By now, you have read up to 85 Brilliance Nuggets. You have read quite a bit about what I consider brilliance: Your unique combination of expertise, knowledge, and wisdom. Do you know where is your Brilliance coming from? Only one of you on this entire earth has YOUR brilliance. You and your brilliance are unique.
My Declaration of Brilliance invites you to consider that fact. Also, consider that you have the opportunity – and perhaps obligation – to use it to create a positive impact and pass it on. People around you need it, whether in your business, your non-profit, your community, or your family. We have also discussed the benefits of passing on your brilliance in a systematic and immortal way rather than being limited to person-to-person training. To be clear: I believe in doing both, and there is a great way to combine them.
This morning, a friend told me that when we first met, he entered my name in his phone as “Stephie, the smart girl.” At the time, he didn’t know my last name. Wow, I was not prepared for that. The Brilliance Nugget conversation is not about how smart I am; it is about YOUR brilliance!
Then he asked me, “Where are your smarts coming from?” and “When is God going to show up in your Brilliance Nuggets?”
That is a great question. When I started writing the Brilliance Nuggets, I thought I would stay away from writing about politics and religion. These topics can unite us, but they can also lead to a feeling of division. I want to include ALL people in the conversation of using your brilliance. It is about leveraging it more effectively. And it is about passing it on so that it can continue to have a positive impact even when you have moved on to other things.
My friend raised an interesting question. We are not the sole creator of the brilliance we have. It depends on your belief system where you think it is coming from. God, or whatever term you want to use, gave us the gifts we have. One might say God (or whatever word you want to use) also gave you the responsibility to maximize the impact of those gifts. Use them fully. And yes, pass them on.
I don’t mean this to be a religious conversation nor do I want to impose a particular set of beliefs. I want to be inclusive. The takeaway is that there is a great purpose that is bigger than each of us individually.
I invite you to consider that no one is an island. We are heavily interwoven in ways we don’t even comprehend fully. I’m a scientist by training. Seeking to understand how things work is an integral part of that. But we are far from understanding everything. I believe we are deeply connected – all of us. That is true even for people with whom we disagree. I think there is a pool of brilliance. We tap into it, and we contribute to it. It is bigger than any one of us.
I’m Curious
What is your view on the question, “Where does your brilliance come from?”
