PebbleStorm
Unique Genius
PebbleStorm - Your “Unique Genius”
What’s your (or your company’s) Unique Genius? What is that special, unique combination (your twist) of talents that you enjoy practicing, are great at, and are framed in a way that is meaningful to others? What is your Unique Genius? For example, "I help people make money through enjoyment."
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? Your Unique Genius inspires you, inspires others, and gives your dream business power and direction. If your dream business is a vehicle, Unique Genius is the limitless fuel that powers it. Unlocking your Unique Genius is a key part of manifesting and growing your dream business! A Unique Genius is similar or the same as a life purpose, but I specifically like “Unique Genius” because it emphasizes that 1) everyone is unique in their own way, and brings their own “voice” to life and work, and 2) people do have a special talent(s), a genius, even if they don‟t recognize it yet. WHY UNIQUE IS GOOD BUSINESS It's hard for new companies with generic-sounding products or services to create inordinate wealth or success - because so many other companies are doing things that appear to be so similar. You have to stand out from the crowd. Companies often describe themselves as broadly as possible, attempting to make themselves open to the broadest number of customers. The problem with this is that it usually makes them sound more generic, diluting their differentiation and uniqueness….and making it 1) harder for customers to find them and 2) to decide to do business with them over their competitors. It also reduces word-of-mouth referrals the more generic the company is, because the „message‟, the „specialness‟, doesn‟t stick in peoples‟ brains as well. Being different and unique creates buzz. Sales & marketing strategy always emphasizes focusing on your core competencies and unique differentiators. Being unique increases word-of-mouth marketing, win rates, pricing value and it shortens sales cycles.
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Unique Genius
The analogy is the same with people. Rather than thinking about how broad your talents and passions are, instead, ask what is your purpose in life to which you can apply them, meaningfully? It's not an easy question, but when you start asking this question, answers will come. Also, think of it in terms of “the result you create for others” rather than “what you do.” When you share your Unique Genius with someone, they should be intrigued by it, even if they don‟t understand what it is at that moment. Aaron Ross: “help people make money through enjoyment”. Tony Wong, www.digitalonioninc.com: “make software project management successful, effortless and fun” Salesforce.com: “No software” Max Simon, www.getselfcentered.com: “to instill some stillness in the world” Amy Applebaum, www.bootcampforyourmind.com “I help people create lives they can’t wait to wake up to”
UNCOVERING IT Once you ask yourself the question, “What is my unique genius?” your mind will begin to work to answer it. You should be able to make some great progress here with a few weeks of consideration, although it could take months to truly „click‟. Don‟t be afraid to let it sit and come back to it later. Aaron: “It took me about three months for the core of mine to gel, and six months for me to begin to explain it clearly to people.” 1. The first step is being aware that you have one, even if you don't know what it is yet. 2. Ask yourself questions that can help you identify important clues and puzzle pieces. 3. Write - keep a journal. What did you love/enjoy today? Keep fleshing out your clues, identifying another little puzzle piece one by one. 4. What do your friends and family see as your talents? Superpowers? What do they say you enjoyed doing as a kid, activities or hobbies that you may have forgotten about? 5. Talk to business partners. Do they know their purpose, and how did they figure it out? Find others with common passions, entrepreneurs, brainstormers, pebblestormers... 6. Talk to personal friends, coaches, mentors or intuitives, anyone else you trust. 7. What patterns do they and you see in your life around things you enjoy, the kinds of people you work best with, talents, situations…? 8. At some point, it'll begin to crystallize, step by step. Passions will begin to merge, combine and twist. Be patient. Let it come through. It might take longer than you expect or want it to HOW YOU KNOW YOU’RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK It inspires you (this is the most important one!) It intrigues others It is authentic (you aren‟t doing it or saying it just to look good) It offers direction as a guiding principle or compass
MORE EXAMPLES All these puzzle pieces and clues add up to something greater - your unique genius. Take a bit of love from one area of your life, combine it with others, mix…and what do you get? Take the different themes you love and mash them together into a greater whole. Not just horses...but "horses" + "endurance horse racing" + "travel" + "helping others improve at racing/riding" = ? So you love writing, helping people in times of need, and expressing emotions. Do the puzzle pieces combine somehow into your genius? Ex: "helping passionate people articulate their
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Unique Genius
