“It takes a village to raise a child.” I LOVE the wisdom behind this saying: What a relief for parents of bright children to realize that their own experience and the school environment need additional customized input to discover and develop the unique talents of each child as a strong foundation for their individual lives.

In professional settings this wisdom is even more obvious: It takes a lot of professional development, studies, training, coaching, seminars, mentoring, reading and interactions to become a company leader or sales professional.

How does this work in our fast paced age with increasing speed of change and transformation, with a constant demand to do ‘more with less’? In our daily work with families of bright children as well as corporate leaders ad entrepreneurs we found five core principles to accomplish what might seem impossible – doing more with less.

Here is the first one:

Create and/or join powerful teams who connect deeply with each other and consist of strong individuals with different expertise.

Imagine the impact on your life, if you could call an expert you trust with any possible question you might have.

Action:

How many powerful experts do you have as close friends today that would serve you as trusted advisors? Take a minute to reflect on this question if you are a parent, a professional or both.

Have a Genius Week!

Otto Siegel

This is a message from YOUR heart. Yes, this fist-size organ in your chest, hugged and partially covered by the two halves of your lungs:

“I beat for you 100,000 times per day and move your blood through 60,000 miles of arteries, capillaries and veins. Did I just blow your mind with these numbers? I work for you 24/7 and developed a genius way of relaxation – during the extremely short breaks between two heart beats. Sounds impossible? It almost is, but I LOVE to do the impossible, because I am in best company with other organs of your body which is a miracle wherever you look.”

“I leave you this message today because I am sick and tired of being taken for granted for the past years: I hate to be called a ‘pump’ when I carefully manage your constantly changing needs of blood flow while you think, run or sleep. So I request that you say ‘thank you’ to me at least once a day and I will be happy to keep working for you for decades to come.”

How does this Physical Intelligence in action sound to you today?

Action:

Health can be much more than sickness prevention. Share your feelings and opinions about this with someone you care about this week and include your children in this conversation.

Have a Genius Week!

Otto Siegel

How well do you know your child/parent/friend/significant other? How deeply do you feel your child/parent/friend/significant other? There might be a BIG difference between these two questions: Knowing can be precise, but very limited; feeling might sound vague, but quickly creates trust and deeper connection without control.

Many times parents are invited to be inolved in the individual genius coaching session of their children. When we explore strenghts or defining life experiences on a deeper level, I frequently hear this comment: “I had no idea you felt like this.” Does it surprise you to know that all these shared insights cause a deeper trust and positive relationship beween parent and child?

Plenty of these trust building moments could cause a parent to turn into a trusted advisor for life time. How does THAT feel to you? Of couse, the same principle applies for your team at work: Strenghts based leadership causes much higher job satisfaction, employee engagement and retention. Simple enough?

Action:

Tell your best friends something about you this week they have no idea about and notice their feedback.

Have a Genius Week!

Otto Siegel

A few years ago I met Laura*, a 10-year old quiet and very smart girl with poor grades at school. Both her parents were very athletic and tried hard to inspire her daughter to more physical outdoor activities. She came along to please her parents but her heart was not involved.

One day she watched TV and literally jumped up form her sofa with a burning question: “What is THIS?” It was a fencing competition she witnessed for the first time in her life. Mesmerized immediately, she wanted to find out everything there is to know about fencing and got enrolled in training.

Fast forward – only two years later she qualified for the National Junior Fencing team. Her personal genius found the desired outlet and exploded with insatiable curiosity and rapid learning. And her parents were open and supportive to make it happen.

Action:

Who do you know in a similar situation?  Please send them this story. Genius is not limited to any age group.

Have a Genius Week!

“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 love contrast and extreme differences: Last Thursday I immersed myself in winter and went skiing to Flagstaff/AZ with 3 close friends for the day.

This past Sunday I went hiking with 7 friends and enjoyed spring flowers. These joyful contrasts stimulate my senses and get me out of my mind and into my body, very much like sitting in a hot tub and jumping into an ice cold pool: It is almost impossible to be in a bad mood afterwards!

