The true joy in life resides in the struggle for greatness
and the mastery of our talents and gifts.

The most important reasons that we’re all here in this lifetime are:

• To understand and utilize our own Innate Ability and Unique Genius.
• To develop Mastery of ourselves and our craft.
• To contribute our Greatness fully and completely to the world.

But what are these elusive terms mastery, genius, and greatness that we so infrequently hear used? How are they really defined? Are they measured by tangible means and results like so many believe?

I believe the answer to that final question is both yes, and no.

You may ask, “James, are all these individuals in the same category of genius? Are you placing  Bryant and Herjavac in the same category as Michelangelo and Picasso?

To which I answer “Yes.”

The only difference is their method and means of expression. We’ll discuss this in greater detail as time unfolds.

(1.) True greatness to be living your life in alignment with your Innate Ability and Unique Purpose

This is the first and most important step, and in the pursuit of genius… it absolutely must be primary.

(2) You must be committed to mastering the gifts you’ve been given; and then contributing them fully and completely to the world.

Now, this obviously presupposes that you know what your innate abilities are, as well as your unique purpose.

Very few people do.

Our traditional schooling trains us in a sheep-dip-one-size-fits-all fashion, to be (hopefully) good at the cognitive and linguistic lines of development.

While obesity is rampant in our society, our traditional schools do absolutely nothing to even discuss nutrition; and physical education/P.E. is no longer even a requirement in most schools.

It’s as if there’s nothing of importance in our world except math, science, and English. As if the full spectrum of life and experience either don’t exist or have no value.

Therefore, the athletes, the great artist, entrepreneur, innovator, environmentalist, spiritual seeker, and creative thinker are given little to no skills; and certainly no reinforcement for their innate abilities. With no skills and reinforcement, these innate abilities lay dormant, atrophy, and certainly are not developed.

Please, before you’re too quick to discount your own genius… push pause; back it up; and think again.

Howard Gardner from Harvard University unequivocally states that we’re all a potential genius in not only just one area… but possibly two.

Yet your unique genius must be first recognized and then developed, and if your innate ability is not in math or science… you’re pretty much on your own.

Yet, please understand that innate ability and talent are not enough to reach a level that even begins to approach mastery. Please read that again. Just knowing your gift/s is not enough.

Mastery takes extreme focus and extreme sacrifice. Please don’t kid yourself or buy into those who propagate a magic formula for instant success. More discussion on this moving forward.

There are certain qualities to greatness, or what we can term mastery. A quick look around, as well as a quick perusal of history, proves that very, very few ever achieve what would be called the mastery of their lives or craft.

Genius is the structure upon which mastery is built;
and mastery leaves clues.

Now, with genius as our foundation… it might behoove us (according to my style), to begin with a study of the etymology of the word genius.

Traced back to its origins, genius meant something akin to “from the Higher Self, Holy Guardian Angel, or Guardian Spirit.” The word genius contains the same root as genie, which many of the ancients believed to literally be a guardian that each of us had.

Originally one “had a genius” and only in the mid 1600’s was anyone actually thought to “be a genius.” The original Latin “gignere” translates as “to produce.” This concepts continues to live in our lore as the genie who produces the wishes.

So we must agree that our “genius” is first a gift; and if it’s a gift from our Higher Self or Holy Guardian Angel… then we could also say it’s a gift from God, Universal Intelligence or the Creative Source. What we’ll call your Innate Ability.

Secondly, it’s the ability “to produce” with this gift. This is a key concept which is fundamental to mastery.

Now the key distinction we must make is that it would be easy to assume that some are “gifted” and some are not.

However, this completely flies in the face of all logic.

For this randomness to be true, it would necessitate a situation where either some capricious Higher Power is doling out gifts to a select few; or at minimum, a random chance driven situation where some are just plain lucky or others are not.

Yet, even our most modern scientific thinking shows that nothing in this Universe is random or chance driven. Nothing.

Our entire universe is not only self-aware but also self-organizing. Random and chance would never have developed you to the point of being able to even read this treatise right now… much less understand and contemplate.

All of us are gifted, albeit some gifts appear to be more valued in our current social paradigm than others. However, studies show that those who truly leverage their genius rarely buy-in or give much attention to the current social paradigm. Please read that again.

This does not mean they are social rebels or problem makers (although some have been perceived and treated this way), they just tend to go about their work, knowing who they are; knowing why they’re here, and knowing what they choose to create and do irrespective of social recognition or reward.

Yes… some of them have received greatly in both areas of recognition and reward, but more often than not they really don’t care much about either.

In fact, when true mastery and genius is apparent, it’s the business of doing their business that is the only true reward they desire.

Stephen Jobs immediately comes to mind.

Jobs has now been deified as a cultural genius and hero. Interestingly enough, when he was alive a tremendous amount of people that knew him and worked for him did not like him; and that’s putting it mildly.

While they respected his creativity and drive, he was most often not well-liked; and even kicked out of his own company in a hostile takeover.

This tends to be the case with genius. If not disliked, even hated, they are at minimum completely misunderstood. They just don’t fit the collective social mode; and frankly, if they did they would never have a chance to actualize their genius. Let that sink in, please. Turn it over in your marvelous mind.

Even though I’ve said this before it bears repeating early in this series:

In fact, genius and mastery are grounded in solitude that has little time nor value for even paying attention to social norms. Not out of disrespect. More out of, “I have better and bigger things to think about and do.”

“The most successful people I’ve ever observed are
monomaniacs on a mission.”
~Peter Drucker

Genius has a deep need to focus all of their energy and attention on their calling and purpose. This will become clearer as time goes on, but it’s important for us to agree that anarchy is the furthest thing from the behavior of a true master genius. They are the quintessential “in the world not of the world type of person.”

I know it may seem that I’m belaboring the point… but it’s vitally important that we start on the same page with this topic and series. So many in our world grade their “success” by their popularity and/or their pay. Once again, while popularity and pay may be present… this is not the reason the master genius does what he does.

Let the doing of your work be your greatest reward.
Just for the doing of it for this is your love.

What we’re discussing here are personal values, and I encourage you to be honest with yourself about what you value most and why. There is no benefit whatsoever in lying to yourself.

When you find your purpose the line between work and play blur. What others call work is not work… it’s your love and joy.

If you have a deep-seated need to “be loved and accepted,” which by the way is one of the 5 Primary Fears of the human species and you define this love by externals; other people’s behavior and opinion; and you cannot overcome it… your chances of achieving genius and greatness will be severely hampered if not entirely halted.

There’s another one to turn over and over again in your marvelous mind. Ponder deeply. Again, there’s no value whatsoever in lying to yourself.

No one who was normal ever made history. Never have. Never will.

Be a Leader. Live Your Purpose; and Take Your Power Back!

James

BRAND NEW OPPORTUNITY:

The Legendary Leadership Virtual Event. February  5-7 via ZOOM.

Go here: https://jamesray.com/legendary-leadership/

ANOTHER NEW OPPORTUNITY:

The NEW Netflix! Staying at home more during turbulent times? Stop bingeing on movies and binge on your own happiness, fulfillment, and growth. #ProjectStayHome Get video coaching from James and Bear once per week (4X per month), join a Growth-Minded Community, get video recordings of all coaching sessions PLUS an archive of over 2,000 previous sessions (binge on that!) All for the same investment as Netflix, only $13.97 per month.

Go here and grab your spot: https://www.jamesraystore.com/product/the-ultimate-performance-forum/

COACHING:

Want to work with James as your COACH? We have several options.

Go here: https://jamesray.com/ultimate-performance-coaching-with-james-arthur-ray/