What makes a genius? no, seriously, what makes a person so intellectually adept and exceptionally good at whatever they are doing? Being unfathomably grand so as to be christened the title (of) ‘Genius’?
At times, I look at geniuses like Einstein and think its impossible, that there’s no way I could ever match up to that level of thinking; usually I convince myself in the end that it has to do with DNA. I have been looking for an answer to this question for a long time and after thorough research that pre-dates months, I have gathered what I believe to be integral to becoming a genius.
FEEL MOTIVATED
The first, if not the most important, is motivation; no genius ever comes up with great ideas by not being inspired to think of them. A person needs to feel motivated to achieve something; setting targets for each week or month is a good start. We need to realize that things did not come easy for the people we look up to, they only managed to get where they are by being resilient as well as persistent.
BE YOUR OWN TOUGHEST CRITIC
“Did you write what you believe to be a perfect piece just now? well, news flash, think of something better than that.”
***
“Did you think of something better? good. But still, think of something even better than that.”
***
Many people like myself believe in the perfect first draft of a written piece. However, there is need for self-criticism; really harsh criticism. If it means meditating over a single idea for the course of one day, do so. By being harsh critics to ourselves, and not accepting anything we make as perfect, we will undoubtedly improve.
AVOID BITTERNESS AND THE BLAME GAME
While training , we should avoid feeling hopeless or bitter with whatever we are doing. We should take ‘failure’ as an ‘opportunity’ to learn ways in which we can do things better. Think about it, if we make a mistake today, it just means next time we’ll know what not to do.
AVOID FEELINGS OF CONTENT
Keep pushing, no matter what, even if everything is going well there is always room to do even more. Gratification from success is welcome, however, keeping it to a minimum will help avoid a massive ego.
IGNORE YOUR LIMITATIONS
We need to go past what we believe to be our mental limit. We can never know if an idea is good if we do not take risks and escape our comfort zone.
“The pursuit of greatness never makes logical, “kitchen table” sense… The only way to get there is to go farther, harder, longer than almost everyone else, to push well past the point of logic or reason. If it looked easy or even attainable to most, then many more would get there. That is why ultra-achievers (of whatever age) are also dreamers. They must have part of their heads stuck in the clouds in order to imagine the unimaginable.”
– David Shenk, in the book, The Genius in all of us: New insights into genetics, talent and I.Q.
BE WILLING TO LEARN
We should not feel ashamed for being inspired by other people in our social circle, we could always learn a multitude of things from people that surround us. Ask questions when you don’t know the answer, inquire with others when you’re not sure about something. Patience is key, this process will not happen over night, one step at a time will get us to our intended destination. We need to alter our state of mind and believe that we are capable of greater things. In the end, we need to remember that we all have genius deep within us, all we have to do is bring it out through hard work.
If you want more information try checking out this book:
The Genius in all of us: New insights into genetics, talent and I.Q. by David Shenk.
(All references to the aforementioned book or otherwise are copyright to their respective owners as this entry is purely intended for educational and somewhat didactic purposes)
O.D. 