#45: Achieve the Impossible in 2021 by Prioritizing Your Genius
Are you operating in your zone of genius?
What about your zone of excellence?
Do you know the difference between the two?
In this episode, I touch on:
The fundamental differences between the two zones you can operate in.
A quick exercise you can do today to identify your zone of genius.
My #1 book recommendation if you are interested in diving deeper into this concept.
Tune into this episode to learn how you can do your best work in 2021 while working in your zone of genius!
Check out my new free new training on www.yournextmillion.me, where several of my seven figure clients and colleagues share what they're doing in the next year to scale their businesses to the multi-million dollar mark and beyond.
Listen to the Show:
Laura (00:00):
In 2021, are you willing to give yourself license to your greatest calling? That's a question that I want you to be thinking about as we go into this new year, because 2020 was the year of major disruption. They went from being on track to having a record year to just months later, still trying to figure out what happened and what in the world they're supposed to do about it. Whereas other entrepreneurs quickly shifted and pivot it and seem to have come out on so much of that disruption on the other side, even better than they were before. And why is that? Why is it that there were some winners and some people who are still struggling as a result of being completely surprised many times in 2020? Well, this has a lot to do with what you might not be expecting, which is who actually stepped into their genius during this disruption period. Who played it safe and who said, you know what? I'm going all in on my gifts, on my calling, on my highest use of me. And through that discovery process, they seemingly achieved the impossible: record launches, doubling and tripling company sizes. And I'm going to suggest this has everything to do with stepping into your zone of genius. So up next, how to achieve the impossible by operating in your genius in 2021.
(01:42):
So here's the challenge: so many entrepreneurs dream of leading a life of impact by creating a multi-million dollar brand, but only a tiny percentage of businesses actually scale to that point. On this podcast, we speak openly authentically about what it takes to scale your business, following the journeys of innovators, disruptors, experts, and leaders, looking at the behind the scenes of their most challenging moments and greatest lessons learned. My name is Laura Meyer. And I'm your host. I'm a serial entrepreneur, wife and mom to three. I love talking all things business, especially digging into the mindset and strategies of scaling joyfully to the multi-million dollar mark and beyond. Let's go!
(02:25):
Last March when 2020 hit the first and we were found ourselves just quarantined in a pandemic, I thought to myself, you know what, that's it, there is going to be no more clients, no more income. I better just go and get a job. And for about 24 hours, I was in complete panic and having been through personal bankruptcy and have survived a lot in entrepreneurship over the last 15 plus years, this was a thought that I had felt in the past. And sometimes I was right about having to start over. And sometimes I found myself not being so right. I, I, you know, woke up the next day and said, wait a second. What am I so worried about? I was born for this. I know exactly what to do. I've been studying online entrepreneurship for many years and with everybody moving online, this is an amazing opportunity for me to show up and serve.
(03:20):
And that's what I did. And working for some pretty big brands, helping them pivot their offering online. I was pregnant at the time and just as my brick and mortar clients started to fade away, which was totally understandable. I decided not to replace them and instead enjoy the infancy of my daughter and, and just work very part-time. And then right around when I decided, you know, what, I'm ready to scale up again. I ended up tripling my business. So 2020 for me was actually the best year I've ever had as an entrepreneur. It's kind of crazy to hear myself say that out loud because I've operated multi seven figure businesses before, and that's not where I am right now. I have a very small multi-six figure consulting company, but for the amount of time that I'm actually putting into that, into that company and the amount of freedom and flexibility that I have and the actual net profit margin, as a result of the way in which I've structured, the company, things have never been better as an entrepreneur.
(04:25):
And I'm only sharing that with you to further make the point that when we operate in our genius regardless of what is actually happening in the world around us, we end up achieving the impossible when it comes to the business that we are creating within this crazy, crazy world of entrepreneurship. And as a consultant, it's very interesting because my favorite clients are also the ones that have been with me the longest who are so in touch with my own zone of genius and tap into it regularly so that they can be more in theirs. And it's this incredible, just dynamic that ends up raising everybody's game when we work together, that I have fallen in love with, with being an expert, to other experts, influencers, and thought leaders. And not every single client has always been that way within my consultancy, but this year I pivoted twice, actually in the beginning of this year, I decided that I was only going to serve companies at least at a million dollars in revenue.
