Episode 9 | What Is Your Zone Of Genius?

Laura: 0:00

Welcome everyone here at Boss It. We would love to hear from you. Join us in our Boss It community, by heading over to our website Bossitclub.com and join our mailing list. As we grow, we will be launching our community of fellow Boss It BFFs, and we want you to be a part of it. Okay. Sophia Noreen. Let's dig into this

Sophia Noreen: 0:20

Hello everyone. And welcome to another fantastic episode of the Boss It Podcast. Today, we are actually going to be talking about something that is quite dear to my heart, which is our zone of genius. So stay tuned, guys. We're going to talk about how you can identify your zone of genius and also things to watch out for when trying to accomplish your zone of genius, because a lot of aspects, a lot of insecurities that might prevent you from moving forward in attempting to go for your zone of genius. And really just being comfortable with acknowledging that you do have the skill, or you do have this asset that you are really good at, and you should be trying to move towards strengthening that skillset. Before we jump right into it. I want to give a quick shout out to Behind The Niqab who left a review for this wonderful podcast. She says this: "for female entrepreneurs. I'm so blessed to have found this podcast it's inspiring and helpful to learn about entrepreneurship from women, that speaks from their lived experiences. And I can really late, so much more than the traditional male centric lens". Ooh, I love this review. Thank you Behind The Niqab. We really appreciate the review and guys, you can always hop over to Apple podcasts and leave us a review. We love to read your reviews. We love to understand what you like and what you would like to know more about. And remember guys, each location actually has their own reviews. So one day I'll show you a trick on how to see reviews from each country, but don't worry. I have figured it out. If you are living in the U S or you're living in the UK, or if you're living in Canada or anywhere else on the globe, I can find your review. So please go ahead and leave a review. We love to hear from you. Welcome to the bosses podcast. My name is Sophia Noreen and I took an Etsy startup and launched it in big box retailers within 12 months. As a creative with an entrepreneurial drive, I left my full time career in healthcare to find better harmony between career, family and self care. We believe you can have it all. Yes, you can launch and run a successful scalable business while maintaining harmony in all aspects of your life. We believe we can learn from each other and draw on many experiences to create the best life possible. During each episode, we will share proven life hacks that will keep you on top and striving every day. There should be no hesitation. Make a plan. Take action. We are here for you. This episode of the Boss It Podcast is brought to you by the Full Focus Planner. Guys, trust me, it's super difficult to run a business, plus have yourself organized with everyday life. Trust me. I know. We have found that the Full Focus Planner is the best planner to help me and it's the best planner that will help you stay focused every day. What I love most about this planner is that this, it does a really good job of breaking down your quarterly goals. And then it helps translate them into weekly goals and daily goals. Head over to the link in our show notes to check out this fantastic planning tool. All right, guys, let's get started. Today, as you heard, we're going to talk about your zone of genius and how this concept has helped me scale and operationalize our product based business called Also Sophia. In today's episode, we're going to dive deep and speak to you on how you can identify your zone of genius, and what to watch for as you move forward to really zone in and act on your zone of genius. Before we jump right into talking about how to identify your zone of genius, I wanted spend a little time talking about congruency and how your life is faced with many variables that will basically influence if you are living congruent. We have an image of ourselves or our life, and if you're image is not lining up with what your reality is, you may not be living with congruency. I would actually be very shocked if I had met somebody who stated that they have always felt like they were living congruent and they felt completely aligned at all times. An example of not living with concurrency would be like, you feel stuck in a job or your career may not feel aligned with your skillset. Another example of not living with congruency is trying to run a business that may not be lining up with your skillset, or running a piece of your business that is not lining up with your skillset. As we know, many business owners have to wear all the hats when they first start out. And this could really impede on their ability to feel like they're aligned at all times. When this episode is recorded, actually we are going through the COVID pandemic and many individuals are feeling out of alignment because now they're living with situations where they're dealing with multiple variables, such as caring for children at the same time as running meetings. So we need to speak about congruency and alignment and identify what it really means to live in these states. Then we can identify where our zone of genius actually intersects. When you feel congruent with your life or you feel aligned with your life, there's less apprehension to push forward into action. And as a result, you are able to achieve maximum impact, when you apply your skillset. For example, when you are out of alignment within your life, and you attempt to apply your zone of genius, you actually might not be able to achieve your maximum results because there's something holding you back. So for example, if you are currently working your nine to five, and then you come home and you're completing your passion project or your side hustle, you may not actually be receiving your maximum results. Acknowledgement of the situation is a first step towards understanding that your zone of genius is heavily impacted by other variables in your life. Today, we're going to work through an exercise where we ask ourselves a few questions and then apply it back to business, if you are a business owner and I will share some insights on how I've used this exercise to evaluate what to delegate off to team members and also what to delegate off to other family members or hire help so that we can all remain congruent with our abilities. If you're able to grab a pen and paper, let's get started, if you are not able to grab a pen and paper, because you may be driving or doing another activity, just think about these questions as we work through this exercise to see if you actually are living with congruency, and if you can identify what your zone of genius could be. So the first exercise is we're going to try to think about a skillset that you possess that is so natural, that it may actually feel like second nature. And you're so comfortable with it you achieve results with ease. The skills that could