I always thought that a genius was a super human. You know, someone who could read "War and Peace" (a long difficult Russian Novel that almost no one has ever read) in fifteen minutes and then recite it perfectly, at the same time they were beating a mainframe computer at a game of chess and leaping over a tall building in a single bound…

Then, I started to get to know some little kids. They starting teaching me what real genius is all about. So just in case you are interested in developing your own genius, I jotted down a few notes on what it means to me and how I’m allowing myself to become one. I’m sure there’s more to it or perhaps less to it. But being a perfectionist certainly is not one of the steps! Feel free to e-mail me if you have your own ideas on how to be a genius. I’ll be glad to add them in. I’d also like to hear your own stories of how you became (or are becoming) a genius.

1. Be a kid! Every kid starts out as a genius. It is only because we start to listen to well meaning adults around us who want to save us from disappointment that we start doubting our natural abilities.
2. Be Curious! Follow the thread of your curiosity wherever it leads you. Being a genius is an adventure!
3. Experiment!. Try different things. Feel free to drop stuff that doesn’t continue to interest you.
4. Be open to new ideas even if they come from your parents. BUT after hearing the options choose your own way.
5. Accept that you are different. We all are you know! Being a genius doesn’t make your better or "worser". And everybody is a genius in their own way anyway. Accept the fact that you are a genius in your own unique way.
6. Eliminate the word "Problem" from your life. Resolve to erase it, delete it, uninstall it, expunge it, eliminate it, eradicate it, dump it, from your thoughts, your vocabulary and your awareness. Replace it with "Challenge"! Feel how different that is? "Um Houston? We have a "challenge" here…"
7. There are no rules to being a genius. You get to make up your own or do without rules entirely. It’s up to you!
8. Eliminate the words, "failure" and "mistake" from your being. Replace them with "Outcome". Because there really is no failure, only opportunities to learn why things didn’t work out the way you expected them to. Be open to the idea that this unexpected outcome might actually lead you to a whole new idea.
9. There are no rules to being a genius. (the fact that I repeated this here is not a "mistake". It’s so important I felt like repeating it. And because there are no rules I can repeat it as many times as I want! Cool huh?)
10. Follow the "links" in real life. The Internet is so successful because it simulates how geniuses make connections in the real world. Who knows! Your interest in skate boards could lead you into the:

anatomy and physiology of the body (why does it hurt when we fall?),
aerodynamics or the physics of flight (How come I fell so fast?).
Newton’s Laws (Why did I fall down instead of up?).

All of which could lead you to ask the question "Why are Fig Newtons called "Fig Newtons?" while you are waiting in the emergency room. While you’re there you might even see what a cool thing it is to be a doctor or a nurse and save peoples lives...

12. Allow for surprise learning experiences outside of the classroom, outside of school maybe even outside. There are still lots of things about nature and the universe left to be discovered.
13. Learn to laugh at yourself in a kind and gentle way. After all look at Einstein, he had a bad hair day every day! But he didn’t let that hold him back now did he?
14. Read. Read. Read. Read everything you can get your hands on. Be open to the new ideas you may come across.
15. Listen, listen, listen. To older people. To younger people, to the wind, to the gurgle of a stream, to the hum of a refrigerator.
16. Touch, touch, touch. Touch things and feel them.
17. Look. Look. Look. Look at stuff upside down. Look at how things are built.
18. Write. Communicate. Tell Stories. Teach what you’ve learned about what you love.
19. Move. Explore being in your own particular body. Don’t worry too much if you don’t look like the people on TV or in the movies. Most of them don’t look like that either (of lot of their good looks are done with special effects & make-up). It’s not what we look like that’ important in the genius business, it’s what our bodies allow us to experience that matters.
20. Get rid of your TV. Unless of course, your genius dream is to learn how TV affects people, how TV shows are created, how ads are created, how creativity is used to create them etc... You can learn a lot about our culture from watching TV. But there are enough TV sets blaring in places where you can’t avoid them for you to get the idea.
21. Find a mentor. Be on the look out for people who know stuff that you want to learn. For example: I learned how to play the Irish Bodhran by calling a guy who I knew in town who played the bagpipe. I didn’t want to know how to play pipes but I figured he might know someone who played the Irish drum. He did. So I called the guy he recommended, George MacAnaspie, who came over to my house and taught me the basics. He refused to take any payment! If you find a person like this be sure to thank them and to find a way to pass on to someone else what they so freely gave to you.
22. Be persistent. Example: after I took my one and only Bodhran lesson. It took me weeks and weeks to get it. I took the drum with me everywhere. I picked it up when I was put on hold on the phone. Every free moment I worked at it. Then one day it just flowed. A lot more practice followed and I’m still learning more about it each time I play.
23. Know when to set stuff aside and focus on something else for a while. Example: When things were not going well with learning the Irish Bodhran, I set it aside for a few days. The average kid genius has what the "experts" call a "short attention span". The truth is it is not natural to just do one thing all the time, particularly after it is no longer fun.
24. Pay attention to details:  Hey did you notice that this list skipped a number? IT went from 10 to 12! did you notice that the number 24 is not bold? You'd be surprised how much we miss because we don't bother to pay attention to the little things.
25. If you ever forget how to be a genius, spend some time with a little kid.