Are you doing what you love? Chances are you aren’t; if you are, it took a lot of years and ‘hard’ work to move out of your comfort zone into your courage zone and onto your zone of brilliance.
You most likely thought you were doing what you loved, and then you didn’t, and somehow, you found yourself in a world of grunge. I know this feeling, and I have many T-shirts, perhaps you do too? Perhaps it has something to do with the creative mind. Who knows?
As you read this, are you lacking motivation and direction? Even if it’s temporary, it can be very uncomfortable to smack your nose into closed doors and trip up in blind alleys.
I guess that somewhere, you perhaps stepped back into your comfort zone and found it boring and stagnant but could find a way out.
I recognised that after book coaching for 13 years, I was in my comfort zone, craving a change, and I did not know what that change was or what it would look like. I floundered for a while, and it was uncomfortable. I knew that I needed to do some work.
I set out to declutter what wasn’t working. This was uncomfortable.
After doing this, I jumped into my creative space and worked on what would bring me joy and where I felt I could shine brightly.
In the review, I came up with the idea of little books. These are books born out of being in my creative space and my zone of brilliance. These books are less than 20,000 words (more or less) and are easy to write and publish in a short time.
Who doesn’t want to write a super simple, stress-free book?
While I loved writing books, I lost motivation during the editing phase. I simply gave up because there was so much to do it killed my creativity and left me bored. That’s not to say I didn’t love what I’d written, more that it was too much and overwhelming.
And I think many people feel this way when writing a book. Certainly, as a book coach, one of my biggest roles was to keep my clients motivated, inspired and on track. I don’t know anyone who found writing a book a doddle, especially in the editing phase.
Part of this serious chat with myself sent me off in several directions, looking for answers. One of which was to dig out my 2016 Human Design report. It was fascinating. I am a 3/6 emotional projector. Google it. You can find yours at mybodygraph.
Now, I can’t promise you that it will make much sense. That’s why if you are intrigued, you need to Google your type and possibly read a book. I’ve listened to lots of podcasts, watched Masterclasses and read books. And I am still learning.
It turns out that Projectors are here to guide you. That’s why we love to teach, which is what we want to be known for. Teaching something useful to others is our driving force. Tell us to stop creating and teaching, and we will wither. We are masters at mastering systems and then showing others how to use them easily. You really need a projector on your team!
Give us chaos, and we will create a process.
Then, it struck me: I found creating processes fun. Yeah, don’t judge…
This was when I created The Journal Blueprint. A way to create a content-rich transformation journal. Short, sweet and powerful.
Not doing things that create joy simply creates stress, and I know what I prefer…
I came up with an intention. Working in my zone of brilliance needed to be creative, fun and meaningful.
However, there is a step before jumping into your Zone Of Brilliance.
How to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone and Into Your Courage Zone
You probably know what your comfort zone is, right? It’s where you feel cosy and relaxed, doing what you love with the people you care about. Maybe it’s watching a classic film (I just rewatched a load of old films because they felt like slipping my feet into slippers after a long walk) or just chilling with your besties. In terms of work or your business, you are doing the same old things because that’s what you are known for, and it’s, well, comfortable.
There’s nothing wrong with being in your comfort zone, but sometimes, you need to step out of it and try something new. That’s where your courage zone comes in.
Your courage zone is where you challenge yourself, learn new skills, and grow. It might be scary initially, but it can also be exciting and rewarding. You enter your courage zone when you do something you’ve never done before, like taking a dance class, travelling to a foreign country, or starting a new project. Doing this expands your horizons, discovers new possibilities, and increases your confidence.
In my courage zone, I explored how I could help others to create journals. I needed courage because I had given up book coaching, and I felt a fool coming back to writing. But what the hell, in for a penny or bite the bullet, as they say.
Your comfort and courage zones are important for your well-being, happiness, and personal development. The key is to find a balance between them and not to stay in one zone for too long. If you’re always in your comfort zone, you might miss out on opportunities and get bored. If you’re always in your courage zone, you might get stressed and exhausted. So, try to mix things up and switch between the two zones from time to time. That way, you can enjoy the best of both worlds.
So, what is your Zone Of Brilliance?
Love, Love, Love – Your Zone Of Brilliance
This is where you do what you love, and you love doing it. People can see you shining brightly when doing it, and it feels easy, brings you joy and gives you a sense of meaning, purpose and fulfilment.
This is the zone where you want to spend most of your time and where you create products and services that align with your brand and business. And they align with your heart and soul.
Overview
- You understand who you are
- Do what you love, feel passion for and consider it your purpose
- Are unconsciously competent
- You are in your creative space
- What you do flows
- You have a story
- You focus on the gifts
- You have a transformational process
- Your process is easy, powerful and accessible
- You shine brightly, inspiring others and impacting their lives
- People want your brilliance
- People pay for the way that your brilliance changes their lives
Transitioning Into Your Zone Of Brilliance
Transitioning from your comfort zone into your courage zone and eventually into your zone of brilliance can be quite a journey, but it does give you the opportunity to find a sense of purpose. This journey is about more than just achieving success; it’s about discovering and nurturing your gifts and passions to create a meaningful impact on the world. In whatever way the world means to you.
Step 1
The foundation of moving into your zone of brilliance is a deep understanding of yourself. This means recognising your strengths, weaknesses, passions, and values. Self-awareness is the first step toward identifying what you truly love and the impact you wish to have.
Yes, I am sure you have heard this all before. However, knowing your Human Design or uncovering your strengths with the Clifton Strengths really woke me up. As did endless journaling. I created the Wheel Of Life Workbook to help me stay on track.