(05:41):
And the reason why is because I knew that my greatest contribution was on the strategy side of things and that my clients really need people in-house who can implement the concepts that I'm recommending, because I actually believe that's when it all works. The best is when you have some outside strategic help and experts. And then you have people in-house that are day to day with the brand and really understand all the ins and outs of that recommended strategy. The second time I pivoted was during all of the disruption that took place when the pandemic hit last spring. And I decided that I was going to just double down on experts, thought leaders and influencers, specifically females or companies that have female buyers. And that's when my zone of genius really started to take shape because I understood on a real visceral level, what it's like to be them.
(06:37):
And I could create this incredible contribution on a mind and body and soul level and a spiritual level with so many of my clients and understanding them and getting them and helping them to feel seen and heard in a way that many other people haven't been able to do for them in the past. And it was something that I intentionally chose, but I had no idea what the result was going to be. I just knew that I loved that work. And when those types of clients contacted me, even if it was on the weekend or the evening, it didn't feel like work. It just felt like I was helping out somebody that I really deeply care about. And that's when I knew that I was in my zone of genius. And so it's, it's not by chance that the result of having the best entrepreneurial year that I've ever had in my career came from operating within my own zone of genius.
(07:36):
And what happens for many of us is that we have this low grade tolerance for things that are no longer serving us in the business, for people that we know just need to go, but we have so much attachment to them because of fill in the blank. And we have this fear around commitment or contribution or to scaling and what that means that we end up putting on the brakes in a lot of ways, without even meaning to, and last fall, I watched one of my clients move into her zone of genius and it was so inspiring to watch. It was something we had been kind of bantering around about. And it was a combination of both business and her own spiritual philosophies and beliefs. And we ended up just going all in. We threw something together that we thought, you know, what, if it works, it doesn't, that's totally fine.
(08:27):
We're at least having fun with the process of creating it. And it blew the doors off. It completely was a huge win for not only my client burner, entire team. And more importantly, it felt fun. It was easy for her. She didn't have to do all this prep for it because it just came pouring out of her. And I watched her move from a place where she's always been good and is just incredibly talented and excellent into her total genius. It was like she was the total package providing not only business support and strategy, but also just giving to her audience on a spiritual level. That was life-changing for anybody that was participating.
(09:15):
And so these concept of zone of excellence and zone of genius are discussed in the book, The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks. And if you haven't read it, I highly recommend it because the zone of excellence is like, it's something you're really good at. It's skilled at. So for example, I'm a very skilled business consultant and growth strategist. I could probably help all sorts of different businesses, but, and over time, the zone of excellence is cultivated. It's practiced, it's established. It's what you're known for a lot of times, it's what you're compensated for. And in many ways, for many of us, we're actually incentivized to just stay in that zone of excellence, because there's a little bit of risk of moving to our zone of excellence to zone of genius. But the zone of genius is when we capitalize on our natural abilities that are innate, that rather than not necessarily learn, like maybe we've built some kind of skills around them through our own life experiences or going through certifications or whatever it is, but that we find the ceaseless inspiration to Excel within our zone of genius. Because in our greatest moments, it again, just pours out of us and it's beyond what anybody else could do to compete, because it comes from this highest, best use of our gifts and talents.
(10:30):
When we are in our zone of genius, it is incredibly transformative because people are just nasty, surely magnetically drawn to you when you speak, you're like, wow, what that is so profound or helpful, or how did you even know that is what I was thinking or feeling without even realizing it, it's this incredible connection that we have to ourselves and to the people that we serve. And it also feels completely easy. Like ideas just flow out of us. And in contrast, like when we work in our zone of excellence, it's comfortable, but it's still work. Like you still show up feeling like, oh, I have this meeting or this thing that I have to do. And I want you to watch your language around zone of excellence work, because that is what tends to come out. Like you say to yourself, oh, I have to go to this meeting or I have to go to work, or I have to record this podcast because when you have to do something, it's usually when it's in your zone of excellence, it's usually not when you're in your zone of genius.
