Genius is just a Word

I'm not sure why new people continue to join this list, or where they are coming from.

But maybe it is the simple idea that far too many things in this world are telling you what to do, instead of how to be.

There is nothing that you can simply do that will bring you forward in the way that you're hoping.

But in being, differently, everything changes over the long run.

And everything changes because the way you look at the world determines how you respond to it.

And the truth is there's nothing special about any one person aside from their perspective, aside from how they are.

Because how they are, determines what they do.

And genius, the very idea of genius is wrongly licensed.

Everyone has the ability in them to be considered a genius in the field of their choosing.

Einstein's genius was in the field of physics, but could Einstein paint?

Was he a genius with women? Was he a genius chef?

And the genius chef, who makes something so incredible that people travel around the world just to go to his restaurant, what does he know about Astrophysics? In a room full of physicists, he's a complete idiot.

Remember, Einstein was likely a fool in everything other than his field of science or math. He even had someone else help him with the math part because he wasn't as great at it either.

So obviously I'm not saying Einstein wasn't intelligent. Just that genius is relative to whatever field is being judged, and that's why we all have the ability to be a genius.

We just have to find our field.

But once again, genius is not something that you do. A great chef can hand me a recipe, and I can make one meal that is half as good as when they make it, but then I can only make that meal. I've missed the entire point, the full beauty that comes from creating my recipes from my heritage, or from fielding ingredients, testing and bringing something crazy and new into the world.

So, sure, everyone can be given recipes.

But these recipes don't take us where we want to go. And a recipe, even from a genius, is not the way to become a genius yourself.

What's special about the genius is everything outside of that recipe. The recipe is really a small output that comes from something else that's hard to define.

But that's what we study over and over again. We study the morning routines and the "sales process" or whatever.

What if it was easier to simply find an area that you truly have a command over; that comes to you naturally rather than to always be searching for new recipes?

Could it be that you will have more success if you do what's easy for you instead of doing what's hard?

And I don't mean that you will not spend time, or invest your full self into something and work at it.

I mean, quit walking into the physics club if you are a chef! Because all you will do then is feel sorry for yourself.

It's better to go where you already possess some magic, and then hone that. Become a star in a particular field that only you are playing in. Use the diversity of your background to invent a new category where it is you that fills it.

Where is it that other people are asking you for recipes?

So this is why it's better to be than to do. You can spend countless, limitless hours doing. But if it's done as a follower of recipes in a field that doesn't suit you...

Well, that's likely what we've been doing.

And maybe you're still looking for what genius you possess? But the truth is, this part happens alone. It definitely won't come from getting advice from other people because this is such an internal search and understanding. And not only that, people will only try and put you into a category that they understand, and likely well-trodden paths whereas you're looking to pave a new one!

What is your easel! What is your canvas? Is it taking political commentary and turning that into a painting (like Jim Carrey?) Is it taking what goes on in the office and turning that into a comic (Dilbert)? Is it writing a script based on the nuclear family of the 50's and 60's mixed with commentary about the advertising field? (Mad Men).

These are all very specific.

But what you realize is that when you find it, it's just a mirror of you.

Whatever area your genius is available, the quality of the art and the work is a reflection of the quality you've found in yourself.

Genius is a mirror. It's a reflection of all your interests and your personal development and growth.

The trying this, doing that, that's a commodity. It's a waste of a real opportunity.

But developing yourself in such a way that the dust from your mirror can shine, that's your genius.

Seeing the world the way you do and then reflecting that into your craft, that's art.

This is your opportunity, everyone's opportunity, to be genius.

Xx David