I’ve made quite a few references to one’s ‘genius zone’, particularly as part of Foundation #1: Self-reflection.

So here’s a borrowed visualization of Gay Hendricks's framework for your weekend or holiday pondering.

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The crux of the concept is to figure out what kinds of activities you’re uniquely suited to do, and minimize your time on anything else.

For some reason, this seems easier to identify in a corporate context…

e.g. “I can manage my team just fine, but I’m much better out there talking to customers.”

Ironically, it’s easier to point it out when we don’t have too much flexibility to design the parameters of our corporate roles.

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Once we’re out on our own, we have complete authority over the work we seek and sign up for...

But we sometimes get blinded by answering “what will people pay me for?” instead of “what am I uniquely good at?”

Of course, you’ll want to land at some overlap of those two questions...

But if you start with where you think the money is, it’s easy to forget the check against your own exceptional abilities.

The ‘Zone of Genius’ framework is there to keep us honest.

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Think through your last month of client work.

Or your menu of designed services.

How much of your time was spent on activities that come naturally, almost effortlessly, to you?

Activities where even your closest domain peers would struggle in comparison?

That’s time spent in your genius zone.

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With monetization aside for the moment, could you imagine a service or niche that focuses on just that one activity?

This is a deep ponder. Take your time with it.

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💡

-Wes

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