You see, your body – you – most likely prefer(s) variety, stimulation with new things, breaking routines and engrained habits, even if  you are afraid of it initially. It is joyful to experience fresh input every day, surprises and encouragement to be more alive.

Here is a very unusual quote for your mental ‘refresh’ button: “Computers are useless; they only have answers.”  Do you see the wisdom in this statement?

Action:

How much variety, diversity and freshness do you experience in your daily life? What about your children, family members and friends?

Have a Genius Week!

“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!

How easy is it for you to say “NO”? As easy as saying “Yes”? I would like to hear your immediate response right now to compare with the results of our internal research: Most people have a hard time to say “NO” because they feel that “NO” is negative or could offend friends as well as strangers.

Let’s have a closer look: “NO” to drugs is positive and the same is true for NO to sickness, aging, death or anything that could harm or kill us. “Yes” to the same things could be very negative.

So, If NO is not negative and YES is not positive, what do these two words really mean? After all, they are the most important words in any language and among the first one’s every infant learns.

Here is the surprising results from our Physical Intelligence research: On a physical level YES means ACTION, and NO means INACTION. Therefore the worst we could do for our brain is saying YES and not doing anything about it; after having this habit for a few decades our brains definitley would get confused – call it depression, distraction, Alzheimers or dementia. Saying “NO” and doing something secretly behind someone else’s back would have the same effect. In simple binary code language “YES” means “ON” and “NO” means “OFF”. Each nerve cell in our body works that way – a perfect role model for computers.

Action:

Pay attenion to things and situations this week that do not support you in being more alive and apply “NO” in a firm and non-offensive way. Setting boundaries might not be easy in the beginning, but it creates a lot of breathing room. Enjoy!

Have a Genius Week!

Otto Siegel

Yes, you heard it before, especially in this ‘new normal’ economy: “We/You have to do more with less.”

Ok – I tried hard to really understand that: does it mean I have to push harder and exploit my body and nervous system more? Or should I trust to tap into hidden power sources once I exhaust what I am familiar with and have been trusting for decades? Or ….. (please fill in your personal version!)

About three weeks ago Susanna came back from the annual sales meeting of her company and told me about a quote from the keynote speaker they had invited. It immediately made sense to me when I heard: “Do Less Better.” Sounds ‘genius’, doesn’t it? If you think about it: Now more than ever it is about quality in every product and service, longer lasting ‘green’ products, cars with significantly lower gas mileage or even electric cars, quality cell phones and computers with less ‘bugs’.

And on a personal level: if you do less better you will become an expert quickly, a well respected authority in your specialty field. Knowing and developing your unique strengths is essential for this sharp distinction!

If you are a hair dresser, lawyer or leadership coach, the same question applies: “What is your UNIQUE specialty within this profession”?

Does that sound like you could create financial health and still have quality time with your children and time for several hobbies, leading a real quality life all around?

Action:

It might be time to have a closer look: What do you currently have in place that supports your desire for a high quality life? Where are the gaps? Ready to face everything and avoid nothing?

Have a Genius Week!

Otto Siegel

Labeling can be a hobby or even a passion/addiction/trend in almost every human conversation: “He just doesn’t get it, she is sooo out of touch” or ‘he is such a ‘type A’ personality”. It is source for a lot of brilliant jokes and movies and can expand strongly into self-labeling: “I have ADD. I am too dyslexic to understand that. I am not good enough, not strong enough, too sensitive, too smart for this, or simply too much.”

Why do we do this to ourselves and others? Just to simplify realities? Maybe you notice that most of this ‘labeling war’ is negative and destructive. does it prevent us from having deeper and more personal conversations? Can it be part of ongoing self-destruction?

My assistant Mariana found this

Action:

How do you translate this kind of inspiration by genius into your area of specialty?  What touches your soul so much that you want to become creative and push your own limits every day?