Ever since I started speaking about Joyful Genius, the big challenge people have had with it is a reluctance to claim to BE a genius. As soon as you start talking about being a Genius, people immediately think of the Einstein archetype. Hyper-intelligent, something that is only for the seriously special.
So for a long time I’ve talked about claiming instead to HAVE a genius. It’s an easier claim, but to be honest you still risk people thinking you’re getting a bit above yourself. These days I tend to think more about ACCESSING Genius, and this is why.
What is Genius?
Let’s start by considering what Genius actually is.
- Comes easy
It implies an exceptional ability to do things that others can’t. That makes people who can use or access Genius must be unique and special. Which makes it tricky to claim your Genius without seeming big-headed. - Brings joy
Being able to do something exceptionally well is a wonderful feeling. Especially when it’s something that fulfils your purpose and gives meaning to your work. - Talent and skill
It typically requires a natural talent AND a study of techniques to develop and refine that into a skill. Watching footballers dribbling a ball in my local park recently made me realise they weren’t just able to do that. They spend hours each week honing their skill. - Natural state
As children, before we’re told what we can’t do, it’s natural for us to express our Genius. It’s our natural state, before grow up and we get adulterated by societal demands, like fitting in and don’t get too big for your boots. - “A gift”
While it may involve using our gifts, even gifted individuals need to work at it to make the most of our Genius. But while you may be working hard at it, it’s not hard work. - Force of nature
I believe Genius is a force in its own right. Something that sits outside of us, in the universal field of all that is. I think the Genius exists for everything that is ever needed in the world, it’s just waiting for the right person to wake up to knowing how to access it.
Claim your genius when it’s needed
Emerson had it right when he wrote in The Method of Nature: “When Nature has work to be done, she creates a genius to do it.”
For me, that always conjures up images of Mother Nature sitting up there somewhere, muttering in a slightly exasperated fashion:
“Silly humans think they’re at the centre of the universe. Galileo Galilei, Copernicus, here’s the bit of Genius you need for that one”
“Oh good grief, some humans think their pale skin makes them superior! Ms Parks, Reverend King, do your stuff!”
“Wow, all this knowledge, and they’re so bad at sharing it around the world. Tim Berners-Lee, would you mind?”
“Hmm … humans seem to have forgotten they share the planet. Greta Thunberg, here’s how you get them to sit up and listen, off you go dear.”
You don’t own your Genius
So, we have this universal field of ability, and Nature provides bits of it to various individuals, as required. What that means is you don’t HAVE a genius, you just ACCESS it. It’s not something in you, but it is something OF you.
What I mean by that is that you do possess a unique way of accessing it, or perhaps a unique ability to access and apply a specific part of it. But we don’t own the genius itself, that’s on loan.
The humility of Genius
What I love about this way of looking at Genius is that it completely does away with the hubris of claiming to BE a genius. It doesn’t even require you to think you’re potent enough to tame Genius so you can own a part of it. It’s simply that you’ve been given a unique way of accessing Genius to bring it into the earthly plane where you can do cool stuff with it.
Your unique set of experiences, learning, natural talents, upbringing and attitudes allows you to access and use genius in a way that ONLY you can do. That’s important.
If I don’t do my Joyful Genius stuff, something doesn’t happen. My friend Dave Cordle may be able to do something similar with his career management expertise. Colin Newlyn may address a similar issue to me with his campaign to decrapify work. And Terry Peers may unstick people with her remarkable ‘Business Whisperer’ talent for magicking up the patterns of success in a business. But none of them can access Genius in quite the way I do. And I can’t access it like they can.
Claim your Genius
That means none of us gets to claim to be THE genius, we’re all accessing Genius in our own special way. So while we are each the absolute genius for our respective ideal clients, every single one of us is needed for the world to work at its best. And so are you. Because none of us is the right genius for the clients who need your specific little slice of brilliance.
So my challenge to you is to figure out which part of Genius you’re here to access. And then go claim that for yourself.
And for the world.
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Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash
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