Work in your zone of genius, follow your bliss, start acting on your purpose in life. It has me puzzling that, what seems to me is transitory, is being referred to as something that should be obvious and concrete. Flashbacks to my high school guidance counselor trying to get a 16-year-old me to articulate what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. Good luck with that. We all now have considerably more life data than we had back then, but I still find the question puzzling. We may have somewhat of an idea of what we are good at, but it is based solely on what we have done and the limits of our imagination. As an example, my current view of my zone of genius is radically different than it was 10 years ago; and I would bet that is true for a lot of us.
These are questions of identity, re-creation, and that really big quandry: Why are each of us here? Time cracks open the doorway to that answer somewhat, with a sliver of enlightenment shining though it, but the fully embossed version of our true life purpose is not always there. There are people who seem to find their zone of genius early in life; perhaps it is early certainty that powers the Mozart-level creators of the world. If impact is your goal, then staying on an arrow-straight path may get you there. Many of us long for the comfort of that kind of certainty, but how many of us have the mental health to manage that sort of life? Focus at that level can tip into mono-mania. Pro tip: if someone who knows you well keeps telling you you are good at something, pay attention; even if you disagree.
Ski race training on an open hill with my people requires total focus on the sensations coming through our feet, our legs and bodies, feeling for balance on the edge of the ski as it arcs across the hill, while visualizing a narrow path down the hill. Any sensations outside of this are blocked out, as it takes all of our mental processing power to do the skill we are learning while traveling at some considerable speed. Focus is essential to being effective at anything, but it also limits new information. More skilled athletes have the ability to both focus tightly and widely simultaneously. This is very much how I view these zone-of-genius questions. One has to have a tight zone of interest while also wearing a loose garment of awareness of everything else, and, in that looser awareness, we can shift our focus as we learn more. What we are focused on and think we are great at today, may only be a small sliver of what we were meant to do. We see the larger view when we relax the tight definitions of who we think we are. Benedictine monks in the Middle Ages kept detailed diaries of their daily achievements which helped them understand what they were good at. It worked out pretty well for them, and maybe we could all do with a bit of daily inventory of what we are actually good at. As has been written about many times here, a reflective life involves considerable muddling about, which is perfectly fine.
Onward and upward,
David
