the genius method

When I talk about genius, I am not talking about high intelligence, although intelligence is a part of it. I am talking about something much more. I am talking about the impulse to create that we as human beings share. It is the creative force which bends reality and moves the human race forward.

It is an impulse that cannot be denied. We are hired-wired to create. We have to express ourselves. All the time. In new and innovative ways. Otherwise, we stagnate. And, we start to fall apart. Betty Friedan called this dynamic the “problem that has no name,” e.g., the Feminine Mystique. But, men experience it as well. We each are here to bring something to life. To give the infinite physical expression.

Sometimes, we ignore this call. We get lured by the attraction of material things and superfluous experiences. We forget why we really are here. We get lost. And, to find ourselves, we sometimes create very painful and dramatic wakeup calls a la Lamar Odom.

Sometimes, we redirect the call and get so caught up creating for others that we stop creating for ourselves. And 20 years down the road, we wonder what happened. Where did our dreams go? Is this all? We feel a deep sense of dissatisfaction. A loneliness that no one can fill. A soul emptiness that tears at every fiber of your being.

Sometimes, we heed the call. And, magical things happen. We take the leap of faith and jump into the abyss. We dare to envision something new. To dig deep. To come back to life.

It is no easy task. And like giving birth, it can be a painful process. It can take a physical toll. It can take a psychic toll. But, it is something you have to do.

You will be challenged in ways you never imagined. And, you will want to retreat. You will feel it in every cell of your body. You will purge every limit, fear, invalidation, and judgment from your body. The psychic detox often is not easy.

You are clearing old, stagnant energy in order to make room for the new you. It will feel unfamiliar and maybe even scary. You will feel vulnerable. Tender. It’s what we call a growth period.

Don’t stop. Embrace it.

And, listen. Listen to the call. You are expanding in new directions. You are in the process of birthing something new - of unfolding a new part of yourself. Focus on this. And, allow it to come forth.

Listen. Follow the creative urge.

Feel the exhilaration. Listen. And, go. Go where authenticity and integrity take you.

4 GENIUS PRACTICES TO re-GENIUS YOUR LIFE

Genius is a creative force. It is a living thing in the human psyche. A timeless obsession. It’s the source of our inspiration, our wisdom, our imagination, our passion, our creative spark. Genius is our drive to give the infinite and universal finite and individual expression - to transform a pure idea into physical reality. In sum, genius is the innate, intense, irresistible, irrepressible, imperious impulse to CREATE.

And, genius is the thirst to CONTRIBUTE. Genius is the desire to make a difference in people's lives - to make things better because it makes us better. Because, it makes the world better.

Throughout history there are men and women who embody this creative spirit. We know them as Geniuses. They are the stubborn souls to whom every significant development is attributed.

Here are 4 Genius Practices that you can adopt in order to live a genius life.

LIVE YOUR PURPOSE

“Make your work to be in keeping with your purpose.” ― Leonardo da Vinci

Align your work with your higher purpose and with the values of the people whom you serve. Create communities that share a sense of purpose, values, and rules of engagement. And, focus on contributing to the larger whole.

Geniuses know that they are here to bring into reality something innovative and transformative that no one else can. They are armed with an idea that needs to be transformed into physical reality. And, they have a deep desire to help humanity. They are filled with purpose. This purpose guides their every move.

WORK IT

“Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Do not bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.” ― William Faulkner

Strive to do great work. Do not settle for mediocrity. Pay attention to details and create a great product even if it means long hours and even if it means challenging those around you to step up.

Geniuses are wildly ambitious. They take great pride in their work and do what it takes to produce great work and provide the best service. They approach their projects with single-minded intensity and give it their all. They stay focused on the goal and expend as little energy as possible on everything else.

STAY DETERMINED

“Determine that the thing can and shall be done and then... find the way.” ― Abraham Lincoln

“When it’s obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the actions steps.” ― Confucius

Make the decision that you are going to do it no matter the physical and psychic toll.

Geniuses are determined to succeed. They have a high tolerance for failure - which they see as a learning process not as defeat. They learn, adjust, and keep going until they have it.

TAKE ACTION

“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” ― Leonardo da Vinci

“Action is the foundational key to all success.” ― Pablo Picasso

Engage in wild experimentation with a bias toward DOING over thinking.

The truth is that we are creative beings by nature. We are imbued with the impulse to create. Unfortunately, our systems are not built to support the creative spirit.

We live in a world that stifles the creative impulse. From an early age, we are programmed not to rock the boat, not to question authority, not to surpass the lowest common denominator. Instead, we are ordered to do what we are told, to be quiet, to adhere to the status quo, to follow the path of least resistance.

It causes us to shut down our imagination, intuition, curiosity. It kills our creative spark. And, it chips at our soul.

In this age of increasing interdependence and diversity, this practice no longer serves us. Fostering the ability to create (ideate, innovate, achieve results) is more important than ever. We have to dig deep to unlock our inherent genius - the storehouse of our innate impulse to create and to contribute in order to stay not only stay competitive, but to preserve our environment, further human rights, and advance human evolution.

