Three Characteristics of a Genius—Do you possess them?
Geniuses throughout the ages have been found to possess three special characteristics.
Characteristic #1:
First, all geniuses seem to have developed the ability to concentrate single mindedly on one question, problem or goal at a time, and to exclude all other diversions or distractions. The more intensely you concentrate your thoughts and attention, and the more intensely you are emotionally involved with a problem or goal, the more likely it is that your mind will respond with the kind of creative ideas that you need. And the good news is that concentration comes from practicing the process of concentrating whenever you have something you want to accomplish.
One of the best ways to develop this habit of concentration is to define your goal or problem clearly, in writing, at the top of a piece of paper. Then, write down every single detail that you can think of that pertains to that goal or problem. Write every fact, figure and piece of information that you have. The more you write, the more likely it is that you will come up with exactly the idea that you need to solve the problem or difficulty that is currently holding you back.
Characteristic #2:
The second quality of geniuses is that they have developed a systematic approach to solving problems. Usually, they write them down clearly on paper in advance. Accurate problem definition leads to a solution in fully 50% of cases. Most of the time, when you have a problem or series of problems that is causing you worry or concern, it is because you have not yet sat down and clearly defined exactly what the problem is.
Most people who are unhappy in life have no goals. The very act of sitting down and writing out a list of goals will change your perspective completely. When you take your list of goals, organize it by priority and then make written plans to achieve your most important goals, your mind will start to sparkle with ideas that will help you. Your negativity and pessimism will vanish. You will experience a surge of energy and enthusiasm and you will want to get up and get going immediately on whatever it is you have written down.
One of the key parts of approaching your problems or goals systematically is the importance of validating the information that you have. As the humorist Josh Billings once wrote, “It isn’t what a man knows that hurts him. He what he knows that isn’t true.”
There are an enormous number of things that you think you “know” about your life and situation that are simply not true. One of the best ways to manage your creativity is to carefully check and double check your facts and figures to be sure that they are accurate.
Characteristic #3:
The third characteristic of genius is that they invariably have open minds. They are curious, friendly, even playful. They refuse to jump to conclusions or to cut off any line of thinking or train of thought. They continually ask questions, especially, “What if?”
“What if?” questioning is one of the hallmarks of developing and managing your creativity. For example, what if everything that you are doing in your current job or situation to achieve your goal or to solve your major problem was completely wrong? What if there was a better way? What if you were operating on the basis of false information or wrong assumptions? What if what you were attempting to do was actually impossible and that is why you are having such problems with it.
I have known many people who have been in bad jobs. They were constantly coming up with ideas to make their jobs more acceptable. Finally, they realized that the boss was always going to be negative, the company was always going to be bureaucratic and the marketplace was always going to be ruthless. So instead of trying to find a solution to their current job, they changed jobs and turned out later to be very happy and much better paid. Could this apply to you?
*What did you learn? Leave me a comment!
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Brian – I have been listening/ reading/ your books for years. I am so excited to see that it does not take long to see results when you put in the daily actions (listed above) every single day. YOU ROCK! Thank you for leading the way.
Nanci
Thank’s Brian these are great tips as always…”If you have no goals you can not accomplish anything” Me
Brian, I love to read your books and just now I learned again about concentration, have goals with priority, and be creative
thanks Brian
Mr. Brian, my whole life was changed by very first book which I wasread from you couple years ago. I never stop read, listen or watching your amazing stuff. Good bless to you to by with us forever
I wish you to meet one nice day and stay more closer to your ideas for personal and business growth
Thank you for everything Mr Brian
Great post, Brian. I am reminded that writing stuff down is crucial to implanting it in one’s brain. All three of your points drive home this mark of genius.
This is great, thanks so much, I also have many of your tape sets.
I believe that Mark Twain originally has a quote almost exactly like the one above.
You never cease to amaze me . . . it seems like you are probing my mind. You seem to come out with just the right quote or CD or whatever to help me deal with the current situation. I wasn’t looking for validation of my ‘genius’ status, but I was trying to figure out if I was somehow different from other people. Your definition of ‘genius’ did help me – at least I know now that I’m not stupid! LOL
So, what is the next thing you are planning to come out with . . . something about being more comfortable in crowds maybe?
