara is on a medical leave from her software company and continues exploring balance in her life by asking what it is she loves about her volunteer work. She says:
“I want to help kids with early neurological injuries reach their optimal potential. I want to have a life that supports where I and my children are right now. I want to feel healthy, energized, and enlivened by my daily activities, that what I’m doing matters and that my girls can see that in my day to day activities and in how I relate to them and to others. I envision a life that is more integrated, such that my work feeds my spirit, and as a result, my physical and mental health naturally improve, I can parent with more ease, find a sustainable rhythm to our days, weeks, months, and years. I’m in it for the long haul. Already, with small shifts I’ve made, I find myself cooking more, walking the dog more, being around the house more. And, I envision doing that on an ongoing basis, not just for rushed evenings and compressed weekends.”
Becca, in her 30s, is a 4th grade teacher and award-winning stage actor in New Orleans. She is combining these passions into one pursuit: medical clowning. As she continues to hone her acting, writing, and production skills, she is also fundraising to create her own 501(c)3 and volunteering in local hospitals to perform in the children’s ward with her medical clowning partner. She says:
“This is a way to learn more about yourself so you can make the necessary changes in your life. Listen to your sadness or your boredom; they are messages from change.”
These professionals lead busy and very different lives, and they come together with a common commitment: to define their next success by their own standards. They ask similar questions, such as, “How long do I stay where I am, and when will I know to take a bigger leap?” Each of them has also gotten very honest about what is holding them back. They speak about anger, “getting out of my own way,” feeling stuck, struggling with comparison and the expectations of others, financial concerns, “staying calm and centered in my high-energy life,” and more.
What’s different now, though, is that they stand right in those fears instead of avoiding them. They give themselves permission to be curious and imperfect and use the springboard approach. Watch out, world.
For an introduction to Step Into Your Genius and related programs, visit erinmosley.com Feature and Programs.
Originally published at erinmosley.com