Step 2
Listen and follow your heart. Pursuing what you love and are passionate about is so, so important. If your actions don’t align with your heart’s desires, you’re likely moving in the wrong direction. Ensure every step you take moves you closer to your heart’s desires and sense of purpose.
Step 3
Face your fears. Ouch. But you must embrace your courage and own it, which is not always easy. I had my head up my backside because of something that I won’t tell you about, and I felt so disappointed in myself. I found the courage to kick those monster thoughts into touch.
Step 4
Your zone of brilliance is where you’re unconsciously competent. This means you’re doing what comes naturally to you, so much so that it feels effortless. Identifying and leaning into these natural talents can lead you to your zone of brilliance.
This will do, for now, reflect on these 4 points.
What’s in your Zone Of Brilliance?
Time for you to do a bit of introspection, mind map and write a few lists.
Let’s start by exploring whether you’re doing work you love. Do you jump out of bed, eager to start your workday? Or do you hit that snooze button and find multiple reasons to procrastinate?
Finding work that excites you will make your business fun and profitable. Then, when you’re eager to do the work, you’ll spend your day doing things you love. Well, mostly, you still have to do some yukky things!
Knowing which tasks you love also makes it easier to recognise when the right opportunities appear, which ultimately leads to more profit. You won’t be stuck taking every client that knocks on your door; you’ll learn how to be pickier and only work with those with whom you feel a connection.
What Is Work That You Love?
But how do you determine if this is work you love? How do you know if this is part of your why or your IKIGAI?
Hopefully, you will get one of two ah-ha moments shortly. You may discover that you’re in the exact business you should be in, or you may find that you’re not in love with your work. Then, you’ll have to make some shifts to course correct. Of course, neither of these answers is right or wrong; you just need to be honest with your introspection to get on the right path.
Finding your Zone Of Brilliance
Hate Doing And Don’t Do Well
This includes tasks you hate, don’t understand or aren’t good at. For example, some people adore bookkeeping and admin, while others would rather poke their eyes out with a red-hot poker than do their quarterly accounts or file things away.
In terms of writing a book some may complain about the difficulty of writing a book because they don’t know how. They may outline a book and never understand why they can’t get started on the writing. Or they will start writing, get overwhelmed at what is to come, and hate the whole process before trying to understand it.
This is getting stuck before you have even started…
CAN Do, But Don’t Enjoy
These will be things that you make yourself do. If you don’t enjoy those tasks, place them in this area. For example, it could be the thought of writing a book. It seems possible and feasible, but you don’t enjoy the thought of having to write 40-60k words. You’d much rather write shorter blog posts but often procrastinate on those, too.
Tasks for me in this area are editing long-form books and interior formatting.
Skilled, Enjoy, But Something Is Missing
This is a tricky one because it includes tasks you’re usually very skilled at and that you also enjoy. Many people make good money in this area but usually have a nagging feeling that “something” is missing. Some coaches even mistake this area for their zone of brilliance because they have found some level of success here.
What goes on your list here? Be honest! These are probably your comfort zone things.
This includes thinking of a book idea, outlining and writing the first draft in a short time. I find it easy to write lots of words once I have a structure. But then my energy fizzles at the thought of editing 60k words.
What was missing for me was that although I could do this, I got so much more joy from smaller books that I could complete in a shorter timeframe, hence content-rich journals.
The trap I found myself in on client work was that when clients got stuck in the writing phase, I would write for them instead of encouraging them to write a smaller book. Then I jumped (a fixer) in so the book could get done in the required timeframe. Leaving me feeling resentment for taking on too much.
Love, Love, Love – Your Zone Of Brilliance
This is where you can do it, and you love, love, love doing it. People can see you shining brightly when doing it; it feels easy, brings you joy and gives you a sense of meaning, purpose and fulfilment.
This is the zone you want to spend most of your time in.
What I love here is thinking of a journal blueprint idea for myself (or my clients), that I really want to write and that fits in with what I teach (or need for myself). From there, the outline and writing flow in a short time. Finally, editing is easy as the book is shorter, and you know it will be published in a much shorter period.
Why is your Zone of Brilliance so important?
When operating in this zone, you can easily enter your creative space and access the “flow state” faster and easier, so you naturally get things done faster, easier, and better. You can be more productive because you work most efficiently with this positive energy. Ever heard the phrase “In the zone”? That feeling of accomplishment and productivity comes from this zone.
You will also feel energised versus drained by what you are doing, so you can do more inspired work without feeling depleted. This drained feeling is also where you’ll see procrastination set in, simply because you’re bored or don’t want to do particular tasks. When you’re in this zone of brilliance, instead of feeling drained, you may actually feel like you have MORE time in your day because of how efficiently you’re working.
You’re most likely to produce exceptional work, which equals exceptionally happy clients and customers. When you do work that fills your heart and interests your brain, you have better clarity and more focus, which leads to the desire to make the work awesome rather than just finishing it so you can move on.
Finding your zone of brilliance is a process; you CAN find yours if you’re willing to put in the introspective work, keep your mind open to making changes in your business and be courageous. The good news is that you don’t have to recreate your business to find your thing. All it takes is some brainstorming and noticing how you feel about the small details.
The not-so-good news is that finding your unique zone of brilliance means making the necessary shifts to spend more time in your zone. Like any other form of personal development, you’ll need time to decide where your zone lies and how to embrace it so you can spend most of your time there.
Write A Journal From Your Zone Of Brilliance
The problem might be that once you are in your zone of brilliance, you want to share all you know in a massive book. Stop, please don’t. Create a content-rich journal from your zone of brilliance. Keep it short and make it easy for you.
Brainstorm your brilliant transformational process, then make it simpler and turn the short, simple form into a book or series of books.
Join me for The Journal Blueprint masterclass here.