In this month’s series we are going to dive into Finding Your Zone of Genius: Your Key to a Low-Stress, Highly-Profitable Business That You Love!
Through the years, I’ve often questioned if I was working to my potential. I’ve gone through periods of wanting to up-level my business but wasn’t sure how to go about doing that. If this is you, where you are at right now, then this series is for you. We will talk about how to reformat your business so you can spend more time doing what you love instead of doing those tasks you hate. Loving what you do is what will keep your business running – and keep you excited about what’s to come – for many more years.
Let’s start off with this question: Are you 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 is what will make your business fun and profitable. When you’re eager to do the work, you’ll spend your day doing tasks you love. Knowing which tasks you love also makes it easier to recognize when those 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.
But how do you determine if this is work you love? How do you know if this is your life’s calling? Only you can answer that, but this series will give you some insight and helpful hacks to help you make those decisions.
You’ll get one of two ah-ha moments: 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 and you’ll have to make some shifts in order to course-correct.
In this episode, I will tell you The Ultimate Secret to Doing Highly Paid Work You Love.
Welcome to a new month which means a new Systems Sunday series. This month we are going to dive in Finding Your Zone of Genius: Your Key to a Low-Stress, Highly-Profitable Business That You Love!
I am Lisa Wells, your Virtual Assistant Trainer.
Through the years, I’ve often questioned if I was working to my potential. I’ve gone through periods of wanting to up-level my business but wasn’t sure how to go about doing that. If this is you, where you are at right now, then this series is for you. We will talk about how to reformat your business so you can spend more time doing what you love instead of doing those tasks you hate. Loving what you do is what will keep your business running – and keep you excited about what’s to come – for many more years.
Today’s topic is The Ultimate Secret to Doing Highly Paid Work You Love.
Let’s start off with this question: Are you 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 is what will make your business fun and profitable. When you’re eager to do the work, you’ll spend your day doing tasks you love. Knowing which tasks you love also makes it easier to recognize when those 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.
But how do you determine if this is work you love? How do you know if this is your life’s calling? Only you can answer that, but we’ll go over some steps to help you make those decisions. You’ll get one of two ah-ha moments: 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 and you’ll have to make some shifts in order to course-correct. Neither of these answers is right or wrong; you just need to be honest with your introspection so you can get on the right business path.
I think we can all agree that if you do the work you love, you’ll be happier and have a more profitable business. Now think about all the tasks involved in running your business, both in dealing with your clients and handling the backend administrative tasks.
First, I want you to make a list taking note of every task you can think of, from monthly billing to responding to emails to working with your clients for X hours each week.
Now, let’s sort them into four main categories. These are adapted from Gay Hendrick’s book, The Big Leap and I’ve made it really easy for you and have a downloadable for you in the Resources section titled Your Four Work Zones. It’s fill-in-able, so if you open it with Adobe Acrobat, you’ll be able to type right there in the document.
I’m going to go through these different zones, here we go.
Your Zone of Incompetence includes tasks you don’t understand or aren’t good at. It can also include tasks you actively dislike. Technical tasks or bookkeeping tasks often fall into this zone for a lot of people. Some people cringe at the idea of learning a new software while others will go for months on end not knowing if they’re making a profit because they refuse to look at their accounting.
Others may complain about difficulty creating content or keeping up with their social media accounts. They’ll get busy solely with client work and then wonder why they don’t have any engagement on their social platforms. The tasks you dread fall into this category.
Your Zone of Competence includes tasks you CAN do, but which you don’t enjoy. Maybe you understand how to use QuickBooks but if you don’t enjoy those bookkeeping tasks, place bookkeeping into your Zone of Competence. Maybe you know how to put sentences together but if you dread writing blog posts, you’re in the Zone of Competence. Just because you know HOW to write social media posts or go live on Facebook doesn’t mean you enjoy doing it. And if you think social media is a “necessary evil” (what I call it and what my friends call it), that’s your Zone of Competence speaking!
As solopreneurs, we fall into the trap of thinking we have to know everything and do everything ourselves, but it IS possible to get out of this Zone of Competence!
