Genius: What Does It Mean To Be A Genius?

Curiosity is what drives genius.  You follow your curiosity, and if you keep going for long enough, you find genius.

I estimate that it’s about 10,000 hours of work for 5 minutes of genius, give or take.

Geniuses are driven to do mad things by their curiosity.  Legend has it that Leonardo de Vinci used to steal corpses so he could dissect them to see how they worked.  He was obsessed with learning about human anatomy, and medical knowledge was limited at the time, so he had to find bodies to dissect in order to continue learning.

Presumably, there was risk involved in stealing dead bodies, but for geniuses their curiosity knows no bounds.  Following their curiosity and getting answers to their questions is a matter of survival.  It’s life or death.  To not do their life’s work is to not live at all.

Discovering your own genius means endlessly following your curiosity through heartbreak, doubt, fear, and everything else that comes with it.  It means following a dream that only you can see.  Other people may think you are crazy.

Not surprisingly, the people who are crazy enough to think they can impact the world are the ones who actually do.

However, geniuses don’t tell people they are a genius.  People tell them.  The work of a genius speaks for itself.

To my knowledge neither Beethoven, Shakespeare, Einstein, nor da Vinci ever told anyone they were a genius.  They didn’t need to tell anyone.  Their work was the only evidence that was needed.  Their work was that which could only be done by a genius.

The mark of a genius is doing work that could only be done by a genius – someone of exceptional capability.

There are many fake geniuses who peacock around with average skills, demanding attention and offering little value.  This is not genius.  Genius values contribution and solves real problems.

Genius is not an ‘’influencer,’’ genius is a problem solver.

Some people think genius is something you’re born with, but I don’t believe that’s the case.  Genius is something that is achieved through obsession – pursuing curiosity to its very farthest ends.

Genius is a form of madness.  It’s a curiosity that cannot be stopped.  Genius will have you up in the middle of the night scribbling down ideas that are important to nobody but you – in pursuit of dreams that only you can see.

Genius is achieved through thousands or tens of thousands of hours of focused work.  It cannot be achieved overnight.  The genius must face fear, anxiety, pain, and ridicule in order to get where he is going.  He must be doubted and envied.

A genius must suffer in order to realize his dreams.  Possessing a burning curiosity is both a blessing and curse.  The genius must go to great lengths to satisfy his curiosity and ease its burden.  Doing so is never easy.

Genius works all the time because life is work and work is life, and work is the only thing to do.  Work, play, life, and love are all so integrated that they cannot be separated from each other.

Genius doesn’t take many days off because it has no desire for a vacation.  Genius isn’t trying to escape from life, it’s trying to be present for it.  Genius is driven by purpose, not by paycheck.

Genius breaks rules, but does so with intent and purpose.

Genius spends 10+ years solving a single problem, then becomes an ‘’overnight success’’ (as if such a thing exists).

Genius is fleeting.  You only get to dance with genius when she wants to, and when she’s done you have to let her go.

Genius requires intelligence, but they are not the same.  Intelligence is common, like coal.  Genius is rare, like a diamond.  They’re both made of the same stuff, but genius has endured things that intelligence has not.

Genius is what intelligence aspires to be.  Intelligence is the raw material, genius the masterpiece.

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