Everybody is a Genius
Everybody 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.
– Albert Einstein
I’ve always found that quote to be very spot-on because we often judge people’s intelligence and skills based on our own values and abilities. We all have natural abilities. In my experience I have found that people often dive into areas of learning where they naturally excel while avoiding the areas where they are not naturally gifted. I have a “skill” math equation I tell clients about: Natural Ability x Interest = Skill.
Finding the balance between over-trying and giving up is one that many people struggle with. It is both important to learn something that is not easy, while knowing the subjects where becoming an expert is unlikely and moving on. Unfortunately, we’ve lost the interest or perhaps courage to learn things at a simple competency level.
No one is a master at everything but learning even a fraction of a given subject matter improves empathy, helps us to engage with people who are not the same as us, and it amplifies our courage to ask questions. Too often we use a comparative metric to judge ability. And comparison is often the killer of joy.