Today’s blog post comes to us from Author Accelerator CEO Jennie Nash. If you enjoy today’s content, you can sign up for Jennie's weekly newsletter here.

Last year, I took some time off during the holidays. It ended up being a quiet time, because we had to cancel a big trip to see our daughter in Korea and our other daughter had already made plans. I missed my kids — always — but loved having such free and open time. I read a lot and slept a lot and went on very long walks on the beach with Rob — the tides were very low in the afternoon for several days and you can walk and walk and walk on the flat sand of the winter beaches. It was very restorative.

I also worked on my newest book, Blueprint for a Nonfiction Book: Plan & Pitch Your Big Idea, during this time.

The nonfiction book was a thrill for me to write. I just adore this material and I love teaching it. It is my zone of genius — getting other people to find their zone of genius, whether they are writing books or starting a book coaching business — and I can feel it when I am working in that space. It feels sparkly, in an electric energy kind of way. It feels important, as if it gives my life meaning and purpose, as if it matters. And it feels joyful and life-giving. It’s so much fun!

Whether you are working on a book or building a business, the power of finding and staying in your zone of genius is that it puts everything in alignment.

By everything, I mean your work and your values and your talents and your interests. This is the work that book coaches do when we work with writers. It’s much bigger than craft. It has more to do with voice and confidence and authority and energy.

Your Zone of Genius Is Not a Place of Comfort and Fun

The truth about working in your zone of genius is that it’s not ALL joy and fun. Your zone of genius is not a place of comfort and peace. It’s more like the place where the waves crash on the sand — dynamic and churning. There is light and there is life, but those shifting sands and changing tides and crashing waves can do some serious damage. 

Committing in any way to your project and your purpose is a risk. After all, there are no guarantees in publishing or in business — or in life, either. Nothing may come of your months of focused effort. Nothing may come of your investment. You may wake up in the middle of the night, filled with dread about this. But when you’re working in your zone of genius, this can happen and it’s a sign you’re doing something right. Because even though it’s frightening to try things and to risk things, even though it’s destabilizing, it’s where you want to be. It’s where you feel most alive.