Discover Your Genius: What's Keeping You Unhappy, Unsuccessful, and Disillusioned

Like everyone, growing up, I didn't know myself.

The Greek wisdom inscribed on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi—"Know Thyself"—completely escaped me.

I moved through life unaware of my unique gifts, trying to become good at what others valued rather than discovering what came naturally to me.

That changed when I discovered Michael J. Gelb and his transformative books, primarily Discover Your Genius, but also Innovate Like Edison and How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci.​

These books, along with many others, helped me hone my own unique genius and lean into it more courageously.

It was Michael Port who during one of our training sessions crystallized something profound for me:

Your genius is what comes easily for you, and that is what you should charge the most for, because it's your God-given gift that you take for granted but which is really difficult—and therefore valuable—for others.

This insight revolutionized how I understood myself, my work, and my contribution to the world.

And I believe the lack of this understanding is what keeps most people unhappy, unsuccessful, and disillusioned with life.

Most people have not discovered and called upon their genius.

They're trying to succeed by becoming adequate at things that don't come naturally, rather than becoming exceptional by leaning into what does.

They're measuring themselves against others' strengths rather than cultivating their own.

They're working harder instead of working from their unique gift.

The Genius Framework: Learning from History's Greatest

In Discover Your Genius, Gelb explores ten of history's most influential figures—not necessarily claiming they were "the greatest," but recognizing that each had an enormous impact on society and history, and therefore we have much to learn from them.

Here's some of the frameworks he presents:

• ​Plato - influential philosopher known for his works on ethics, politics, and metaphysics
• ​Brunelleschi - renowned for developing linear perspective and designing the Florence Cathedral
• ​Columbus - credited with opening the Americas to European exploration, impacting global trade and culture
• ​Copernicus - proposed the heliocentric model of the universe, revolutionizing astronomy
• ​Elizabeth I - queen of England known for her strong leadership during the Elizabethan era
• ​Shakespeare - celebrated playwright and poet, known for his profound impact on English literature
• ​Thomas Jefferson - celebrating freedom in the pursuit of happiness
• ​Darwin - developing his power of observation and cultivating an open mind
• ​Gandhi - applying the principles of spiritual genius to balance body, mind and spirit
• ​Einstein - developed the theory of relativity, fundamentally changing our understanding of physics

What's remarkable about this diverse group isn't just their achievements—it's that each person leaned fully into their unique way of seeing and engaging with the world.

They didn't try to be someone else.

They discovered what came naturally to them and went all in.

My Journey to Discovering My Genius

Because of Gelb's books and the framework they provided, I was able to identify and lean into my particular genius:

Seeing patterns, systems, and flow, then breaking them down into individual pieces and processes to maximize effectiveness and share them in ways people can understand and act on.

• I can take complexity and distill it into manageable processes.
• I can identify bottlenecks and design systems that run more smoothly.
• I can see the underlying structure of things that seem chaotic to others.

For years, I took this ability for granted. I assumed everyone could see what I saw.

I undervalued it because it came easily to me. Why would anyone pay for something that feels effortless?

But that's precisely the point.

What comes easily to you is usually difficult for others.

What you take for granted is often exactly what people desperately need.

Your genius isn't measured by how hard you work to develop it—it's measured by the value it creates for others when you apply it.

The Core Problem: We Don't Know Ourselves

The reason most people remain unhappy, unsuccessful, and disillusioned isn't lack of effort, intelligence, or opportunity.

It's lack of self-knowledge.

We don't know our genius because:

• We're taught to fix weaknesses rather than amplify strengths.

The education system identifies where you're deficient and focuses energy on bringing you to average in those areas, rather than taking you from good to exceptional in your areas of natural strength.

• We compare ourselves to others' strengths.

We see what someone else does brilliantly and assume we should be able to do it too. When we struggle, we conclude we're inadequate rather than recognizing we're simply not in our genius zone.

• We undervalue what comes easily.