Your Zone of Excellence is a tricky one because it includes tasks you’re usually very skilled at and that you also enjoy doing. Many people make good money in this zone, but usually have a nagging feeling that “something” is missing. Some virtual assistants even mistake this Zone of Excellence for the next zone, Genius, because they have found some level of success here.
VAs in general thrive off the personal interaction with their clients and with their social followers, so you may place your private clients and social media tasks in this Zone of Excellence. But is your client work and social interactions what you live for each day? Jot down that answer on your task list.
Then we have your Zone of Genius is an area where you have extraordinary strength, talent, or innate ability. This zone includes tasks you can do with ease and you also enjoy doing. If you want to create a low-stress and highly profitable business, THIS is the zone you need to strive to spend most of your time in.
For me, it’s creating systems or creating processes, because I can look at something that somebody is doing and I have this ability to put it into steps or put things into buckets or put it into a workflow. I love doing it and it’s a natural thing that comes to me and this is where I make most of the money, creating these types of things. I bet you already have a good start on sorting those tasks into these four zones (or categories).
As a recap:
• Your Zone of Incompetence consists of those tasks you’re not good at AND you don’t enjoy.
• Your Zone of Competence consists of those tasks you CAN do but you dislike.
• Your Zone of Excellence consists of those tasks you’re quite good at AND you enjoy.
• Your Zone of Genius consists of those tasks you can do with ease AND you enjoy. This zone is where your greatest strengths and talents will shine.
Keep working on this sorting exercise even after you’ve completed the exercise because you’ll have a great visual representation of what’s required to make your business run and which tasks you should – or should NOT – be directly involved with.
Why is your Zone of Genius so important?
- When you’re operating in this zone, you access the “flow state” faster and easier so you naturally get things done faster, easier, and better. You can be more productive because you’re working most efficiently with this positive energy. Ever hear the phrase, “In the zone”? That feeling of accomplishment and productivity comes from this Zone of Genius.
- You will also feel “filled up” or energized versus drained by the work, so you can do more inspired work without feeling depleted.
- You’re most likely to produce exceptional work–and exceptional work equals exceptionally happy clients and customers. Not to mention your family, my husband knows when I’m in the zone.
Finding your Zone of Genius is a process and you CAN find yours.
If you enjoyed this episode and want more tips and strategies, check out my new “Discover Your Zone of Genius” training system. You’ll learn how to figure out what naturally fills you up so you can tap into more flow and fun and how to create a life by design for more income and less overwhelm. You’ll get a training guide and accompanying workbook complete with worksheets, a 4-week done-for-you calendar, and a handy checklist.
You can find the product below or head over to my VA Business Builder Boutique by clicking on Shop in the menu bar.
Join me next week when I’ll give you more helpful hacks to help you figure out your zone of genius. See you then!
Catch up on other “Finding Your Zone of Genius” episodes + resources mentioned in the video:
Did you enjoy this episode and want to put it into action? Check out this training system!
Discover Your Zone of Genius
$15.00
If your current To-Do List is the bane of your existence and you’re so over ending each day tired and uninspired, this one’s for you….
Stop Trying to “Do It All”–and Start Doing ONLY What You Love
Ready to Radically Increase Your Productivity, Pleasure and Profit?
A few questions for you:
Ever feel like you spend your whole day staring at your laptop from behind your cute blue blockers, but don’t actually feel fulfilled by any work you’ve done?
Do you pass out onto your silk pillowcase most nights feeling drained and depleted–and not-so-secretly dreading the fact that you know you have to do it all, all over again the next day?
Do you know your work-life balance sucks, but don’t quite know what to do about it?
Have you ever thought, “I really didn’t go into business for myself to do all of THIS!”?
Do you ever feel compelled to say “yes” to opportunities because you know you can do the work, even though in your gut you don’t want to and it won’t actually get you any closer to your goals & dreams?
And do you ever wonder how other VAs seem so wildly efficient, productive and (quite frankly) turned on by their work…when you’re barely keeping your head above water (and your eyes peeled open) most days?
If so, you’re not alone.
Introducing…
Discover Exactly What Your Zone of Genius is to Create a Low-Stress, Highly Profitable Business that You Love
When you purchase, you’ll receive a training guide and workbook walking you step-by-step through how to pinpoint your unique Zone of Genius so you can make more money doing only work you love (read: make loads of cash without going crazy!)
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