excellence is draining you
If you've been feeling stuck and stagnant for awhile, my guess is you probably are operating life from your levels of competency and excellence- which means you aren't living in your GENIUS. What do I mean by genius?
I've mentioned it before, but the term comes from Gay Hendrick's book “The Big Leap”, which explores how we experience life living from our different operating levels. To simply break it down you have 4 of them:
Incompetence- these are things I am not good at, at all. Even after learning them. Like Physical Science class 101, paying attention to details and math.
Competent- I have learned how to be good at these things, although many, many others are better than me. (cleaning, organizing, cooking, taxes etc)
Excellence- I have trained and learned how to be really good at this. In this zone you are recognized for your excellence, people pay you for it or ask you to do it a lot for them.
Genius- this is something you were born with. It's innate in you, it comes naturally, effortlessly and when you are doing it you experience flow state ( little no concept of time and little to no ego chatter)
Most people can experience a lot of success in their competence and excellence levels, but it eventually leads to burn out and soul sucking sadness inside. This was my dance studio for me. It was doing amazing! I had the potential to always be paid and supported by it and through it- and have fun. But inside… I felt empty.
Most people aren’t aware of the empty feeling, or they subconsciously numb it with addictions, obsessions etc. Tv, drugs, drinking, food, gossiping, complaining, comparing, whining, traveling, you name it.
Living in your zone of genius on the other hand, is from and creates contentment. The “empty” feeling isn’t there, and it’s not because your genius makes it disappear, it’s because you realize there was nothing lacking. You feel content sharing and living from your gifts- and you accept where and how other people are living from as well.
Taking the big leap to live from your Zone of genius is not for wimps. It’s confusing, scary and a leap of faith! But the satisfaction that comes from honoring it is beyond compare.
Exploring my own was difficult. There are a lot of things I am excellent at (it’s not a brag, a lot of people have them as well), and that I enjoy. But what am I naturally good at that I also experience flow and little ego feedback?
I actually experience little to no ego chatter and experience flow when I'm sitting 1-1 with someone, writing, speaking and teaching large groups. I've never had ego chatter while on stage, even when I’ve fallen, multiple times ha (how many can say that?). Now many other very normal activities and things cause a lot of ego chatter for me and are quite difficult. And that's ok! I've spent the past years really honing in and honoring what is my zone of genius, and I help my clients zone in on theirs as well.
What about you? What are you innately good at? When do you experience little to no ego chatter? (that's when your mind is saying “How do I look? What do they think? Did I do that right? etc” Are you willing to experiment saying no to things you are excellent at in order to spend more time sharing your genius?
Are you done living in a way that makes you have to distract or numb yourself from life?
Interesting I’m sharing this today, but it’s what I woke up with. And I love sitting in my office writing it- and now i’m finishing writing it next to Tommy while he finishes his second breakfast.