“Nobody cares how much you know, but everyone feels if you care.” How does that sound to you? It touched me quite a bit when I heard this phrase last week (again) and made me think:

When Susanna and I wrote our book we signed up with a PR expert for a one-year seminar about packaging our unique message and passion into 150 pages and finding a publisher and media connections to get the word out. However, this person did not like our message and could not see any market response for it. The consequence for me: I closed down and did not learn anything from him. Subsequently we found different ways to publish and print “Yes, You Are a Genius” anyway, get several radio interviews and sell a few thousand copies.

Yes, it is more important for a bright child to find a teacher who can connect emotionally than mastering the most sophisticated and intellectually challenging program; the genuine human connection stimulates trust, curiosity and profound learning like nothing else.

Action:

How many people do you have in your life you truly care about? How many people really and deeply care about you? How does that make you feel?

Have a Genius Week!

Otto Siegel

“I have a hard time to accept a sincere compliment.” Sometimes I hear this statement several times a week. So, let’s have a closer look:

What is wrong about being acknowledged for  a real human quality, for looking great and radiant, for doing something extraordinarily well? After all, it is something that is right with us we get the praise for, not something that is wrong.

However, most likely we have been brainwashed to learn from our mistakes, to accept ‘constructive critizism’ (whatever that is…) or to be humble and not brag about ourselves.

In reality, compliments and praise build our self confidence and make our strengths stronger, they are food for the soul, if we are ready to open our bodies to receive them.

What I learn from weakness is to delegate it. What I learn from mistakes is to never do the same thing again. What I learn from compliments and praise is to listen to a sincere person who might see something in me that is my blind spot. This builds trust and connection and expands my reality. And sometimes I need to resist the urge in me to say : “Yes,but…”

Action:

How do you feel about compliments, acknowledgements and praise? Do you receive them on a daily basis? They are very healthy for body, mind and soul and have no harmful side-effects. Talk to your best friends about it as well as to your children. Maybe you want to take the leadership on this topic and set an example this week.

Have a Genius Week!