We've been conditioned to believe that anything valuable must be hard-won through struggle. If something comes naturally, we assume it can't be that important or valuable.

• We're looking for external validation rather than internal recognition.

We wait for someone else to tell us what we're good at rather than paying attention to what energizes us, what people consistently ask us for help with, and where we create disproportionate value with minimal effort.

• We confuse learned skills with natural genius.

We focus on what we've been trained to do rather than what we're naturally inclined toward. Skills can be taught; genius is discovered.

The Three Questions That Reveal Your Genius

If you want to discover your genius and transform your life, start with these three questions:

1. What Do You Do So Easily That You're Shocked Others Struggle With?

This is the primary indicator of genius.

When you encounter something that feels obvious, natural, or effortless to you, but you watch others struggle with it, you've likely identified an area of natural gift.

For me, it's:

• Seeing the underlying patterns in complex situations
• Breaking down complicated processes into simple steps
• Recognizing where systems are inefficient or breaking down
• Communicating complexity in accessible ways

What is it for you?

Possible indicators:

• People regularly ask you for help in this area
• You can't understand why others find it difficult
• You've been doing it naturally since you were young
• Time disappears when you're engaged in it
• You can do it even when tired or distracted
• Others comment on how unusually good you are at it

2. Can You Use That Ability to Make Other People's Lives Easier, Better, and Happier?

Genius isn't just about personal satisfaction—it's about contribution.

The question isn't just "What am I good at?" but "How does my gift serve others?"

The transformation test:

Can your genius help people:

• Solve problems they can't solve alone?
• Achieve goals they couldn't reach without you?
• Avoid pain, frustration, or failure?
• Experience breakthrough or transformation?
• Save time, money, or energy?
• Create something they couldn't create independently?

For my pattern-recognition and systems-thinking genius:

I help capable people who feel overwhelmed by complexity. I help entrepreneurs who are stuck working in their business build systems to work on it. I help people who see the vision but can't create the roadmap.

What transformation can your genius create?

3. Who Lives Can You Transform With Your Gift, and Who Are the People Willing to Pay You Well for Helping Them?

This is where genius becomes sustainable.

It's not enough to have a gift and even use it to help people.

You must identify:

Who specifically needs your genius?

• What's their situation or challenge?
• Why is your particular genius the solution?
• How do you reach them?
• What language do they use to describe their problem?

Who values it enough to pay well for it?

• Who has the resources to invest in your genius?
• For whom is the transformation you create worth significant investment?
• Who recognizes the value immediately versus who needs convincing?

The alignment:

Your genius becomes your livelihood when you find the intersection of:

• What you do effortlessly
• What creates transformation for others
• What people with resources will pay well for

This isn't mercenary—it's sustainable service.

When you're compensated well for your genius, you can afford to continue developing and offering it.

Why People Fail to Live From Their Genius

Even when people identify their genius, many fail to fully lean into it.

Here's why:

They Don't Trust It's Valuable

Because it comes easily, they assume it can't be worth much. They think, "If I can do this naturally, anyone can."

But that's precisely backward. What's easy for you is often extraordinarily difficult for others.

They Feel Guilty Charging for It

"How can I charge for something that's easy for me?" This is exactly the wrong question.

The right question is: "What's the value of the transformation I create, not the effort I expend?"

A surgeon doesn't charge for how hard the surgery is for them—they charge for the value of saving or transforming a life.

Your genius should be priced by impact, not by effort.

They Try to Be Well-Rounded Instead of Exceptional

Society celebrates the "well-rounded" person. But well-rounded people are, by definition, not exceptional at anything.

They're adequately competent across many domains rather than brilliant in their area of genius.

Excellence requires imbalance.

You must be willing to be mediocre or even incompetent in some areas to be world-class in your area of genius.

They Compare Their Beginning to Others' Middle

They see someone else's developed genius and compare it to their own undeveloped gift. "I could never be that good."

But you're not supposed to be that good at their genius—you're supposed to develop yours.

