Zone of Genius: Restore Yourself Like a Rockstar

How Great Leaders & CEO’s Spend their Time

Even the most conscious leaders who are mainly living in their Zone of Genius, doing their morning meditations and journaling practices every day still can find themselves burnt out, fried, or taking on workaholic tendencies.

If this describes you, I want to let you in on a secret.

There is a restorative part of your Zone of Genius. That’s right. There’s someone in you who knows how to rest, restore and rejuvenate like no one else on the planet.

Restoring is a unique creative process essential to you living the life of your dreams and having the balance you desire.

Finding your natural rhythm between living in active and restorative mode is key for you to succeed in a vibrant, juicy, and life-giving way.  

A common pattern I see when helping clients discover their Zone of Genius is they get excited and hyper-focused on engaging their genius in their career, but they neglect to listen to the other facet of their Zone of Genius. 

What keeps you whole is finding the balance and rhythm between your public-facing Zone of Genius and your private restorative genius. This Restorative Genius is the part of you enabling you to keep yourself whole and in balance.

What Does It Mean to Restore Like a Rockstar?

Think about real rock stars when they are creating an album. There’s a time period when they’re not in the studio and they are not on the stage. They might not even be actively songwriting or practicing, but they are in an incubation phase. They may be writing on their own or fiddling with their guitar in their room. 

Through this gradual process, they create their album and release it to the world, and then we see them on stage performing this body of work.

And it seems like you’re finally seeing them in their Zone of Genius. 

Guess what? They were in their Zone of Genius the whole time we couldn’t see them too. And so are you. 

You are allowed to go dark. You’re allowed to recuperate and you’re allowed to do it like a total badass. 

You can be a rock star when no one even sees you if you put your energy and creativity into getting curious about what brings you life and designing some restorative activities for yourself. 

Restorative time fills you up again when you’ve spent a lot out there in the world, and rebalances you when you’re feeling burnt out or in a creative rut. 

What is the Restorative Zone of Genius?

Your Restorative Zone of Genius is a place where you renew, revitalize and re-create yourself in a way only you can…. it gives you creative energy, and it’s essential to a balanced, fulfilling, and meaningful life. 

These might be things that are part of your daily routine already. Perhaps a cold shower in the morning or a warm bath at night. It might be going on a run, it might be doing some yoga. It could be reading or it could be writing in your journal. It could be being with your family, cooking for your family, being on a crowded dance floor, or listening to a concert. It is unique to you and your needs. 

Unlike your more outward-facing Zone of Genius, your Restorative Zone of Genius is usually a more personal, private, and inward-facing experience. By restoring in our unique genius way, you heal, re-energize and rejuvenate your entire being. 

3 Step Restorative Genius Radar Tune-Up

Step One: Create a list of fun and relaxing activities!

Step Two: Choose one that makes you feel balanced, creative, and energized. 

Step Three: Think about the last time you did the activity. Remember when you really enjoyed it and you felt re-energized, calm, creative, and balanced. Think about a time when this activity brought you to a state of presence. 

How did it feel inside? Go inward and connect to your body. What were the sensations you felt in all of the different parts of your body? Remember the emotional and physical sensations you felt during the experience. 

By revisiting the experience, you just tuned your Restorative Zone of Genius radar. These positive sensations are your guide. When you can assess how your mind, body, and heart feel about an activity you can better identify more ways you can live in your Restorative Zone of Genius. 

The Difference Between Restoring and Numbing Out

The number of ways you could restore yourself is limitless. But I want you to think of the primary way you’ve been resting lately. ⁠When you think about your relaxation time, the question I want you to ask yourself is-  is it genuinely restoring me? 

Some of the activities you do when we’re feeling fried may seem like they would be restful, recuperative and healing, but they’re not.

What comes to mind for me is sitting on the couch and watching television. Sometimes when I watch TV, I’m watching a brilliant movie or an incredible TV show and I feel like a million bucks when I’m done. I have a lot more energy and inspiration!

But a lot of the TV out there to consume dulls my senses, drains my energy, dampens my inspiration and my creative energy.

So take a hard look at the activities you wrote down on your list for the tune-up. Are they restorative to you or is it how you numb out? Ask yourself this question without guilt, shame, or judgment about the answer. 

You may think you are resting when in fact you are numbing out.  When you are numbing out you are trying to save yourself from your feelings.  Often this is because you don’t think you are allowed to rest. 

You are allowed to rest. Always. 

Final Thoughts – Wrap up

Self-care does not have to be boring. Going to the gym or the spa isn’t for everyone.

Choosing a form of rest that incorporates your Zone of Genius will restore you with ease. You’re allowed to get creative with how you restore yourself, and in fact, it’s essential to you living the life of your dreams.

If you’re the type of person who always has time for everyone and everything else but yourself, this is your opportunity to invest in your success by investing in yourself and your restoration. You’re going to carry even more powerful rock star energy into your public life if you take the private time to restore. 

XO,