actually be so abstract that it could be an attribute such as connection. So you're very good at mixing mingling with individuals you're outspoken, you're able to make friends easily. Or maybe you're very organized and you're very good at organizing systems. So your zone of genius is a little bit more tangible. Or maybe you're just extremely creative and you like producing products like myself. It could even be that you're very analytical and that you are able to assess a situation and come up with a great solution. So for this exercise I want you to try to ask yourself, what is coming to you as second nature; and it's usually something that you enjoy. And this could also be linked to life in general. It doesn't necessarily need to be linked to business. So for example, if your attribute is empathy, you're very empathetic. You can relate to people very easily; that could be your zone of genius. Or it could be very specific to business such as creating a standard operating practices. Okay, the next question I want to ask you is if you were to remove all of your obligations and then replace these obligations with other areas that you enjoy and you can leave an impact on others what would it be? So let me repeat that again. You are now removing all of your obligations and you have to replace, the time and energy you used to spend on these obligations with another aspect. So it could be connecting people. It could be creating products, it could be creating content, but it's impactful on others. You are able to create a positive, the impact for others. What would it be? Chances are that your zone of genius is very impactful and rewarding to others. This will result in positive feedback loop so when you see your results, you will be more likely to continue working in your zone of genius to achieve optimal results. You'll notice that others will be grateful and will also notice that you are actually very good at your zone of genius. So the question is, can you identify the areas in your life that you would like to remove or the obligations that you would like to remove? So you can then delegate these things off and then you can spend your time and energy in your zone of genius. That way you can maximize on the positive impact you make for others. I'm going to share a little story about myself and how it relates to questions one and two. So for myself, I knew I was living outside of my zone of genius when I was continuously achieving my career goals in healthcare as a physiotherapist, but actually did not feel like I was living with congruency. The vision I wanted for my life, and family was not lining up to the career path as a physiotherapist and also as a manager in a healthcare organization. So that was a point where it became very obvious to me that I was unable to find joy in achieving my goals as a physiotherapist or as a healthcare manager. I actually felt tremendous joy when I was creating products. And then seeing those products move into a mass production and how these products were impacting our community. This is a very good example of how we can identify if we're living outside of our zone of genius and not aligning it with our true calling. Okay. So we're gonna move on to question three. Do you have a special talent? Sometimes your zone of genius has been ingrained in you and you may not even understand that it could be identified as a special talent which can be translated to your zone of genius. So think about that for a second. The example I gave earlier would be potentially that I didn't realize that my zone of genius was product creation because it's so related to being artistic. And that's how I grew up as a child being very artistic. I didn't realize that it is actually within my zone of genius. And the fourth question I want to ask you guys is there an area where you have received outstanding results Or is there an area that you've been challenged with and you overcame this challenge? So for example, you might have had a fear of public speaking. But now you're able to speak in front of hundreds of people on stage, or maybe you've been through a challenge and you've worked through this challenge with promising results. Potentially, you went through the challenge of weight loss, and now you're able to identify how it feels to be overweight and achieve your goals. And maintain more of a healthy weight loss journey. This could be your zone of genius. That you're able to navigate the world of healthy eating and exercise. Okay. Question number five. Who have you been inspired by in the past? Is there somebody that you're following on social media or is there celebrities you look up to for inspiration? If you have found yourself being inspired, you are subconsciously comparing herself to those people. It could be an indication that those individuals have aspects of your zone of genius, which is why you're inspired by them. These individuals have reached a certain point within their zone of genius, which you are aspiring to achieve. So my guess is you are following people on social media and you may not even realize that you are actually looking at them as your reference point. We will speak a little bit later about imposter syndrome and comparisonitis in a different episode because those two topics are huge and we won't cover them here today. What we will say to those two topics is you may be looking at these celebrities or you may be looking at somebody on social media and being extremely inspired by them. And you just look up to them and you may feel well, they have it all. They can do it. I can't. We'll talk more about that mindfulness and being cognizant, if you do have that self-talk on another episode. I just want to point out that if you are seeing others and you are aspiring to be like them, that is amazing. Identify what they have in common with you .That might help you identify your zone of genius. So for example, we'll go by two our individual who may have gone through very big challenge with a weight loss journey. She's been extremely successful and she follows a lot of people on social media who are weight loss coaches. Now she may think, those individuals are able to execute a plan and influence and inspire others to lose weight and I cannot do that. But actually, because she has overcome that challenge, she may be more suited to following through, on coaching and inspiring others to go through the same journey as she has been through because she can understand she's recently been there and she is able to make an impact. So that could be her zone of genius. And by looking up to other people on social media, like social media influencers, or celebrities who are also traveling the same path, it could help her identify that, I'm following these ladies or these guys, because that is my zone of genius. I am able to motivate others to go on this healthy journey. So I hope that makes sense for question number five, look at your social media accounts, see who you're following to help really zone in on what your zone of genius actually might be. Okay. So once you've identified your zone of genius by answering those five questions, the