I Dream of Genius: 5 Things You Can Seriously Do To Make Your Dream Come True!

What is a genius and what does it take to become one in your professional and/or personal life?  Let’s toss out the notion that this is about IQ.  Thomas Edison famously wrote “Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration.” Simone de Beauvoir wrote “One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius.”  Genius is related to the Latin verb gigno, genui, genitus, “to bring into being, create, produce.” It is something we all can attain – through intellect, creativity, originality or mastery – and is not solely the provenance of Einstein.

I know they say it killed the cat, but… we’re not cats! Curiosity represents a drive to know new things.  Without this drive, we molder. A corollary to pursuit of curiosity is willingness to make mistakes.  When my son was little, among his favorite books were the “Magic School Bus” series.  The mantra of the series was “take chances, make mistakes, get messy!” The pursuit of your curiosity – and taking chances — is one pathway to genius.

A past boss of mine used to quote from the Apollo 13 movie: Failure is not an option.  Some folks thought this was harsh, yet her meaning was clear to me – the turtle can beat the hare through sheer determination. It takes unshakable resolve to get where you’re trying to go.  In gymnastics we know what separates ordinary from extraordinary is a landing that ‘sticks ’  To be genius at something, we must stick with it from start to finish.

“Imagine ” by John Lennon is a tribute to the power of dreamers. Old blue-eyed Frank Sinatra taught us anything is possible with imagination – even making a cloudy day sunny. Do you let your imagination run loose? Imagination is a muscle which requires daily exercise.  It is a mechanism that inspires us to try new things. Einstein noted: Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions. Given free and frequent reign, imagination will lead to genius.

Why do we keep beating our heads against the same walls and expecting it not to hurt this time?  If your results last year were less than hoped for, this year you’ve got to change something.   If your goal this year is higher than last year, you’re going to have to step it up a notch. If you’re tired, bored and burned out, you can’t keep doing the same thing and simply pray for different results. You can’t rely on others; you must change your own actions and thinking to create an environment that lets your genius shine.

Knowledge is not opinion .  The only way to really know if something works is from experience. You can’t say “I know social media won’t work for us” if you’ve never tried it.  Try it! Don’t spend your time in endless meetings speculating on what may/may not work. Take a chance, and borrow from the genius advertising gurus at Nike.  They understood we can all be athletic geniuses; all we have to remember is Just do it!