By now I’m sure you’ve heard of the idea that we each have a genius that is unique to us, and when we operate within our genius, we will do our best work, right?
Yes! And I totally agree. In fact, the first iteration of my business paid homage to this idea, with the tagline, ‘live your sweet spot.’
Today I’m asking a different question.
Is your genius costing you money?
I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t fully answered the question. Rather it feels like an important question to ponder, which is way more valuable than a list of answers in the long run.
As I have begun exploring how to truly play the game I am personally playing on the planet (normalize transformation, one intimate retreat at a time) whole new level, I’ve come face to face with the shifts I need to make in how I think about my business and my role in it.
This has caused me to ask more questions about how I get out of my own way!
Which has proven incredibly challenging, because I’ve spent so much time, energy, and money to discover and establish my own genius! This is where we start in the beginning of our business. What am I good at? What do I love to do? And how do I create a business that allows me to do just that?
And then this becomes our IDENTITY. I am a genius at _________.
And it was no small feat to BECOME the type of person who could actually recognize our own genius, speak about it, and charge for it!
So to move into a mission or a next-level calling that requires MORE from us than this… that requires a different skill set than the one we’ve learned to hone, well that can feel incredibly foreign. Especially because this often requires us to LET GO OF things that are our genius in favor of things that may be even more brilliant, and that serve the greater mission more strongly.
So I’m in the inquiry.
Spirit gave me this question and I’m passing it on to you with some initial thoughts.
Seven Ways Your Genius May Be Costing You Money
Because It Comes Easily, You Underestimate Your Value.
This is the most common experience early on in business – the work that comes most easily to you feels like it couldn’t possibly be that valuable. You literally think, “Yes, but can’t everybody do this? Doesn’t everybody know that?” NO! I have seen people give away their services or create lots of complicated problems in their business because at some level they felt guilty making great money from something that comes so easily and naturally to them. Undercharging will always cost you money. As will overcomplicating.
You Are Good At So Many Things… You’ll Just Do It Yourself!
Early on in my business, I felt so grateful that I have a pretty big capacity to understand things and figure things out. The further along I’ve gotten in my business, the more I realize this isn’t necessarily a great thing! Because at many points along the way I’ve agreed to do things and continued to do things that I would have been better off outsourcing to someone else. I’ve been the bottleneck when it comes to moving my mission further faster more often than I care to admit. It wasn’t until I became committed to a “Lazy Bee” way of doing business that I could even see how many of these things have stayed on my plate. Be aware of what you consider to be within your genius! If you aren’t THE BEST at it, allow someone else to do it for you! (NOTE: In the beginning, it is responsible to understand as many parts of your business as you can… you don’t want to abdicate the responsibility for the choices in your business to someone else too quickly. If you can’t sell yourself it will be hard for someone else to do it for you. But as soon as you know enough to know you are not the best person for a task, go ahead and let it go!
You Try To Do For Yourself What You Do For Your Clients
If you are here reading this, most likely the work you do for your clients is deep, powerful, and transformational. Or perhaps you provide a service that helps them get clarity. And perhaps, because this is your genius, you may make the mistake of providing this genius work for yourself in your own business. As someone who has studied Human Design for some time, I am certain that the genius you offer your clients does not have the same impact for yourself! Your design ‘lights up’ in specific ways when you are in service of another, and in connection with their energy, in a totally different way than when you are working with and for yourself. Not to mention that our ego can really take over when we don’t have an outside witness!
I’m not saying your genius won’t serve your business, it definitely does! You may be working with a client and giving them the exact perfect piece of wisdom that will also work for you. Yet imagine if you let go of having the answers for them and for you, how much simpler that would feel! Find the person who can do what you do so well and hire them for your benefit!
You Believe Your Genius Just Isn’t a Money-Making Type of Genius
I have to include this idea here because I have a dear person in my life who has held this belief, that the type of work she’s most gifted in isn’t the type that makes great money. I refuse to believe this, though I understand how someone may think this way.