They Wait for Permission

They wait for someone to recognize their genius, validate it, and give them permission to pursue it.

But genius doesn't need permission—it needs expression.

The Ten Geniuses: Patterns to Recognize Your Own

Gelb's exploration of seven historical figures reveals different types of genius. Understanding these can help you recognize your own.

Plato: The Philosophical Genius

The pattern: Asks fundamental questions about meaning, ethics, and truth. Sees underlying principles. Creates frameworks for understanding.

If this is your genius: You naturally question assumptions, seek deeper meaning, create conceptual frameworks, and help people think more clearly about what matters.

Brunelleschi: The Architectural Genius

The pattern: Sees structure and design. Envisions what doesn't yet exist. Understands how pieces fit together to create functional beauty.

If this is your genius: You naturally design systems, create structure from chaos, envision possibilities, and build frameworks that work.

Columbus: The Exploratory Genius

The pattern: Driven to discover what's beyond the known. Willing to venture into uncertainty. Connects previously separate worlds.

If this is your genius: You naturally explore new territories, connect disparate fields, pioneer new approaches, and help others navigate the unknown.

Copernicus: The Revolutionary Genius

The pattern: Sees what everyone else misses. Challenges accepted paradigms. Recognizes when the model is wrong and needs fundamental revision.

If this is your genius: You naturally spot flawed assumptions, challenge conventional wisdom, recognize paradigm shifts, and help people see differently.

Elizabeth I: The Leadership Genius

The pattern: Navigates complex political and social dynamics. Balances competing interests. Makes strategic decisions under pressure. Inspires and directs collective action.

If this is your genius: You naturally lead, make strategic decisions, navigate complexity, unite people toward shared goals, and create order from chaos.

Shakespeare: The Creative Genius

The pattern: Understands human nature profoundly. Creates meaning through story, metaphor, and language. Expresses universal truths through particular forms.

If this is your genius: You naturally create, communicate through story and metaphor, understand and express human experience, and help people see themselves and their world more clearly.

Thomas Jefferson: The Freedom Genius

The pattern: Celebrates individual liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Envisions systems that protect freedom while creating order. Balances ideals with practical governance.

If this is your genius: You naturally champion autonomy and self-determination, design structures that empower rather than control, help people claim their independence, and create frameworks where freedom and responsibility coexist.

Charles Darwin: The Observational Genius

The pattern: Develops extraordinary powers of observation. Cultivates radical open-mindedness. Sees what’s actually there rather than what should be there. Draws revolutionary conclusions from patient, careful attention.

If this is your genius: You naturally notice details others miss, remain open to evidence that challenges assumptions, see patterns emerging from careful observation, and help people understand reality as it is rather than as they wish it to be.

Mahatma Gandhi: The Spiritual Genius

The pattern: Applies principles of spiritual genius to balance body, mind, and spirit. Transforms personal practice into social change. Demonstrates that inner work creates outer impact. Lives principles rather than merely teaching them.

If this is your genius: You naturally integrate physical, mental, and spiritual development, translate inner wisdom into practical action, help people align their lives with their values, and demonstrate that personal transformation enables collective transformation.

Einstein: The Theoretical Genius

The pattern: Thinks in abstractions and principles. Sees relationships between concepts. Discovers underlying laws that govern phenomena.

If this is your genius: You naturally theorize, identify principles, see patterns across domains, and help people understand why things work the way they do.

You likely have a primary genius with elements of others. The goal isn't to fit perfectly into one category—it's to recognize your particular combination and lean into it fully.

From Discovery to Application: Making Your Genius Your Living

Discovering your genius is transformative. But genius unemployed is genius wasted.

Here's how to move from recognition to application:

Step 1: Name It Clearly

Articulate your genius in simple, clear language:

• "I see patterns others miss and translate them into actionable systems"
• "I understand people deeply and help them express their authentic selves"
• "I envision possibilities and create practical pathways to achieve them"
• "I ask questions that reveal underlying truth and help people think clearly"

Step 2: Identify Where It's Most Needed

Where is your genius in highest demand?

