How I tap into my inner genius

Simple steps to build your inner genius, your inner guidance

A shot of a car rushing by on a busy road in Ikoyi, Lagos

First off, what do I mean by inner genius?

What is inner genius?

In the TED talk Your elusive creative genius, Elizabeth Gilbert talks about a hidden genius that resides in the wall, a concept from ancient Greece and Rome that was used to explain that inner voice that tips, guides and gives major keys when you come up with new ideas or solutions that others look at in awe. Watch Lizzy baby’s talk on this and come back.

To me, this genius in the wall is called my Inner Guidance and it is akin to a skill one can tap into, improve on, grow and become better at. So how can one grow this skill, how can one tap into this inner guidance and leverage it to be more of a creative genius?

How I tap into my inner guidance

I will share how I have done this layering everyday actions in a way that compounds to create genius-like outcomes (the genius mention there is arguable, so feel free to ignore😅).

These are the everyday actions I have taken to help me improve my ability to tap into my inner genius, my inner guidance:

1. Contemplation

2. Service

3. Listening

4. Present in the moment, in now.

Contemplation

For me, to contemplate is to focus my attention on a definite problem, topic, thought, idea or principle, and look at it or consider it from different angles, perspectives, opinions and points of view. It can be seen to be like meditation, but instead, an opposite method or process where instead of being passive, one is actively considering and perceiving the different ways a problem, topic, thought or idea could be and thus expanding on what they think, know and finally understand of it.

Sherlock Holmes used this so efficiently in his mental analysis that it became something most people would mark as being impossible. In the video above, you’ll see Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series contemplate a problem that had to do with hound and Liberty. He looked at the words from different viewpoints, places, languages, considering how they could connect together to fit into a solution. I have found that doing this well requires an open mind, a happy heart and some quiet time in a position where one is relaxed or comfortable.

It doesn’t have to be the way Sherlock did or does it, and it can be much simpler. Like when you can’t find your biro and you wonder where you kept it, you think about the different places it might be, where you last kept it or what you were doing with it the last time. In that moment when you think about your biro, you are starting the process of contemplating on it.

By contemplating, you improve your ability to piece and find connections where no one could, making new solutions and coming up with out of the box ideas. You improve your ability to think.

You can watch the full episode on Netflix: SHERLOCK (BBC), it is the 2nd Episode in the second season or series of the show. Heads up about the show though, it is a modern take on Sherlock Holmes, where they are making him a bit more emotional, and they tend to over-explain his processes sometimes. But it is a good watch all the same.

Service

Give back to life and people around you by doing one good deed a day without expecting anything in reward. Basically, helping the next person or people around you. This can be as simple as offering a smile, saying good morning to the next person on the bus or your Uber driver and as complex as volunteering with an organisation that helps people on a larger scale.

Just give of yourself in a good, helpful, unintruding and positive way without expecting anyone to say thank you, pay you or even smile back at you or offer any reward of any sort.

By giving service this way, and in line with the law of Karma, you get service back a thousandfold more. It is like in all the Hero’s Journey type series we’ve watched or seen, like Legend of the Seeker or Samurai Jack, when you help people on your journey, people come back to help you in the end when you need it the most. The same happens to me in real life a lot, all I am today is because of something I have given in the past.

Giving your best in everything no matter how little

A man once gave a task to a boy to do. And each time the boy came back with the result, the man would ask the boy;

“IS THIS THE BEST YOU CAN DO?!”

The boy scared to be judged would reply no and would go back and redo the task.

This process repeated itself a couple more times until the boy, very tired of the task and very certain he had no more to give to the task and no more to do on the task (you know that little voice that asks you about that extra thing to add or adjust on that task but lazy you kicks the voice out saying it is okay like this, no need to overdo?), replied the man;

“Yes, this is the best I can do.”

The man smiled and took the finished result, telling the boy, thank you and going on his merry way.

Doing my best every single time hasn’t been easy, it is so time-consuming. But I have noticed results, that by doing things this way, I am practicing my ability to exceed my current talents. And with practice comes perfection.

Once one reaches that state of perfection, they realise there is something more to learn and do and be better at, and they unconsciously start to work towards it.

At that point, they start to churn out work like a genius would, only giving out the best.

Listening

Listening not just with your ears, but also with your eyes, your nose and all your other senses. Ask yourself, what is being said but not being spoken not with words but other acts you can sense or feel.

Another word I can use to describe this step is Observing. Observe and note what is happening around you, what colour is the shirt of the person who just walked past you or is sitting closest to you as your read this? What is the colour of the case of your significant other’s phone? What is the colour of the last Uber driver’s shirt or car you took? The more you listen with all your senses and observe what is happening around you, the more you know and are aware. And with this heightened awareness, you are better able to solve problems like a genius.

A listening or observing or memory boosting exercise to try.

Go about your day taking note of as much of what you can. The clothes and shoe people you meet are wearing, their hairdo, colours, types and all of the details of the people, the places, the offices and cars, the things you use and all of that. Then in the evening just before bedtime, try to walk through your day remembering everything that happened.

By listening more or observing more, you’ll start to notice you are aware of more things around you, and as this improves, you’ll see more, know more and your level of awareness or your ability to perceive increases.

I tried this while preparing for my exams back in university, and I did it every night for over a month or so. Come exam day, I could visually see my notebooks in my head and flip through the pages. Looking back now, it was magical. I no longer practice this though and so I no longer vividly remember my notebooks. I still remember a lot though.

Present in the moment, in now.

Like what are you aware of in or at this moment? How much of the beauty and greatness in the world around you are you aware of in or at this moment? Are you aware of the genius (beauty, greatness, brilliance) in the wall (space, room, car, people) around you? Are you conscious of Its presence?

It is like in the movie, About Time (it is on Netflix), Tim (the main actor) learns that if one can truly live in the moment and be aware of all that is happening, and being aware of the now, one can live and shape life as a genius would. He no longer needed to travel back in time to change his life to what he wanted, he could do it now. The same applies to everything else, including your communities. In changing now, I have learnt to change and shape my future and so travel back in time in some way.