(11:33):
When you're in your zone of genius, you're excited. You get to, you are able to, you are blessed to do the work and it's fun. It's this place where you transcend into your greatest version of yourself. And for so many entrepreneurs this year has not been very fun meetings, not fun going to create your plan for 2021 doesn't feel fun because all of the uncertainty sometimes takes away from the joy. But when we use the disruption that we've experienced in 2020 to move into our greatest calling in 2021, when we embrace our zone of genius, that's when it actually starts becoming really fun. I like to say, when you're in your zone of genius, magic happens. There are new leaps that you get to create and innovation unfolds very naturally. It is where you are, are in your highest potential.
(12:35):
And not only that, but it typically is the place where you receive the most amount of purchases or you get the premium price for what you have to offer the world. It's where you grow your audience in a way where you wake up and you look, and you're like, wow, look at all those people. It's not because you trick the algorithm or bought fake buyers. It's because you were giving from that zone of genius. So I want to share a little hack that I've learned on how to actually identify your zone of genius. And in order to achieve this hack, you're going to need a quiet space and a piece of paper, and maybe just get outside or sit in front of a window with a beautiful view or go somewhere that you love to be, grab notebook that you like and your favorite pen and finish the following sentence.
(13:35):
Wouldn't it be amazing if, wouldn't it be amazing if you were the premier offering for? Wouldn't it be amazing if you got to help people in this specific way? Wouldn't it be amazing if you created a program that was completely world class, that you were so proud of it. And it was so incredible that when people said, no, thank you, you were like, wait a second. I don't think you understand what I'm offering here. This is incredible. How could you ever say no? Wouldn't it be amazing if I could get paid for doing and write it out? Wouldn't it be amazing if I was able to take this much time off in my business, wouldn't it be amazing if my team could handle this? Wouldn't it be amazing if, and as you're doing this work, I want you to be really, really aware of the thoughts that tend to come up when we are embracing our zone of genius, when we're inviting it in, because you may have this really difficult time visualizing, what is that could be possible as resulted operating within your zone of genius.
(14:55):
And it can start getting to become really uncomfortable. But what you need to do is move through that so that you can visualize possibility around your zone of genius, because you're not going to believe that it's possible yet. If you believed it was possible, you'd already be doing it. And the key is to imagine something that is so much bigger and so much greater than when you're in your zone of excellence. And a lot of times when you know, you're ready to move on into your zone of genius, it's you sort of feel flat, you sort of feel lack luster. You sort of feel like, Ugh, everything's been done that I really want to do. I don't know what else there is. I don't know what to do with myself. And that's when it's time to actually invite in this exercise of wouldn't it be amazing.
(15:42):
And just remember that old beliefs resist this new work. So many of us stay within our old beliefs because we believe them, or we're very comfortable. And I have to tell you, this actually increases as your revenue increases. So for example, if you have a multimillion dollar business, of course your brain is not going to want to envision what life would be like in your zone of genius, because you have a lot of proof positive that what you've done has already worked really, really well. And you probably rely on that to not only support yourself, but the people within your life. And if you were to move into this whole new level of genius, what does it mean for everything you've already created? And my experience is that a lot of times it's not this big, huge departure where you need to blow everything up and start over.
(16:30):
This is not what I'm encouraging you to do. You want to respect and have dignity for the people around you who have helped you get to this point, but you do want to think about, okay. So if we were to create this new thing that was in the zone of genius, or we were to repackage or re offer something that is within my zone of genius, it's usually evidenced by something that has already worked really well up until this point. And it's probably just a matter of going deeper or envisioning new possibilities for that thing that has already worked really, really well, because that is evidence that you could go bigger or better by incorporating some new concepts into it. And as a result, lengthening, let's say the program or charging a bigger price for it, or maybe taking a segment of the people who have been very successful with the thing that you use to create, to get to this point and offering those who have achieved the best benefits, your new program service or offering, and just know that when you do this work, you will naturally have what's called cognitive dissonance.
