Did you know you are a genius? You are, naturally. Each of us has a specialized talent for something. This reminds me of a conversation I had with a woman who was lamenting that there was nothing special about her. This 30-year-old woman told me she asked her mother if she had any special talents and her mother replied, “You’ve always been good at coloring!” She was very disappointed until I asked her if she was good at staying inside the lines or maybe even an expert at choosing colors. Those questions got her exploring her Natural Genius and she realized that she was actually fabulous at choosing colors. Thank you to the moms around the world who sometimes unwittingly give us gems!

Here’s some help to identify one of your most precious assets:

·         What is it that you do in nearly every situation?

·         What do you do whether you are paid to do it or not?

·         You do it without thinking or planning.

·         You might do it even if you are asked not to do it.

·         What do friends and family ask you to do “because you are so good at it”?

Your genius is the thing you do naturally. It might be an activity such as organizing things, or it might be knowing what is true or it might be examining chaos to discover a different solution. Take a look at that last criterion because that is often the way people identify their natural genius—other people identify it for them. If you’d like some help with this exploration, you might sign up for my email coaching program at www.yoursecretofsuccess.com/serenity_info.htm. This is a program packed full of useful exercises at a price far less than a month of in-person coaching.

The real trick about Natural Genius is to have a career that utilizes it. That way you know you’ll be very satisfied most of the time. However, be aware that you’ll be grumpy if you don’t get to do it! If your Natural Genius is doesn’t lend itself to a career opportunity, be sure that your pastimes give you a lot of room to utilize it. There’s nothing more frustrating than an unexpressed urge, and your Natural Genius is always urging you.

My Natural Genius is Creating Wholeness. When I see a bunch of things or tasks, I naturally want to organize them into a cohesive something. You might have noticed that when I write these articles, I usually take some event in my life and create a coaching lesson out of it. I’m always trying to make purpose and meaning out of what I encounter. Sometimes this drives my husband and daughters crazy because they might rather have their lives in some disarray and not have me suggest some organizational thing that creates what I think is cool. Actually, as a coach I have to suppress this instinct a bit because coaches don’t tell their clients what to do. But I am totally grateful for this gift because I can always see at least one possibility for a client and help them discover other possibilities for themselves. No dilemma ever seems hopeless.

One of my favorite reactions is when someone discovers their Natural Genius and says, “Doesn’t everyone do this?” It feels so natural that we think everyone has the same gift, when, in fact, very few people have the same Natural Genius. I’d love to have readers post their Natural Genius as a comment to this article. Thanks.

© 2007, Jacqueline Hale