“Writing these down makes me feel so emotional.” 

A coaching client, whom I’d call Mia, said in the middle of our session. 

“I never could see these things in myself. But seeing them on the page now, I realize that they feel so... me.” 

She looked at me, eyes sparkled with tears. 

Mia just came out of a coaching process where she discovered and wrote down her natural talents - or unique genius, as I like to call it. 

And she wasn’t the first one who all of a sudden wanted to cry. 

The renowned life coach and author Martha Beck, someone whom I consider my teacher, shared in one of her books that:

“We don’t cry when we lose ourselves, we cry when we get ourselves back.”

I could see how true this is, having witnessed so many moments like with Mia after years of coaching. 

For Mia, it was her very first time realizing that she’s not only enough but also brilliant. 

“We don’t cry when we lose ourselves, we cry when we get ourselves back.”

After 30 years of feeling deeply inadequate, this moment forever changed how Mia saw herself.

Unfortunately, most people live their entire lives without knowing their natural talents, and thus unable to use them. (Imagine a fish not knowing that it could swim.) 

Einstein said:

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge the fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it’s stupid.” 

Unlucky for us, our mind tends to do just that: judging ourselves by some idealized standards given to us when we were little, and thus, we live our whole life believing that we’re stupid.

Besides, our natural talents are, well, natural. So natural that we don’t see them. 

A fish won’t think of its ability to swim or breathe underwater as talented because it happens so effortlessly. So the fish tries to look for something more “special”. 

I was born an introvert with high sensitivity. Naturally, it’s easy for me to cry. (Anyone else crying while watching Kungfu Panda?) 

When I was small, my dad used to yell at me when I didn’t keep my room tidy. 

I would burst into tears. So he screamed even louder for me to shut up - which just made me cry even harder. He said:

“If you cry that easily, how are you going to cope with the world out there? Stop crying and toughen up!”

So I spent many years trying to be “strong”. I pushed myself to work in the high-pressure sales roles, hoping it would give me “thicker skin”. All the while feeling like a goldfish trying to climb a bamboo tree. 

Nothing exists outside of you can truly give you the answer.

Eventually, I realized that you could “fake it until you become it” as long as you want, a goldfish will never become a panda. Faking it too long and the goldfish becomes a depressed fish.  

Later on, when I did the deep inner work to uncover my talents, emotional sensitivity turned out to be one of my superpowers. 

I could see how my sensitivity allows me to deeply empathize with others, and thus be able to create things that can touch and transform the human hearts. 

When I let the clarity of my genius guide me, it is like slipping into your well-worn running shoes. They aren’t fancy but they fit, and you can run for miles in them without breaking your toenails in half. 

When a coaching client comes to me, they have dreams deep in their heart that they want to make true: to become a yoga teacher, to travel the world with their office tucked in their backpack, to change people’s lives by doing what they love…

Many anxiously asked:

“What are the right habits or routines that will help me succeed?” 

“Should I get a certification, enroll in a course, apply for an MBA?”  

“How do I build a professional image? What about my personal brand?” 

While these questions are valid, they often come from a place of lack. 

The client feels that they’re not enough. So they want to get something outside of themselves to compensate for that feeling. 

If you’re feeling this way, I want to let you know that you might be looking in the wrong places.

I want to remind you that nothing exists outside of you can truly give you the answer. Within you, you already have everything you need to begin. 

I invite you to turn your attention inward to discover your light: your power, talents, genius. And focus on using that as much as you can.

Once you do so, you will have a moment of deep recognition. 

Like standing in front of a clear polished mirror. Seeing your face and hands, and eyes, and legs under sunlight for the very first time; realizing that you like the way your hair falls over your left shoulder and those freckles you always felt insecure about actually have a charm of their own. 

Your true self lights up. Finally, it is seen by you.  

The last thing I want to say is: if you are a bird, you need to fly. You cannot look at a fish and say: “Wow, I should do that too!” - no matter how successful that fish is. 

You need to find your piece of the sky. 

What do you believe to be your natural talents? 

What do your friends naturally come to you for help with?

What seems difficult to others but come naturally easy for you? (When others ask how you do it, you don’t know. You just do it.)

What can you do easily, without trying too hard, but still get the result you want? (Effortlessness is the hallmark unique genius.)

What do you do when you experience a state of “flow”? (When you’re so immerse in the activity that you lose awareness of time and space.)

Take a moment to reflect and write down your answers.

Take a step closer to finding your light and sharing it with the world.

With all my love,

P.S: going deeper

If you’re ready for a deep exploration of your genius, I’ve created a gorgeous 15-page workbook to help you do just that: discover your unique purpose.

Download below!

SHARING = LOVING