(17:42):
When you have two conflicting thoughts in your brain at the same time, and many people just give up on thinking that they could even be in their zone of genius or live there, or make money there because of past thought around, well, this is how I'm compensated, or there isn't possible that I could have so much fun or I can enjoy my entrepreneurial journey. And at the same time, be in my greatest place of income. And we have all of these past beliefs that are coming into our ability to create something new. So once you have this exercise done of, wouldn't it be amazing if, what do you actually do with it? So let's say that you've written down all of these ideas and they feel in conflict with what it is that you've already created, or you just can't even imagine that they would be possible.
(18:35):
It's going to be very true that your brain is going to look for evidence that is structured around the beliefs that you already have about what is possible within your zone of excellence. But your greatest work is in your zone of genius. And so you want to be really intentional about taking action to cement some new beliefs into prove them true. So if you wrote down this thing that you're so excited about, that was in your worksheet around, wouldn't it be amazing if you want to start taking action to support and build up the possibility that this is something that you could actually do and that you want. And going back to that client that I had shared with you, now we're rolling out this whole new program around her zone of genius, because we did this small thing that tested it out and showed her how possible it was.
(19:32):
And now we're going to be rolling out this big thing that supports the small thing that is going to be so amazing, not only for her, but for all of these people who have been sitting around praying for the exact thing that she is about to offer them. And so I'm really so excited when I watch my clients change their beliefs and actually create new possibilities around what it is that they are meant to do and how they're supposed to serve from this place of genius, from their greatest, greatest contribution. And I'll tell you having done this exercise myself and watching it unfold, it can be a little identity shattering. And even when we feel like, oh, I don't necessarily want to be attached to that past identity. I don't necessarily want to be attached to this belief that I can only get to this certain point in entrepreneurship or, um, that my, my best days are behind me or some of the things that we tend to believe when we start to plateau or when things disrupt us like 2020.
(20:40):
But so it's, again really important that you let go of those old identities to embrace your genius. And it is a true way of identifying yourself and committing to that sentence is that came from wouldn't it be amazing if. And you just keep looking at those statements and being aware of what is coming up. Visualize what is possible with the greatest gifts that you have, and then commit to them in 2021, 2021 is going to be very much a continuation of 2020 in my next podcast episode, I'm going to share my predictions for 2021.
(21:26):
And the one thing that I know for sure is that you are going to have your greatest success when you are operating in your zone of genius in the coming year, because the world needs what you have to offer and not from this place of, oh yeah, I'm pretty good at that. So I get paid for it. So I show up and so I can, you know, just check the box every day of what it is that I'm doing, but from that place of connection and contribution, that only truly happens when you are in your zone of genius to learn more about this concept. I highly recommend the book, The Big Leap by Hay Hendricks. I've read it multiple times. It's one of those books that I get something new out of it every single time I read it. And then in the next episode, which is, will be my final podcast episode for the year, I'm going to be sharing with you my predictions for 2021, when it comes to scaling your own multi-million dollar brand, stay tuned
(22:31):
Hey there, before you head out, I want to let you know about a free new training I have, right on a brand new website called yournextmillion.me. It's yournextmillion.me, where several of my seven figure clients and colleagues share what they're doing in the next year to scale their businesses, to the multi-million dollar mark and beyond. And I have to tell you, it is not what you think. So check it out yournextmillion.me. And if you loved this show, will you subscribe to it and share it with a friend, or just say something nice about it to someone, you know? I'd really appreciate it so much. Thanks so much for being here and I'll see you next time.
The Scale with Joy podcast dives into the mindset and strategies of scaling your company to the million dollar mark and beyond. Each week, we follow the journeys of innovators, disruptors, experts and leaders - sharing behind the scenes stories of their most challenging moments and greatest lessons learned-all while building their multi-million dollar empires.