Find your Lane, and Stay in it!
So you want to learn how to start a tax business? Not surprising, more and more new tax preparation businesses are popping up every single day. It’s a low-investment business you can start from your home.
Can we talk about something a little different today? In honor of our new book releasing this month, we wanted to talk about how to be more successful in your business by outsourcing. Outsourcing is essentially delegating tasks that you are not GREAT at to other people and working on the task you are great at. In order to do this, you must first discover what your Zone of Genius is…
Everyone’s zone of genius is unique. It is the physical and mental space where your interests, passions and skills converge to make you unstoppable in your performance. It’s the unique power that allows you to shine. It is a one-of-a-kind quality that you bring to your life and to your work and lets you do certain things better than almost anyone else.
Often times this is at the intersection of your innate talents and passions and is often difficult to distinguish in yourself as unique or special because it comes so naturally. While we might share common skills, interests, or work styles with others — your zone cannot be replicated by anyone else. Operating in your zone of genius is a guaranteed way to help you produce the best results in the most efficient way, so you can achieve the highest degree of satisfaction in your life and work.
Gay Hendricks identified four different zones of function in his book, The Big Leap.
1) The Zone of Incompetence
In this zone, you are engaging in something you inherently do not understand or are not skilled at.
2) The Zone of Competence
In this zone, you are doing what you are efficient at, but recognize that many people are likewise efficient at it, thus not distinguishing your capabilities in any significant way.
3) The Zone of Excellence
In this zone, you are doing something you are tremendously skilled at. Often, the zone of excellence is cultivated, it’s practiced and established over time.
4) The Zone of Genius
In this zone, you capitalize on your natural abilities which are innate, rather than learned. This is the state in which you get into “flow,” find ceaseless inspiration, and seem to not only come up with work that is distinguished and unique, but also do so in a way that excels far and beyond what anyone else is doing.
So you might be wondering if you have a zone of genius. YOU DO! Everyone has one. You just need to dig deep and find it. Well, here are 3 ways you can get to your zone of genius and start living your purpose.
- Identify what you most love to do and that doesn’t feel like work.
2. Strive for clarity. Once you’re clear on your purpose then you can dedicate yourself to doing just that and living and working in your zone of genius. This takes confidence and believing in yourself. YOU CAN DO IT!
3. Leave your ego at the door. Meaning, you might be great at something and it might feel good to be praised by others for the work you do, but if you don’t love doing it then it’s not in your zone of genius.
The following questions can also help you find your zone of genius.
- “What do you love to do most? (You love it so much you can do it for long stretches of time without getting tired or bored).”
- “What work do you do that doesn’t seem like work?”
- “In your work, what produces the highest ratio of abundance and satisfaction to the amount of time spent?”
- “What is your unique ability? What unique ability of yours, fully realized and put to work, can provide enormous value to you and/or your company?”
- “I’m the best when I’m…”
- “When I’m at my best the exact thing I’m doing is…”
- “When I’m doing that, the thing I love most about it is…”
Staying in your Zone of Genius is going to require that you say “No” a lot. Get good at saying No to opportunities that take you out of your Zone of Genius.
You might want to also try this assessment – Entrepreneurial Zone Of Genius