How To Discover Your Zone of Genius

I spent a decade in my corporate career thinking that I had uncovered my passions. I got paid really well to do things that I was good at so I just figured I hit the sweet spot, right?

But over time, I realized I was coming home from work feeling totally burnt out. I assumed it was because I was a wife, mother of three, and juggling ALL THE THINGS… of COURSE I would be tired.

And then I started hearing about this “zone of genius” concept — a one-of-a-kind unique power that each individual has.

After I studied it, I realized I was spending a lot of my days doing things I didn’t really love, but because I was so good at them, they were masked as things that I enjoyed.

When I finally correlated my burn out to the tasks I was spending my days doing, I had to figure out how to align my life (and business) to things that I’m good at AND the things that I love.

That was when everything changed for me.

The more I discovered my zone of genius and stepped into it, the more my life amplified. I made more money, I made a bigger impact, and I created a life that energized me.

It’s been such a game changer for me that I’m on a mission to help other women discover their own zone of genius, too. Because if you are like I was a few years ago, knee deep in a career, and totally lost in motherhood and marriage, it’s challenging to even know where to begin.

And that’s why most women come to me saying the same thing… “What IS my zone of genius?”

In short, you know you’ve stepped into your ZONE if you could pull an all-nighter doing it and it ENERGIZES you, as opposed to feeling tired.

But the long answer? It requires focused time and energy to dive into.

Which is why I created an exercise for you.

Items Needed:

• Journal
• Pen
• 20 minutes a day for as long as it takes…

Step One: Identify Your Strengths

Think about the job or industry you’re in now. Write down the things you get paid for and the specific tasks that you know you’re really good at. This could be anything from excel spreadsheets, to event planning, to meeting facilitation, to networking. Don’t overlook the things that you think don’t matter (everything matters in this exercise). In addition to the J-O-B, think about other things in your life that you do well. What do people ask you for help with?

Advanced tip: If you have a harder time identifying your strengths, reach out to your closest friends and family, and ask them.

Step Two: Identify Your Passions

Looking at your day-to-day and your life comprehensively, what LIGHTS YOU UP? What do you love to do on your free time? What do you wish you could do more of? Examples could include the standard hobby(ist) time of things; camping, crafting, reading, etc. But go a little deeper. Things like, speaking at events, connecting with people, helping people navigate difficult challenges, forming community, analyzing data, reading about business. Additionally, think about the professions you dreamt about as a child or even a young adult? If they still intrigue you today, what about those professions do you still love?

Step Three: Find the commonalities

Look at your two lists side-by-side, highlight any overlap and similarities. Look at your strengths from a passion perspective; are there parts about some of your strengths that you love or don’t love? For instance, if you’re really good at spreadsheets, are you passionate about it? If so, is it the math that you love or just the organization of the numbers? More importantly, identify some of your strengths that you’re leveraging that really DON’T energize you, and try to start working toward aligning your life without those. This could actually be the first step to working closer to your zone of genius.

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Remember, your zone of genius is unique to YOU. Even if you and I compared notes and had the exact some things written out, the way in which we absorb and deliver knowledge and information is entirely different. The magic we have inside of us is all very unique, but we can’t overlook the things that are sometimes right in front of us.