The exact definition of a “genius” is actually rather difficult to pin down, because there are no clear, subjective measures which can be used to classify who is a genius and who is not- But I like what you did here- you introduced us to some interesting characteristic’s of a genius- WHEE- who knew I was a genius..LOL Thank you Brian for the great post.
Lolly
A genius doesn’t think that s/he’s destined to be a failure. S/he learns from her/his mistakes. For example, Adam Khoo used to be regarded as a stupid student, but then he managed to learn from his mistakes, and people started regarding him genius.
Cheers,
Elsa
Brian Tracy – I think you’re a “genius” because there’s something else you taught us to use when we want to expand our thinking (and I don’t use it near enough)and that’s to take a problem or challenge and turn it into a question – then disciplining ourselves to come up with at least twenty answers.
Believe it or not I offered a family member this advice – but with a twist – and that was to talk to at least 20 different people before making a big purchase. This idea came from your 20 answer idea.
I like the idea of asking ourselves all those “what if” questions too. They’re inspiring and fun to ask because – hey, “what if…” it works out the way we want (whatever it is) it to. Good thoughts, and Great ideas. Thank you!
Hey Brian. Always a pleasure reading your blogs.
I have been using the concept of writing stuff down on paper ever since I have discovered it in Dale Carnegie’s “How To Stop Worrying and Start Living.”
Great blog, thanks.
Igor
yes sir, you are absolutely right.I read biographies of greats like MAHATMA GANDHI,ISSAC NEWTON,MICHAEL PHELPS.They posses all these qualities.The way you summarize these qualities is amazing.
Thank you
The importance of writing down goals, then testing them with what if questions is so helpful. Making things concrete instead of abstract always improves perception and creativity. Thank you.
Great article! Keep posting! I love reading all your blog posts! They help me in life a lot. Thank You!
Thank you Brian for showing us the path of success.
Dear brian thanks for all subjects
they are very useful for us
always write & be with us
ALL THE BEST
B_ALEMI
from AFGHANISTAN
I promise practing your lesson!!
Mr. Tracy, I was glued to every word of this article, I especially love the 3rd point ‘what if’ question, constant re evaluation. Big fan, you’re tapes recently helped me thru a telesales job. Love your energy and consistency. Ash K (London)
Brian:
What really like about your books and articles is they they contain very pratical and down to earth ideas all can apply and get immeidate result. They are cross cultural and people from all over the world can easily understand and follow.
May God continue to bless you and use you to add quality to the lives of millions of people worldwide.
Cheers!
Josh Niraula
Kathmandu, Nepal
‘What if you were operating on the basis of false information or wrong assumptions? ‘
this question alone is really important. Bruce Lee referred to it as ‘having a sticky mind’ ,which was totally opposed as his idea of ‘being flowing,like water,that can assume many forms’
Brian’s question really opens up my mind. The other questions like ‘What am I trying to do? HOW am I trying to do it?’. I won’t ever forget these questions and whenever I have asked them, in all cases I saw results that I could not have seen otherwise. Thank you Brian! You are the best educator I ever found and it’s only been since I started to hear your audiobooks that something in my life is starting to change. Regards,Luigi
Great post. I think that everyone can look at their character and choose at least one of the above. It is just working on the other two thats hard!
I think understanding the quote of Josh Billings is the key to personal growth. Great quote!! This is one of the most energizing articles I’ve read on true genius. Everyone likes to think that you are born a genius, they don’t realize that genius is a mindset. Well done Brian.
Thanks Brian, another way to simply become more effective at solving problems by modeling genius behavior. I think I will come back to this again and again in the future. Thank you. P.S. could you write more on the weekly words of wisdom?
Yes Curiosity is a key trait of a genius…Da Vinci has a systematic way of
dealing with life really not just problem solving and one of those keys was having an incredible level of curiosity…he asked the “stupid” questions, Why Is The Sky Blue, Why, why, why and what if. This ties to learning to be like a child – to embrace innocence. Thanks for the article.
