Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 18 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Find your unique genius
— From The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business: Make Great Money. Work the Way You Like. Have the Life You Want. by Elaine Pofeldt
Elaine Pofeldt writes about one-person businesses that break the seven-figure revenue mark for Forbes.com. In her recent book, The Million-Dollar One-Person Business she shares the insights from her research, as well as lots of stories from entrepreneurs who have achieved this goal. The book is a great crash course on how to make it happen, with plenty of advice and resources, and she leaves no stone unturned.
One of the concepts that I liked very much—because it can apply to all walks of (business) life—is that of finding your genius or your unique marketable skill. Many people believe that “they can succeed only in marketing expertise that is tied to what they studied in school or do for a living. Those avenues can offer you exciting possibilities, but there may be many more options available to you.” Whether you are starting a business or a new job, or you just want an additional stream of income, or you don’t aspire to any of this, Pofeldt offers a set of questions designed to help figure out what matters to you and how you can go about finding your genius.
- “What niche areas of your work do you have a special passion for—and a deep knowledge about?”
- “What hobbies and personal interests do you read and learn about constantly, because you genuinely enjoy them?”
- “Which of your endeavors generate the most curiosity among the people you meet? These may be activities like home-schooling, urban farming, teaching abroad, or other pursuits the average person may not have had a chance to try.”
- “What challenges and problems have you addressed successfully in your own unique way after doing thorough research? These may be ‘good’ problems like decorating a small house on a budget, or serious ones, like addressing a child’s illness through alternative healing modalities.”
- “What roles do you play in your personal life—parent, caregiver, coach, neighbor, mentor, volunteer—that have given you unique knowledge that might benefit others?”
- “What situations have you been unwittingly thrust into that gave you a fresh perspective on an issue people care about?”
- “What trends do you know abut that other people have yet to discover?”
As you can see, all these questions help us figure out what we’re good at, above and beyond our most visible expertise and experience (college, business). This will open up possibilities for you and will enable you to see yourself in a more positive light.
“The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge.” — Thomas Berger
NOTE: If you happen to be in New York this Thursday, May 3, 2018, I’m organizing an event with Elaine at the Business Library. She will moderate a panel with some of the entrepreneurs featured in her book. It’s free. Find out more and register here. If you are not in NY but want to watch it online, it will be livestreamed via Facebook.com/NYPLBiz from 6-7:30 PM (U.S. Eastern Time) or you can always catch it later on the video section of that page.
ACTION
TODAY: Go through the set of questions above. What new things did you discover about yourself? What had you forgotten? What did your memory bring up that you had not considered a skill or an asset before? This is such a worthy exercise, especially because we sometimes take our gifts for granted. We don’t dismiss them on purpose, but we don’t necessarily acknowledge them as gifts because they come to us so easily that we think they’re normal and that everyone else is the same. That is your unique genius.
FUTURE: Whenever you are contemplating a new project in your life, go through the questions above. They will help you reflect on your strengths and gifts, and also on how you can bring your unique genius to the project for maximum success.
Know someone who needs to find their unique genius? Please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!