You've probably been told that low energy is a sleep or nutrition problem.
Those factors certainly have an impact.
But they aren't the whole story.
Maybe the drain you feel comes from working outside your zone of genius.
Working in our zones of genius increases our joy, our energy, and our effectiveness.
That is because this work aligns us with how we are wired.
Each of us carries natural talents. These have been evident throughout our lives, and feel almost effortless to engage.
They also leave us wanting more.
For years the standard advice had been to become well-rounded and shore up our weak spots.
And of course, competence in our weaknesses still matters. We can’t afford to ignore a gap that compromises the skill sets we need.
But Marcus Buckingham, drawing on Gallup's extensive research into strengths, argues that spending excessive energy trying to turn weaknesses into strengths is an ineffective use of our attention.
A far greater return comes from expanding and enhancing the strengths we already have.
What does this mean for us?
The framework from Gay Hendricks and Laura Garnett sorts our work into four zones.
Incompetence: We do work we aren't good at, and it drains us.
Competence: We're adequate, like most of the people around us.
Excellence: We add exceptional value, but the work doesn't light us up.
Genius: We're excellent, and we love the work.
That distinction between excellence and genius is the most significant.
Excellence can keep us busy and valued for years while our energy slowly drains away.
Genius, on the other hand, is excellence that energizes us. The pull toward this zone, stemming from intrinsic enjoyment of the work, is a sign to lean in.
Think of our growth as a spiral staircase.
Each turn brings us back over ground we have covered before, the same strengths and the same kinds of contribution, but with newfound progress that pushes us a little higher.
When we spend our time in our zones of genius, the energy we receive keeps us practicing, joyfully engaging with the challenge.
The positive feedback loop helps us grow and contribute exceptional value.
That value earns us more of the work we love, and the cycle repeats.
The spiral runs in both directions. Work we love builds our skill and our energy. Work that drains us, and that we keep doing because we're dependable at it, pulls us slowly down. Even as we improve at the task itself, our joy diminishes, and we become more resistant to re-engagement.
Flow strengthens the spiral.
Flow lives where the challenge sits just beyond our current skill.
Working from genius, we can take on harder challenges without tipping into anxiety, so we keep growing while staying in that balance.
This type of engagement helps to build a life that feels full, joyful, and useful.
We contribute the most when we give the world what only we can give.
This Week: Provide yourself greater insight by pulling up your calendar for the last two weeks.
Label each activity block with one of the four zones: incompetence, competence, excellence, or genius.
Ask two questions of every block:
Does this energize me?
Do I add exceptional value here?
Circle the blocks that either drain you or that someone else could handle.
Count the hours that sit in your zone of genius.
Then pick one excellence block and ask what it would take to move it into genius.
Perhaps the role can be redesigned rather than the work dropped.
None of us will spend all of our time in our zone of genius, but using that objective as our true north will keep us moving in the direction of optimized purpose, joy and impact.
Reflection: If you could add more value to the pursuit of your purpose this month, which block of your calendar would you move into your zone of genius?