What Is Your Why? | Your Zone Of Genius
I first read about this on Whitney English’s blog. This was first written about by psychologist Gay Hendricks in his books The Big Leap and The Genius Zone. He works in the field of personal growth and these books are about ending negativity and thriving genuinely.
Your Zone of Genius speaks of an area or thing that you excel in - you do it so well and somewhat effortlessly that it leaves others in awe. Your zone of genius is where your creativity flows freely and you are actively pursuing things that give you great satisfaction and are fulfilling to you. It’s where your greatest passion meets your natural talents.
It doesn’t have to be something you monetize.
It can just be something you enjoy. And it can evolve and grow! We are always learning and experiencing new things. Sometimes it’s right in front of you but you just don’t see it, or haven’t realized it yet. The good thing about being our age is that many of us can be in our zone, without having to monetize it. Or at least we’re closer to that happening.
Here’s a simple Venn diagram of the concept. I started to think about it, as relates to my own life. And what if everyone could reach this within THEIR lives? How amazing that would be!
Why am I talking about this at our age? I mean if we’re going to realize this zone thing, shouldn’t we have realized it by now? Not necessarily. This blog is focused on the reinvention and repurposing and re-evaluation, that happens to many of us as we experience changes and loss in our lives. (And who says I don’t have a bunch of millennials reading too?)
Maybe you’ve been looking for your “why” for awhile. Or maybe you’ve been so busy working or raising kids your whole life, you never had any time to think about it! Now that you have the time, maybe you can think about it and look for new purpose. Is your “why” to be a success in some way? Why are some people so driven? Who gets to decide your success?
I was searching for my purpose- my “why’ - even before the loss of my son, and I kept coming up with nothing. I had decided that it was to just be a good mom. When that was stripped away, I really started having trouble. What IS my why?
Things I Love…
Talking & Writing & Reading
Clothes - Fashion & Style!
Gardening - not yardwork - there’s a difference…
Finding things - I love to find and give thoughtful gifts - I want to surprise and excite!
Shopping for things that others will like and buy (I was a buyer for three stores)
I’m a Creator - I’m not an artist, but I love to color, decorate rooms, arrange flowers, bake, wrap presents, paint furniture, dabble in artwork, make things, decorate things……
Traveling
Fonts and Graphics
Making people laugh
Things I’m good at…
Writing
Organizing
Planning
Visualizing
Finding & Picking - I can usually spot a best-seller!
Overthinking ;) Perfectionism :/
Staying Focused & Follow Through
Many of the things that I love, mentioned above
What does the world need…?
Maybe the world needs ladies of certain age to talk to each other and be proud of how far they’ve come in this life? A place of discussion for reinvention and moving to another stage in life where we say “what now?”
Maybe we need sources of information to make our lives easier and introduce us to new things/places/people?
Maybe we need to discuss staying relevant as we age, and promote ourselves in a culture that won’t embrace aging, besides some measly lip service. Women over 55 account for a huge amount of buying power and have so much more to contribute in other areas.
We need more people to talk about grief - there’s no maybe about this one - and to help people manage theirs or help others. Our culture is horrible at handling this.
How to Find your zone of genius?
Ask yourself these questions…
What am I great at? What doesn’t feel like work when I do it? What excites and energizes me with no effort? When am I “in the flow” with such focus that I lose track of time? (write down why if you can)
What do I want to share with people - with or without getting paid?
What kind of skills or assets do I have that can work with these answers?
What are my values? How can I advance them?
When I answer these questions, what do I feel in my gut? Where is this taking me?
When I read the article and questioned myself, it led me back to this blog. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for so, so long. I first talked about it in 2011. I had no idea how much work it would be, and I do have lots of irons in the fire, but I keep coming back to this. I will sit down to work on this, and look up and it’s five hours later. 😬
One of the biggest hurdles that I face, and others may too, is having time to do the things that I enjoy, all those things I mentioned, and having time to blog about them! But such is life. I tell myself that it shouldn’t be a problem if I want to do so much? And you can always incorporate your zone of genius into whatever it is that you are doing. I find myself doing that all the time.
What is your “why”?
Is it something you’ve always known and done, or did you have to search for it? Or have things changed in your life and your “why” has changed too?