Your message has send my mind running. it has made me a better person than before.
thank you Brian ; I descover that I am a potential genius …after you of course ;
Dear Mr. Brian thank you for all your books. I’m from Russia and I have been learning English language for several month. Your books is very helpfull in my study.
It’s nice that there is such a great man as you from whom people may gain practical wisdom.
Mr. Brian thanks! Very goog article.
Mr. Tracy, I first became aware of you and your organization at the Phoenix Seminar. It changed my life and whenever I feel that I need to supercharge my life, I always return to your teachings. Thanks so much for sharing your wisdom with the world.
Great Post, it is. Well done, Brian. you have indirectly written on the steps to living and an exceptional life. I have learnt to be focused, to engage thorough planning and goal setting in my daily life and also to stand out using the “What if” questioning. A related article to this in my blog is, http://kilankooluwaseun.wordpress.com/2009/06/28/how-proud-is-the-world-about-me/
Thanks a bunch for this post.
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Great post Brian!!! Yet another powerful performance of your insight!
People –
Og Mandino is amazing too! I highly recommend in audio format “The Greatest Salesman in the World. A classic that has changes the lives of millions.
Brian, thanks for the timely and highly relevant information. I have used this and others of your strategies to bring a lot of value to both my internal and external customers. Ideas are what the business world is made of, and ideas come through imagination and genius.
Brian:
That’s why Albert Einstein wrote, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
Knowledge has limits, but imagination soars like an eagle in the sky.
Knowledge is out there and can hold you a prisoner to expert opinion, whereas with your own creativity, there are no limits. You are free to question dogma.
By questioning conventional wisdom, you are able to identify problems and reach novel solutions. This has happened time and again over the course of history.
That’s also why, many times, new discoveries are made only by pioneers with their head in the clouds: they had a fresh perspective and just did not know any better, so they went out on a limb. There was no market for their ideas, so they created a new market.
Look at the PC. There was no market for the PC because it never existed before. People used portable, manual type-writers and wrote by long-hand.
The PC came out of the blue and was invented in a garage in Palo Alto, CA by two so-called freaks and weirdos like Steve Jobbs and Steve Wozniack.
“Genius is to madness near allied,” wrote the poet, John Dryden. Many times we ignore our geniuses and revolutionary ideas alas end up in the dust-bin of history. So many great ideas have been lost because of lack of support and social ostracism. We need patrons of the arts and sciences and funds for new projects and assignments too. Otherwise, we will lose our potential Einsteins and Shakespeares.
I do think that concentration and passion are the most powerful characteristics for success in any career, any work!
I am learning ability of focusing …
the power to poses a conscious and sub-conscious mind on different levels on occasions leads to grater achievements and understanding the nature of subliminal forces in the universe, have the urge to know more and explore beyond your own ability to perfection and anything you set your mind to conceive you do surely can achieve..Thank you for the insight, this is another food to my brain.
Great!
1- Laser-focus on what you want
2- Systematically approach your goal, refining approach as you proceed.
3- Pay attention and Have FUN while you´re at it! Awesome =)
Mr. Brian,
What a great task it has always been for me, writing down my goals in some situation!!!
Reason being that , unforeseen circumstances have always diverted my wishes fortunately so far towards something better…
Brian dear,you are the best.Thank you.
amazing approach to success, thanks!
Great post. You de-mystified the idea of genius.
Just love the ‘what if’ ? question.
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I have stacks of your CD’s and they play repeatedly on my computer throughout the day while I work from him Brian. THANK YOU for your insight, inspiration and integrity in business. I am a better man for it!
The portions of your CD’s where you list “The Characteristics of a ______” are gold for me, I always write them down and keep them on hand.
no exception here.
Excellent .. very simple yet insightful …
Sir, you have descibed my mindset perfectly and I would welcome the opportunity to further converse.
this was really very helpful , thank you for all of the grat informations in this post , i hope one day i will be a important person in the world .