• What industries or fields desperately need what you see easily?
• What problems exist because people lack your particular genius?
• Where are people struggling with exactly what comes naturally to you?

Step 3: Find Your People

Who are the specific individuals or groups whose lives would be transformed by your genius?

• What's their situation or challenge?
• How do they describe their problem?
• Where do they gather?
• What are they already spending money on that doesn't quite solve their problem?

Step 4: Design Your Offering

How can you package your genius in a way that creates maximum transformation?

• One-on-one work for deep customization?
• Group programs for community and scale?
• Digital products for leverage and reach?
• Speaking or teaching for influence and impact?

Step 5: Price for Value, Not Effort

What's the transformation worth to your ideal client?

• What does solving this problem mean for their life or business?
• What's the cost of not solving it?
• What are they currently spending on inadequate solutions?
• What's a premium price that attracts serious people and allows you to do your best work?

Step 6: Commit Fully

Stop apologizing for your genius. Stop hiding it. Stop undervaluing it. Stop trying to be something you're not.

Go all in on being exceptionally you.

The Societal Impact of Undiscovered Genius

When individuals don't discover and express their genius, it's not just a personal loss—it's a societal loss.

Consider:

How many potential "Einsteins" are working jobs that don't require their gift for seeing relationships others miss?

How many potential "Shakespeares" are suppressing their creative genius because they don't believe they can make a living from it?

How many potential "Elizabeths" are following rather than leading because they haven't recognized their strategic and political genius?

Every undiscovered genius represents:

• Problems that remain unsolved
• Innovations that never happen
• Transformations that don't occur
• Beauty that's never created
• Truth that stays hidden
• Leadership that's absent when needed

The world doesn't need more people who are adequately good at jobs they hate.

The world needs people who are exceptionally brilliant at expressing their unique genius in service of others.

The Integration: Genius in the Context of Everything Else

Discovering your genius doesn't mean abandoning everything else you've learned in these articles:

Genius requires the "Watch Me" mindset to pursue what comes naturally despite others saying you can't make a living from it.

Genius is a "Build Once, Sell Twice" asset when you systemize how you deliver your gift.

Genius is expressed through nonverbal communication that aligns who you are with what you signal.

Genius distinguishes badasses from bullies—badasses use their genius to elevate others; bullies suppress others' genius to feel superior.

Genius requires "trying softer" in the sense that you stop forcing yourself to be good at what doesn't come naturally and start flowing in what does.

All of these concepts support the same fundamental truth: You become exceptional by becoming more authentically yourself, not by becoming a mediocre version of someone else.

Conclusion: The Call to Genius

You have a genius.

Something comes easily to you that others struggle with.

Something you take for granted that others desperately need.

Something you could express that would transform lives.

The tragedy isn't that you might fail at expressing your genius. The tragedy is that you might never discover it.

The trick isn't trying to learn and copy someone else's genius—it's discovering your own and going all in.

So ask yourself:

What do you do so easily that you're shocked others struggle with?

Can you use that ability to make other people's lives easier, better, and happier?

Whose lives can you transform with your gift, and who are the people willing to pay you well for helping them?

These aren't rhetorical questions. They're the questions that, when answered honestly and acted upon courageously, transform not just your life but the lives of everyone you're meant to serve.

Your genius is waiting to be discovered, developed, and deployed.

The world doesn't need another mediocre version of someone else's genius. It needs the exceptional expression of yours.

Stop trying to fix your weaknesses. Stop comparing yourself to others' strengths. Stop undervaluing what comes easily.

Start knowing yourself. Start expressing your genius. Start transforming lives with your unique gift.

Because what's keeping you unhappy, unsuccessful, and disillusioned isn't lack of effort, opportunity, or talent.

It's simply that you haven't fully discovered and called upon your genius.

And once you do, everything changes.