SHAKE THINGS UP Entertain creative disruption. Don’t wait for something dramatic to happen as a wake up call. Force change to happen on your terms. Create the space to entertain new ideas and possibilities. Do whatever it takes to bust out of your creative rut and to push things forward. Identify what makes you uncomfortable and go and do it. Living in a constant state of challenge creates new neuropathways in the brain and promotes  brain plasticity and superfluidity.

EMBRACE DIVERSITY Surround yourself with diverse people. If your social or professional circle mirrors who you are, you probably don’t have a lot of perspective. People from the same backgrounds tend to see things in a similar fashion, operate from the same assumptions, and thus arrive at the same conclusions. To stir things up, invite people from diverse backgrounds into your creative circle. Cultivate an atmosphere supportive of the collective genius in which ideas are exchanged and challenged through rigorous intellectual, but polite, discourse.

When a person’s entire being is stretched in the full functioning of body and mind, whatever one does becomes worth doing for its own sake. 

"Some people wait until they are provoked by [external] forces to change, until their cages are rattled for them and their hand is forced," says Wahl. "Artists don’t wait to be rattled only from the outside. They provoke themselves first, and then the people around them, in order to constantly imagine new possibilities. They instigate change even when it doesn’t seem necessary."

                                      THE GENIUS MINDSET

   Leonardo da Vinci is the global archetype of genius. He was highly accomplished in a variety of fields including architecture, anatomy, botany, music, athletics, city planning, engineering, invention, philosophy, painting, geology, military strategy and science, geography, and others. His accomplishments, however, did not come easily. da Vinci faced many challenges throughout his life. But, through it all he persevered and accomplished great things. The secret to his genius?

da Vinci believed that a positive mindset, combined with action, was essential to success.

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things."

To stay motivated, da Vinci practiced repeating empowering messages (affirmations/auto-suggestions) to deprogram self-defeating thinking and reprogram his mind). Here are a few auto-suggestions, he used to empower himself mentally as an active creator of his life. By practicing these, you can re-wire your brain (create new neural tracks), create a genius mindset, and unlock your full potential.

I do not depart from my furrow.

Obstacles do not bend me.

Every obstacle is destroyed through rigor.

I shall continue.

Insist upon yourself. Be original.

We each are creators, but we are not all creative. 

Creation is the act of giving rise to something that has hitherto never existed in the world.

Creativity is how we dance with creation. It entails ingenuity, uniqueness, surprise, energetic innovation, radical departure, unorthodox moves, the wow factor.

The days of top-down authoritarian/dictatorial leadership are over. Today’s increasingly interconnected and diverse world call for a different leadership style - this new leadership not only permits but encourages empowerment, independence, experimentation, autonomy, passion, and the pursuit of excellence. It encourages the genius - the cornerstone of innovation and thus profitability - of the individuals who make up the organization.

Genius generally is recognized as exceptional creativity, originality, and intellectual ability. But, genius is more than that. Genius is the creative force inherent in each of us. It’s the source of our inspiration, our wisdom, our imagination, our passion, our creative spark. Genius thus is the innate, intense, irresistible, irrepressible, imperious impulse to CREATE and genius is the thirst to CONTRIBUTE.

In leadership, genius begins at the individual level. A leadership genius is a person who is exceptionally talented in his area of expertise and who is stubborn in his pursuit to bring excellence to the organization.

A leader genius is great at making things happen, but he knows that he cannot do it alone. He needs the support of the people who make up the organization - the managers, employees, and ultimately, the customers. People are a resource filled with creative possibilities and the brilliance to make them a reality. Genius, in other words, exists within each us and and jump started correctly can be the turbo charger of excellence and the key to competitive advantage.

At the collective level, leader genius bestows the team with a great generosity of spirit - freedom and permission to spark their own genius. A leader genius facilitates the process of employees creating and delivering their best by removing organizational barriers and bureaucratic obstacles and creates an environment in which they can thrive, be recognized, and compensated for their efforts. In addition, he inspires the team by cultivating excellence in the service of shared values and a mutual sense of purpose.

The best way to achieve innovation is through the radical collaboration of diverse groups of people.

To unlock the collective genius: Bring together talented, knowledgeable, and hard-working individuals with diverse cultural, economic, and academic backgrounds and life experiences. Their unique interests, insights, skills, talents, and problem-solving approaches will generate a broad portfolio of ideas.

Create new situations that force the team out of old behaviors and catalyze new patterns of interacting.

To unlock your individual genius: Go to new places Connect with diverse people Expose yourself to new experiences Explore art, food, music, etc., from different parts of the world

Let Your Freak Flag Fly!

GENIUSES THINK IN OPPOSITES

Geniuses have the ability to entertain polar opposites - both ends of a given the dichotomy. This gives them access to the full range of the creative spectrum.

When you can have both ends of a given dichotomy, your energy is free to move within that entire creative spectrum and you have freedom to create what you want.

Conversely, if you only can entertain one side of a given dichotomy, your energy is stuck there. That’s the only information that you can access.  It’s a very limited space.

Practice entertaining opposites. You may start to see relationships between seemingly polar opposites that you hadn't seen before and you may experience breakthrough insights.

It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees.

Es mejor morir de pie que vivir de rodillas.