It’s unfortunate and sometimes dangerous for somebody to judge a fish by its inability to climb a tree; it’s quite another for the fish to judge itself for its inability to climb a tree or to try, day in day out, to be the best tree climber. Read to know some ways to know your genius.
Albert Einstein said “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
Every time I read this quote, I can’t help but think that it’s unfortunate and sometimes dangerous for somebody to judge a fish by its inability to climb a tree; it’s quite another for the fish to judge itself for its inability to climb a tree or to try, day in day out, to be the best tree climber. Sometimes I wonder if each of us are truly aware of our genius. I wonder if perhaps we push ourselves to be the best at climbing a tree without realizing we are a fish.
Truth is, in the culture that wants to standardize tests and success, the subtle yet constant push for comparison, and with the imperfect educational as well as professional systems that put people into boxes, it’s very hard, if not impossible for individuals to break free.
“it’s unfortunate and sometimes dangerous for somebody to judge a fish by its inability to climb a tree; it’s quite another for the fish to judge itself for its inability to climb a tree or to try, day in day out, to be the best tree climber.”
I find hope in questions and curiosity though. I wonder what the world would look like and how much success organizations would see if each person not only knew their genius, but also knew what his/her colleagues are geniuses at. More importantly, how joyful and productive would we be if the 40+ hours per week that we spend on work were spent on the work we excel at?
How joyful and productive would we be if the 40+ hours we spend on our work were spent on the work we excel at?
I reflect on these questions a lot, and have tried multiple methods to identify my strengths. To be quite honest, I am a recovering assessment junkie :) But truth is, I still do think assessment are one of the many ways to start identifying what one is good at. Here are two of the many assessments that I found helpful in the professional/career space. In the next article, I will list other ways of identifying strengths.
Assessments
What about you? What methods have helped you assess your strengths?
Ps: This is blog 3 of self-leadership series where we will be sharing series of articles on self-leadership to expand on this framework, share resources, and take you on step by step journey to self-leadership.
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