How to figure out your Zone of Genius
Behind every successful women ... is herself.
NAME: How to live your Zone of Genius and create a bountiful life in business?
I've got a real truth for you. We can’t be good at all things. We can’t even be good at 10 things. But, we can definitely be good at one thing (or for some even 2 or 3).
Today I'll give you some tips on how to tap into your ZOG …Zone of Genius baby! But first I’m gonna ask 3 questions. Read over them but don't answer just yet. Let the answers percolate in the back of your mind for right now as you read the rest of this post.
Here goes….
What are people always thanking you for (yup, thanking you for)?
What do those around you keep coming to you to ask about, that for you, takes no effort on your part to answer or do?
What do you REALLY enjoy doing that you don’t even think about, don’t have to plan it and it lights you up when you think about doing it?
Okay, let these questions simmer for a bit.
Say you’re a lawyer or a physical therapist (insert your job title here). You know you do your job well and it fulfils you. This is your Zone of Excellence. You have the knowledge and the skills to do this work and you do it well.
But what if, at the end of your workday, you can’t wait to go home, put on an apron and cook a gorgeous meal for yourself and your family, with the freshest ingredients, using the coolest appliances and gadgets, tasting here and there to perfect this masterpiece of a meal you’re creating.
Preparing and offering this bounty of food gives you such deep joy and satisfaction that almost nothing else compares.
THIS hon is your zone of genius.
When you’re in your ZOG, you don’t notice the time. Your whole attention has been diverted into this state and time stands still. Your energy is at an all-time high and it’s almost like you’re performing a dance in the kitchen. You are in a complete FLOW state.
Hey...close your eyes right now and imagine yourself doing THAT thing, your thing …awww c’mon, you know what it is. Now go on, close your eyes and indulge your senses. What came up for you? (let me know in the comments below or hit me up by email).
How do you find your Zone of Genius?
It's time to put pencil to paper (or fingers to the keyboard) and start creating some lists.
First, list what you’re good at. You’re competent in it but you won’t be getting the rodeo prize for bull wrangling (is that even what it’s called???). This list includes those things that you can do no problem but if someone else does it, and can do it better, you are good to go and are in a prime position to delegate that sucker (cause it just might be their ZOG right?)
Now 2ndly, list the things you're excellent at. These are things you have the knowledge to do and the skills to carry it out. This is possibly where your job comes into play because you’ve learned how to and have practiced it every day for the last (fill in the blank) years and you prolly get praise for it too.
You’re good at it, but it doesn't light you up, your train’s not moving at any fast clip but hey, it is moving. And, maybe, you even enjoy what you're doing.
I thought this too when I was creative. I’m a former seamstress (2 yrs), quilt artist (18 yrs) and bookbinder (7 yrs) and I thought doing this creative work was working in my Zone of Genius. I was damn good at it, taught others how to do it and, it brought in money. And there’s the rub.
I thought because I was really good at making AND it was making me money I should’ve been happy and content, right? Nope. All these years I didn’t feel lit up.
Now don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed what I was doing and I was good at it but I didn't realize that there could be something more for me. I allowed myself to believe that this was my pinnacle, my highest and best self at work.
I love being creative but I realize now that I don’t love having to make a living at it. Only took the last 25 yrs to figure that out!!! I should have had an inkling of this when I quit quilting cold turkey one year, never did it again and proceeded to flail about for months trying to figure out what was next for me.
Highest and best self ... Highest and best self ... Highest and best self. My mind was always trying to figure this out.
[This would be a good time to have you to check out my posts about finding your Why. It’s really what lead to writing today’s post]
But hold up, we’ve got one more list to get to.
This last list is where your ZOG, your Zone of Genius lies. Go back up and read the 3 questions I posed at the beginning of this post. I'll wait.............
(insert Jeopardy music here)
With these questions at hand, I want you to now list those things you are EXCEPTIONAL at. Yup. HIGH praise for you coming in now cause you know you’re fricken damn good at these one or two things. Remember that 1st question....is there something the people around you keep thanking you for? Tap in there.
Now don’t be shy. No one else need see this list and think you’re bragging but what if…. what if you doing this ZOG thing you do, out loud and in person helps someone or makes the world a better place. Too over the top? I don't think so **she says smiling wide**.
As you list the few things in this category, pay close attention to when the smile comes across your face, cause it will happen. All that good endorphin hormones mojo is lighting up the nerve endings in your brain and along your spine and you feel all tingly just thinking about it.
Okay. Maybe not, but you are feeling real, real good, even giddy at the prospect of even getting to do it.
But hold up! There’s more!
The thing (or a couple of things) on this list should make you feel so damn good you wanna scream. This thing energizes you and elevates your mood like nothing else but rarely if ever, overwhelms or frustrates you. This ZOG thing about you IS YOUR SUPERPOWER, it's that good!
Now I want you to capture right below this list how doing this thing makes you feel. GO FULL OUT HERE
(to tap into that space you might want to take a deep breath first to fully immerse yourself mentally in this ZOG activity).
What gifts are you imparting? What innate power are you able to tap into? Does it make you feel calm and sure or vitalized and rearing to go? Either of these is a real scenario for you when you tap into your ZOG.
Because your ZOG is also about tapping into your Why (which I talked about in this IGTV video).
For me, today, I'm all about knowing and living out my own Why.
You might be saying right now…ok Grace, now what? Glad you asked.
It’s time to begin figuring out how to do your ZOG thing more often. How to make it an everyday thing. One of my jobs as a soul nudger (that happily taps into my ZOG wouldn't ya know) is to help creatives like you discover more of who you are and to help you bring in and find more pockets of JOY.
Knowing your ZOG helps to do just that.
As you’re going about your day, especially if in your life right now you cannot get to doing your ZOG work, think about ways in which you can carve out more time to do that thing that lights you up. I mean really...if it lights you up why not do it more often right?
In the Embody Manifestation Workshop, I hosted in Portland last year it’s one of the things I had participants do …..find ways to manifest those things they want in their life. I had them create a vision board book.
So today I'm encouraging you, with a little soul nudging, to find ways to access your Zone of Genius. The benefits are endless. Trust me. I'm over here in my corner of the world tripping on mine (ha!).
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Btw...if you’re having trouble figuring out what your ZOG is I can help. As your coach, we’ll work to excavate and uncover all the hidden bits of you, including your Zone of Genius so that you can begin to live a fulfilled life your way. Let’s chat.