Believe it or not, you’re actually better than Einstein.
I read once that Albert Einstein didn’t know how to swim. And he was a terrible sailor, capsizing his boat so often that locals regularly had to tow him back to shore.
It made me feel good to read that.
I have never sailed, but I do know how to swim. It’s nice to know that I can do something Einstein couldn’t, and that he stunk at things.
Because I spend too much time worrying that I’m not enough. I’m not outgoing enough, smart enough, creative enough, disciplined enough, thin enough, or faithful enough to accomplish my biggest dreams. I regularly undervalue my gifts and overemphasize my shortcomings.
Maybe you do the same thing.
We regularly compare ourselves to people like Einstein, who is lauded as a genius, and cast ourselves in lesser roles in this grand production called life.
Interestingly, our definition of genius has changed over the years. In the fourteenth century, a genius referred to a guardian spirit, and a very talented person was said to “have” a genius because his or her gift was thought to be the result of some supernatural help.
Somewhere along the line, we evolved from the idea of having a genius to being one, which brings with it the connotation of being superhuman and great at everything.
But no one is great at everything. No one is even great at most things. We weren’t designed to be all-powerful, self-sufficient beings. We were designed to need one another. For instance, I get paid to give a speech that encourages a team of employees at a company, and I use the money to pay a plumber to fix my sink’s leaky pipe. We are made to work together, and we all have a part to play.
A person cannot make a baby alone.
Babies can’t change their own diapers.
And diaper companies can’t make money without babies.
Despite finding himself regularly waterlogged, Einstein apparently didn’t think it was important enough to invest any time in becoming a better sailor or learning how to swim.
I’m guessing he also didn’t waste any time comparing himself to Johnny Weissmuller.
If you haven’t heard of Johnny Weissmuller, he lived at the same time as Einstein, and he sure could swim. He won three gold medals at the 1924 Summer Olympics, three years after Einstein won the Nobel Prize in Physics. Weissmuller also became the best-known actor to play Tarzan in films of the 1930s and 1940s. (His character’s distinctive Tarzan yell is still often used in films.) He had a different kind of genius than old Albert.
Weissmuller’s Wikipedia page doesn’t mention whether Johnny was any good at math or science.
But he was way better than Einstein at swimming.
You’re better than Einstein at something, too. (Lots of things, in fact.) We all have a genius. We’re all pretty good at something. That’s our genius, and that’s what we need to share with the world.
Your job is to combine the handful of things you’re pretty good at and let them shine in a way only you can.
Develop and share your genius.
Disregard the things you stink at.
Even Einstein wasn’t an Einstein at everything.
If you liked this, you’ll love my new book! This is an excerpt from Must Be Nice: Your Guide to Growing Beyond the Compare Game.