The difference between what you “love to do” and your unique genius
In our last article, I discussed why strengths alone, are not your unique genius.
In this article, we address why what you “love to do”, is not your unique genius.
That thought might run counter to what so many faculty members try to live by, since we are so trained by the old adage…
Right?
You might have a brief insight, or a spark of a thought about what you love to do, but it seems with each spark of clarity, come more questions that don’t have answers, in scenarios like….
- What you love to do suggests a career move that you don’t want to do: You might think…..If I really dig down, what I love to do is host dinner parties. So does that mean I should quit my job as a tenured professor and host dinner parties? That’s crazy! I don’t even want to do that!!
- You couldn’t fulfill your job if you decided to ONLY do what you LOVE to do: You might think….If I really dig down, the only part of my job that I actually LOVE doing, is being in the classroom. But how am I possibly able to keep my job, and get tenure if I only do what I love to do, and be in the classroom? That is literally impossible.
- What you love to do doesn’t seem to be valued – or in some cases even tolerated: I love to work by myself, yet in order to be valued, I have to work with groups and contribute at a committee level. How can I do what I love and still be valued?
The lack of clarity is painful, and may even lead to an existential crisis….”should I even be a professor anymore??”
You wonder….
There is a massive difference between
“What you Love to Do”, and Your Unique Genius.
Faculty members who are crystal clear about their unique genius know three core truths:
#1: Focussing on what you love to do will cause you to walk right past your Unique Genius.There are things you are, and things you do, that are clues pointing straight to your unique genius, but because you don’t think of them as “what you love to do”, or you don’t value them, or you assume they are irrelevant or not welcome in your work, you will walk right past all the clues pointing to your actual unique genius.
#2: What you LOVE to do doesn’t take into account all of your education, skills, and background.You realize that what you love to do is only a fraction of who you are. Your unique genius represents ALL of who you are at your core and is un-moveable. The clues are all over your life. In your quirks, what you’re good at, what drives you nuts, what you love, what you suck at. The skill and magic is the rigour we follow in discovering, valuing, and utilizing the patterns of your unique genius.#3: Once you find your unique genius, it will not move. You can see with crystal clarity the exact steps to create your career around your unique contribution. Once you discover your unique genius, you will see that what you love to do is exactly relevant to the career that aligns with who you are at your core. You will recognize that “what you love to do” is only part of your whole unique genius.
In other words….
Faculty members come to us every day, who say things like…
“I just want to figure out what I love to do, so my work becomes my love”
And, we start where we always start, which is our rigorous methodology to find their unique genius.
Every professor who goes through this process, quickly realizes we are not looking for “what you love to do”.
We are looking for patterns that are who you are at your core, to uncover your unique genius.
Quite frankly, who you are at your core is a deeper, more foundational pull than what you love to do.
After discovering their unique genius and getting crystal clear, faculty members use it to design their job as an extension of who they are at their core. What they love to do is revealed in a powerful relevant way.
NOW YOU:
If you are a faculty member and have been trying to get clear by asking “what do I love to do?”, I encourage you for the moment, to pause from asking that question
Instead, ask:
Do I want my work to be an extension of ALL of who I am at my core?
Do I want to be crystal clear about my unique genius?
Then listen from your “gut” for your true answer.
If you are committed to creating your work as an extension of all of who you are – your unique genius – I encourage you to book a free Breakthrough Call
On the call, we will get to the source of what is blocking you from crystal clarity, and see what are the next steps you should take to get clear.
The call is 100% free, and there is no catch.
But, it’s not for everyone.
The call is for faculty members who:
- want to focus your time to be aligned with what you’re good at, what you love to do, what your values are, and all of your authentic self
- want to clearly and powerfully articulate who you uniquely are, in a way that is a contribution and benefit to your department, university, and discipline.
- are tired of trying to “get clear” on your own, and you want this clarity now.
- are action takers. You push through and get the job done.