thoughts and ideas about people they love,” which might include writing obituaries and memorials that move families to tears of gratitude (a real example of a unique genius). About the relationship of Unique Genius and Dream Business The following questions can help you define both, because they‟re inter-related. Your dream business is the manifestation of your Unique Genius. Again, think of your Unique Genius as the limitless fuel, the inspiration, powering your dream business car There‟s a third puzzle piece to this, in defining where you want to get to, but that‟s for another worksheet! (Look up Project 2057 on PebbleStorm for an example). Aaron: here’s a sample brainstorming list I put together over the past year (some of these helped gel my Unique Genius, some of them my dream business, PebbleStorm): - Helping / coaching people and businesses, especially owners and CEOs - Collaborating with people I like on projects (any kind of project) - I want to take the stress out of work for myself & others (success without stress) - Pushing the boundaries of thinking; leading edge work philosophies - Making impractical ideas practical - Coming up with inspiring visions (TGLD, Project 2057) - Designing self-sustaining systems - Writing / expressing myself through writing (especially in notebooks, blogs) - Working on multiple projects / businesses - Connecting people with common passions who can help each other - Adventure (getting out of my comfort zone, helping others to do the same) - Figuring out how to accomplish things with minimum energy/effort and maximum productivity (elegant problem solving) - Photography - Adding funny captions to pictures - Haiku - Alliteration (always antsy about adding alliteration) - Smiley faces - Sketching, especially with bright colors
The “Find your life purpose in an hour exercise” Here‟s one way to jumpstart your Unique Genius thinking, which I found on Steve Pavlina‟s site here. 1. Take out a blank sheet of paper or open word, notepad or text-edit. Whatever works best for you. 2. Now write at the top “What is my true purpose in life?” 3. Write everything that comes to mind. Don‟t think about it too much, just write. 4. Keep writing until you write something that makes you cry. That is your purpose. When you come up with your final answer, you will know it. It won‟t be something you‟ve decided logically, you will simply know it in your heart. You can also change the question to “How would I want to be remembered when I die?” Now, although the essence of your purpose won‟t change much over time, it might evolve in how you describe it. Feel free to come back to this, or the other unique genius exercises, to keep playing with it.
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CLUES & PUZZLE PIECES
Unique Genius
Think of the process as a hunt for clues, which lead you to the path of finding your unique genius(es) or a set of puzzle pieces that become clearer as you gather more of them. Because your talents come so naturally to you, they might actually be harder to detect. Even tiny clues can be very useful. Getting started is as easy as taking a blank sheet of paper to brain dump all of your ideas of what you love to do, are great at, and add meaning to your life. Here are some questions to get you started: * Assuming you had plenty of money, what would you do for free that would add meaning to your life? (This is usually something that helps others or that makes a difference in the world) _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ * Complete this: “If I could help anyone / any kind of person, I would help…” Or, “If I could have any kind of customer, I would have…” _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ * Complete this: “If I could work with anyone / any kind of person, I would work with…” (e.g. selfstarter, willing, easy going, abundant, forward thinking, attractive as in attracts good things to them people) _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ * If you could start a business that wouldn‟t fail, that is assured of success, what would it do? Who would it help or benefit? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ * What did you want to do when you were 8 years old, and what does that tell you about what you want out of work? (Example, if you wanted to be a pilot, you might value for freedom in work.) _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ * Who are you jealous of, and why? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________
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Unique Genius
* What frustrates you that you would like to personally help fix in the world? Especially something that you deal with personally or daily. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ * What parts of work do you enjoy most? What daily activities do you like to do? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ * What ideas or cause(s) or vision are you passionate about? A cause doesn't have to be nonprofit -- it could be anything you truly believe in. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ * What do people keep coming to you for help with, to ask your advice on? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ * What are your hobbies? What were your hobbies when you were young, before your career suppressed them or you forgot about them? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ What do you secretly love to do, or love about yourself? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ * What section do you go to first in a bookstore? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ * What kind of 'meaning' would it have? (A unique genius involves making a difference, and usually involves helping others in some way) _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________
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Unique Genius
* In whatever business you‟re doing now, or see yourself doing, would you do it for free (assuming you didn‟t need money)? If not, what would you change in order to make it so enjoyable you would do it for free? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ * What is/are your superpower(s)? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ * What do your friends think are your strengths/ passions? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________