The Genius Pact
Pilar Gerasimo
Editor in Chief
ONE DAY A FEW WEEKS BACK, I was
experiencing a serious case of what I
call “brain overload.” I had a zillion
different thoughts and to-dos competing for attention, and was also encountering a constant string of interruptions,
many of which were requiring me to
mentally rearrange my to-do list while
simultaneously coming up with instant
solutions to unanticipated problems. Aaargh!
I had reached a point of reactivity that I know to be
just a hair’s breadth away from an even more unpleasant
state: peevishness.
As a habitually positive person, I find sinking into
victim-thinking, frustration and anxiety to be hugely
distasteful — in part because I know these states to be
largely unproductive, and in part because I experience
them as a reflection of my own failing to have noticed
and averted them sooner. (OK, so I’m a habitually positive person with certain perfectionist tendencies, but I’m
working on becoming an “optimalist” — see page 82.)
The point is, on this particular day, I got to this
just-shy-of-mental-meltdown point and managed to pause
long enough to have a moment of clarity. What I needed
to do, I realized, was take a time out.
That evening, I had a lovely dinner out with my gal
pal, Jacque. I resolved to make it a “no work” affair, so I
turned off my cell phone, tuned out my inner taskmaster
and set my to-do list aside. We simply sat and chatted and
listened and ate and enjoyed each other’s company. As the
evening progressed, my spirit started to revive itself, the
room seemed to turn sparkly, and I could almost feel my
poor frazzled synaptic connections rebuilding themselves.
Our conversation turned to the subject of an article I’d
been editing for the October issue. Based on Gay Hendricks’s
new book, The Big Leap (HarperOne, 2009), the article
(“Overcome Your Upper Limits,” available in the archives
at experiencelifemag.com) explains how we tend to limit
our own experiences of success and satisfaction. We typically do this as the result of certain ingrained beliefs, says
Hendricks, and these self-imposed “Upper Limits” keep us
from spending time in what he calls our “Zones of Genius”
— doing the things we enjoy most and are best at.
Long story short, both Jacque and I found the idea
of overcoming our Upper Limits and spending more time
in our Zones of Genius very appealing. And so we struck
an agreement — we dubbed it our Genius Pact — to set
some goals around these pursuits, and to spend a certain
amount of time each week applying ourselves to exercises
and experiences that would help us achieve them.
A big part of the pact, for both of us, was spending
three hours a week on some combination of self-care, self-challenge and self-exploration. We decided that we would
log and journal about those experiences as we did them.
We would also do weekly phone check-ins and monthly
in-person check-ins to build in accountability and support, and we agreed to get some outside coaching to help
facilitate the process even more. We also built in a series
of rewards — for sticking to our commitments and achieving our goals — throughout the entire process.
As our plan took shape over dinner, I felt a sense of
elation and excitement that not only completely cleared
my former brain overload and calmed my reactivity, but
left me feeling blissfully renewed.
We hammered out all the details over the next week
or so, drafting an actual pact document, creating a schedule, defining our rewards and so forth (essentially, we used
an adjusted version of the “Fitness Pact” template that
accompanied our article, “Pact Mentality,” available in the
September 2009 archives at experiencelifemag.com).
But the first spark of magic really happened because
of that dinner. And that dinner only happened because I
recognized that I was in desperate need of a break, and
then took one. I consider it a valuable lesson.
For the past month or so, Jacque and I have been
working our Genius Pact and both reaping huge rewards. As
the result of setting a clear intention and committing just a
few hours a week to these self-renewing activities, I’ve felt
an amazing influx of inspiration and energy. I’ve also experienced a flood of exciting ideas that will undoubtedly find
their way into the magazine over the next several months,
starting with this month’s “Relax and Renew” issue.
We’ve pulled together a whole collection of information and advice designed to help you calm down, get
centered and reconnect with your own personal sense of
inspiration and vitality.
Whether you’re dealing with anxiety and exhaustion,
longing for an influx of new energy, or are just eager to
live your life at your healthiest, happiest best, this issue
is for you.
SUGGESTIONS, REQUESTS?
