Seriously. Why you? Why are you so special? What makes you think that you can do something great?

You will frequently hear people asking you questions like this when you verbalize a large goal of yours. They will do their best to instill doubt in your mind. To encourage you to lower your sights to something more “attainable”. This is where the word “oblivious” comes in handy. Pretend you do not hear them. Pretend that failure is not an option. Do not spend one ounce of energy, planning or preparing for an undesired result. Focus only on the objects of your desire.

So back to question of the day: What makes YOU so special?

I recently read a phenomenal book on internet marketing. I received a really nice and unexpected surprise at the end of the book – a chapter about thinking big and focusing your efforts entirely in your “Genius Zone”.

Figuring out what your “Genius Zone” is, is simple – the following 3 questions will help you figure out yours for yourself:

1. “What’s the one thing you were put on this earth to do?”
2. “What can you do so well that time seems to disappear when you’re doing it?”
3. “What do you do that other people find exceptional but comes so easily you can’t understand why they are so amazed?”

Recognize that the scarcest resource we all possess is our ability to focus. We are all by culture, not nature, multi-taskers. We pride ourselves on being able to juggle huge to-do lists. The problem with this is that we expend our mental energy and focus on things that are not enjoyable – things that we are not that good at either. We only operate in our “Genius zone” a small fraction of the time. Imagine the results we could all create in our lives if we double the amount of time in our “Genius zone”. I am not talking purely in terms of output. I am talking more in terms of happiness and enjoyment, which interestingly enough tend to create greater results, or output.

It may take some serious reflection time to understand what your true gift is, but the clues are there, waiting to be discovered. Think about your childhood. What were you good at? What did you really enjoy? What made your eyes light up? Maybe you were an incredibly talkative kid in school, or have always enjoyed writing short stories. Reconnect with your sources of passion and energy. Figure out ways to express your childhood enthusiasm in adulthood. Not only do you have a huge opportunity to add value to society by expressing your own personal genius, but you also have the capacity to grow as a person and find more enjoyment in your life.

Now we all have obligations. We have things that we “must” do, but do not particular enjoy. I understand this. You cannot completely abandon your responsibilities. However, you can continuously work to understand what your “Genius zone” is and how to spend more time in it. You can start small. Maybe that means taking those guitar lessons you have been talking about for the last 5 years. Maybe it means going to more networking events. Maybe it means starting a website design business. It is different for everybody. Take a baby step today and write the aforementioned questions down. Look at them every day. Think about them and ultimately, figure out for yourself, what makes YOU, so special.

Matthew Harris