Exactly How To Find Your ‘Zone Of Genius’ So You Can Enjoy Your Work & Make Good Money Doing It
“Your zone of genius is the difference between you being an amazing consultant and being a Grammy Award-winning songwriter-composer.”
voronaman | Shutterstock Making money off of what we truly love to do seems like a goal we all have, even if it’s one we don’t have a lot of confidence in. While that dream job may seem unattainable, one theory suggests that it's actually possible.
The secret to finding the intersection of what you love and making money can reportedly be found in Gay Hendricks’ book "The Big Leap." In the book, Hendricks discussed the different zones we can exist in while working. These include the zones of incompetence, competence, excellence, and genius.
The idea is that things you’re not so great at occur in your zone of incompetence, while things that you’re decent at but not excited about are in your zone of competence. Your zone of excellence is where the things you are good at that you do enjoy exist. And your zone of genius is for the extra special things that you would do all the time if you could, which you also happen to be good at doing.
Here are the steps you need to take to find your zone of genius:
Content creator Jodie K. Tay shared some tips on TikTok for determining exactly what your zone of genius is so you can bring in money while doing what you love. According to Tay, if you follow these guidelines, you’ll be sure to find your zone of genius.
1. Take inventory and reflect
The first thing to do, Tay argued, is to take an inventory of all that you do during the week.
“All the assignments that you do at work, your hobbies, what you do at home, write everything down,” she said.
Then, Tay said, you can figure out what does and does not work for you.
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“When you write it down, reflect on how you feel about it,” she said. “If you hated a particular thing that you had to do at work, write it down … At the end of the week, assess what drained you, what you hated, and then also assess the projects that you love doing, where you feel like you’re in flow state.”
MedicalNewsToday said that the idea of a flow state came from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. It refers to “a mental state in which a person is completely focused on a single task or activity.”
This inventory will allow you to discover what, among the many things you do, you actually like.
2. Determine what your gifts are
The second step to finding your zone of genius is to determine what you’re actually good at. Or, as Tay said, “What do people ask your advice on, and what do you get praised the most for?”
This may sound like a tall order for many, as it can be difficult to think of yourself as being good at something. But there’s always something, Tay said.
“And before you jump in my comments talking about, ‘I don’t have a zone of genius. I’m not good at anything,’” she stated, “I promise you, you are. Every single person has a zone of genius.”
Tay used British billionaire Richard Branson as an example. “He admits he’s not good at a lot of things,” she noted. “His zone of genius is delegating and identifying talent in other people.”
Even if you feel like you aren’t good at anything, there are things that people specifically seek you out for. Make note of those things, and don’t be afraid to brag a little.
Once you’ve done this, you can determine your zone of genius.
After figuring out what you like doing and what you’re good at doing, you can investigate where the two overlap. What’s something that you’re good at and you enjoy? That’s where your zone of genius is.
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Then, you can work on determining how to make money off of those things that are in your zone of genius, so it never really feels like you’re working.
It’s really a win-win situation.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.