next thing to do is to see where we can actually use our zone of genius to our advantage in business and in life. Now I did mention it a little bit earlier, but I will say it again. It is a very good idea to delegate off tasks that are potentially draining your energy. So for example, one of the first things we did in our product based business, this is, we delegate off fulfillment of our packages. It was very cumbersome for me to be pick and packing all the packages, creating labels and fulfilling orders. And I found that this task of pick and pack was depleting all of my energy, and I was not left with anything more to do the product creation side of the business, which is let's face it, the thing that drives the entire business is product creation. So, that was an obvious strategic move that we had to make early on in our business. But one of the main factors that drove that home was that I was living outside of my zone of genius, which was product creation. I want you to think about your own business, if you are running a business right now, and think about what you can delegate off? What is draining your energy? If we're speaking more in regards to everyday life, think about things that are really draining your energy. So for example, for a young family, you may feel more congruent and aligned with spending more time with your kids, creating a positive impact on their creativity or helping them with homework and connecting them to literacy and then you can delegate off other items that you may not know, enjoy doing. For example, I'm not a big fan of cooking. So I will find really quick ways to take shortcuts in the kitchen. And you won't find me in the kitchen too long, making any gourmet meals because I don't feel like I'm able to make the biggest impact in my cooking. So that's a very simple example of how to take this aspect of living in your zone of genius and applying it to everyday life. We need to also speak about why people may be holding themselves back from executing on their zone of genius once it is identified. We did mention imposter syndrome earlier, which we'll speak to in depth on a future episode. Remember, you need to acknowledge, if you identify yourself as having imposter syndrome, it doesn't matter where you are on your path. Everyone has a right to execute on their zone of genius and you should never feel like you are unable to move forward and executing any of your plans when it comes to maximizing your potential. Another reason people may actually be holding themselves back and not following through and moving forward with their plans involving their zone of genius, is because they feel that they need to get permission from others. Or you might feel like you need validation from somebody specific to say, hey, you're very good at X, Y, and Z. We think you should pursue it". And that's exactly actually what happened to me. If you go back and listen to episode number two, which was released on September 1st, 2020. In that episode, I speak about how I actually needed full validation from a colleague who was working with me at the hospital to say to me, "why are you still working in this job when you have been creating all these wonderful products for your community? This is not a side hustle anymore and you need to go, you see this." So that was actually my external validation that I needed to move forward with moving into my true calling and my zone of genius. And I suggest that other people should not wait for that external validation. Don't do what I did. And don't wait so many months before stepping into your zone. I had identified months prior that I was not living congruently and my skillset was actually misplaced. But because I was waiting for that external validation from somebody else, and I wasn't trusting my own abilities and my own gut instinct, it took me many more months until I stepped into what I was meant to do. So don't wait for external validation just go and do the thing that needs to be done. Guys that's that? So we've gone through quite a bit. I'm just going to do a quick recap. If you are driving or doing something else, make sure you go home and look at the show notes and we'll put these questions back in the show notes, you can easily answer them. And if you have been following along with us, I want you to really take a deep introspective view and ensure that you've answered all the questions to your full capabilities. Just from the top, the first question was to think about a skill that you possess that felt like second nature, and you've always achieved great results. The second question was if you were to remove any obligations, then what would you replace your time and energy and are you creating a positive impact for others? The third question is, have you ever been identified to have any special talents? The fourth question is there an area that you've received outstanding results or have you overcome great obstacles and challenges that you're proud of. And the fifth question are there individuals on social media that you follow or are there celebrities that you follow, where you look for inspiration; and look to those individuals and see if there's something that they possess that could also be yours zone of genius. And that's it guys. I really hope this episode was helpful. Remember, once you identify your zone of genius, you do not need to be validated. And yes, imposter syndrome is a real thing which we'll speak to later. Just really understand that living in your zone of genius will help you live with greater congruency and greater alignment in your life. So once you've identified your zone of genius, if it's something to do with changing your career or starting a business, take the appropriate steps before you make any drastic life decisions such as leaving your full time career. I know from experience, it is very difficult to make the transitions, but you have to start one step at a time and trust me, you will never regret this decision if it aligns up. That's all for now, guys. I am so happy we went through this episode. I know it can be difficult to identify your zone of genius, but I promise you that once you have fully acknowledged what your zone of genius is, and you start living with intention you will be able to accomplish amazing things. That's all for now. And we will talk to you guys soon. Remember make a plan and take action and yes, you can have it all. So my fellow bosses did you enjoy that episode now It's time for you to make a solid plan and take action. But first remember to subscribe and follow the Boss It Podcast So you receive a notification Whenever we drop an episode. Remember to leave us a review on iTunes take a screenshot of your review and shared on Instagram as a post or a story and tag us @BossItclub. If Instagram is not your thing no worries. Email your screenshot to [email protected]. As a massive thank you, we will be sending you our top 50 tips for starting and scaling a business. This list is exclusively for podcast reviewers. So don't miss out. Now remember bosses make a plan and take action in all aspects of your life. Yes you can have it all.