In recent years I’ve been guided to develop skills as a physical healer and energy worker. Even though this is right in line with what I believe in, and a beautiful add-on to the work I’ve been doing, I experienced resistance to this calling. Why? Because of a subtle but present belief in the limited income potential of this type of work.
But the truth is that having these skills ALONG WITH my business skills and mindset coaching skills makes me uniquely valuable to the right people.
Plenty of artists are ‘starving artists,’ and plenty believe in their unique combination of gifts and energy that make them valuable beyond the norm.
How could you actually see your genius in a different light so you can glimpse it’s tremendous value? The value of our work will always match the desires of our heart – we simply need to see it.
You Don’t Write Things Down
Because your genius is your genius, you don’t write down how to perform it. It just IS. And as a result, no one else can support you in lightening your load. You’re so busy working IN your business that you can’t work ON your business. It’s hard to know how to replace you in some of your tasks because they only exist in your mind. (And at some level this is likely because you don’t like the idea of being replaced!) You may also have a hard time writing it down because it comes naturally and therefore you don’t know where to start!
You’re Not Letting Others Do It ‘Good Enough’
Sure, you might be the best at the thing you’ve carved out your genius in. That makes total sense – it’s your genius. You’ve developed your company to reflect this and you offer a superior service because of it. But what if you want to take a vacation? What if Spirit calls you to a bigger mission, yet you can’t free yourself up long enough to pursue it because so many pieces of the day-to-day business rely on your personal energy to be present. Imagine if someone else could do what you do… maybe not in the same way you would do it, but perhaps they can do it ‘good enough,’ what might that be like? If you’re anything like me, ‘good enough’ doesn’t really feel good enough! You want excellence. Imagine that by allowing someone the space to do it ‘good enough,’ they will bring their own type of excellence to the table.
You’re Not Allowing Spirit To Guide You
This seventh reason is the most important way your genius may be costing you money. When you are genius at a certain skill set, you can allow the approaches you’ve developed within your genius to be THE WAY you make decisions and the ultimate guide to how you work. “I must practice what I teach,” is a great guide for an Aligned Entrepreneur, yet it can also get in your way. Because sometimes what you teach may be the perfect solution for others, and show up right on time. Yet, spirit may be guiding you to something else.
And when your genius involves your mind, your strategy, or your insight, it can be easy to blindly follow this without paying any attention to what your soul is calling you to do. And this will ultimately be costly. Our mind can make all kinds of choices that seem perfectly logical and reasonable, that have nothing to do with our soul’s purpose.
Your intuition has wisdom that your mind can’t explain, and it will not steer you wrong. It may make absolutely no logical sense for you to, say, host an event in London. And, in fact, that event may not even be ‘successful’ on the surface. Perhaps attendance is low and the finances are initially terrible. Yet the exact people who attend that event set in motion a series of events that change more lives than you can count. And ultimately make you a lot of money as a result of this decision.
When we’re willing to allow spirit to guide, and release the need to understand, or control, exactly how it’s going to go, we can be used by our purpose. And there is nothing more fulfilling than that.
So many successful business owners can think so quickly and make logical sense of the next popular strategy and put it into action before taking the time and space to run it by soul’s guidance. And this where your genius can really cost you.
If you’ve been someone who can do this, you’ve likely experienced lots of perks to this – like making a ton of sh!t happen. You’ve also likely experienced the downside – like “making” sh!t happen rather than allowing it to unfold, which is a much feminine and spirit led approach to business.
If this sounds like you, and you want to learn to hone your ‘soft skills’ which will make you even better at leading retreats and your team, and your client calls, consider joining me in Italy this fall for the Aligned Retreat, Lazy Bee Edition! In this 4 day retreat, you’ll have plenty of space to hear your soul’s guidance, you’ll get a new experience of what it can look like to run your business from a place of true connection, and how to nurture yourself and your business without fully identifying yourself with your business. You’ll sow the seed to create the business you truly desire – one of real freedom, and in service to your biggest mission on the planet right now.
There are three spots available in this powerful retreat. CLICK HERE to learn more and apply.