I'm reminded of what my mentor said many years ago, to a young aspiring #architect version of myself. We were walking back from a client meeting on a surprisingly sunny Glaswegian day. The client meeting went well. In fact a lot of praise was given to our presentation & that my mentor was repeatedly commended for his insightful designs. I was was just soaking up all I could from the meeting as a 'fly on the wall'. As we walked across Merchant City, my mentor said to me...
“I'm not a genius. I just work hard.”
He went on to describe that what others see as '#genius' in him is purely a product of his hard graft. I was surprised at this description of 'genius'. Before then, I had always thought that the title was only reserved for a few 'chosen' or 'gifted' ones, but to think that 'genius' is actually a result of hard work? Now that was new, to me anyway!
That moment coming back from the presentation has been one of the defining moments for me in my realization that in becoming the best at whatever you do, there are no shortcuts. Hard graft is part of the process, and through it comes learning and growth.
Your Practice. Your Genius.
At the end of the day, the defining factor between those who appear to be geniuses at what they do, and the rest of us, is the amount of practice that is put into whatever they are great at. Malcolm Gladwell famously describes the 10,000 hours rule in his book the Outliers, as a description of the kind of commitment that is required to master something. Circumstances like genetics and environment may come into play but I'm now a true believer that every single one of us possesses the ability to bring forward our own #genius, with commitment and time.
So, stick around long enough, put in the your best efforts and get ready to reveal the genius within you!
I hope that you have found this helpful. Please share it with someone who you think may find it beneficial. Let's support each other during these challenging times. My sincere gratitude and love to you. #StaySafe and #StayHealthy. Kamil.
(Photo by William Recinos on @unsplash)