You.
I know it can be tough.
In fact, I’ve said before that entrepreneurship has taken me on more of an emotional ride and taught more life lesson’s than I could have ever imagined. I saw major shifts happen when I stepped up to the plate and started owning my greatness in everything that I did. I learned that if I don’t…no one else ever will. True story.
If we’ve been virtual friends for a while you may recall that my law firm was not always called Creative Genius Law. The story of my rebrand is not important right now but why I chose Creative Genius Law as the name is important. I’d been using the term creative genius for a while. My newsletters always opened with “Dear Creative Genius”. I loved the term because it let my peeps know that I acknowledged their greatness. I recognized their genius.
I decided to carry this over as my firm’s name because I wanted to dispel the myth that genius is an elite status. Eons ago someone decided that genius meant you had an IQ score of at least 145. But, why is genius based on performance on a standardized test or other limited-accessibility societal standards? Can’t genius manifest in many different ways? I know that many people in my life are indeed genius. Maybe, they are more creative than the average person, or they saw solutions that were plain as day to them but invisible to others.
One of my latest reads is Seth Godin’s book Linchpin. I literally got chills after just a few pages:
You are a genius. If a genius is someone with exceptional abilities and the insight to find the not so obvious solution to a problem, you don’t need to win a Nobel Prize to be one. A genius looks at something that others are stuck on and gets the world unstuck. So the question is: Have you ever done that? Have you ever found a shortcut that others couldn’t find? Solved a problem that confounded your family? Seen a way to make something work that wasn’t working before? Made a personal connection with someone who was out of reach to everyone else? Even once?
I have a friend and client who can literally create anything with her hands. She can build a desk out of vintage suitcases. She can bake the best, artisanal pies. She can create beautiful, handcrafted t-shirts and turbans. She can create a lovely terrarium plant for your home. She’s gifted in dance and marketing. She’s an art curator and can eyeball art influences in pop culture, and break it all the way down for you. I don’t know what her IQ score is but she is absolutely genius. She is everyday genius. I truly believe everyone is genius, but it’s either untapped, overlooked or misunderstood. It just needs a bit of TLC.
Once we begin to recognize our own everyday genius then we will become more confident and empowered business owners.
We’ll approach business completely differently. We won’t deal with clients who mistreat us, or price ourselves lower because we don’t think we deserve more. We won’t let “experts” convince us of shortcomings that don’t actually exist. We won’t get so bothered by our competition when they mimic us. We’ll celebrate what we bring to this universe that no one else can.