Yes, You Are a Genius
Whether You Know it Or Not
Claiming the Extraordinary Life You Were Born to Live
Susanna Lange & Otto Siegel

Introduction

When I was 30 years old, I was walking in the beautiful Botanical Gardens in Munich, Germany with my boyfriend, Otto. It was a lovely spring day and all the flowers were starting to bloom in a variety of glorious colors. Otto and I had only recently met and were excited about sharing dreams about our future, as well as our similar likes and dislikes. After enjoying several hours of intimate conversation, Otto suddenly spoke one simple sentence to me. What he said shocked and surprised me, and I eventually ended up spending several years thinking about it. Along the way, I lost many nights of sleep pondering those five words, which eventually lead me to my current profession.

Otto said: “Susanna, you are extremely smart.”

He spoke those simple words with natural calmness and sincerity.

This doesn’t seem like such an unusual sentence. Lots of people are smart, so why not me? Why would it shock me and cause me to stay up at night?

I started elementary school in a small town in Germany called Dornstetten. The town was about 750 years old, and the 3,000 people living there seemed to have been there for the same amount of time. Children would take over their parents’ businesses and then pass them on to their children generation after generation. It was about a 10-minute walk to school from my home. It was a big school with many classrooms and lots of children—at least that’s how it seemed to me then. Most of the children came from the surrounding villages. These villages were even smaller and seemed even older than my town.

Like most children, I was excited to start school. Unfortunately, I soon found out that I had a hard time connecting with other children. I was alone most of the time. I had my lunch alone, I walked home alone and I rarely spoke to the very shy neighbor who sat next to me during all the lessons. Learning, which had seemed so exciting at first, wasn’t so great after all. What the teachers talked about didn’t make any sense to me, no matter how they taught it. This made me feel even lonelier. I had to repeat 5th grade and stayed a C and D student through graduation, except for physical education and art, in which I occasionally received an A or a B.

At the university, things weren’t very much better. After 5 years of studying Japanese culture, a subject that would not help me find a job, I realized that I was still far away from graduation. At that time I decided to give up and I dropped out without a degree. I started to apply for jobs from the newspaper. The first job I had was in a huge laundry company, doing laundry for hotels. After that I cleaned hotels and I was eventually hired as a receptionist in an ad agency.

I was overweight, didn’t fix myself up well, and I didn’t have many friends. I was never recognized for anything in particular, and my parents never said that I was talented or great either. At least I never had that impression.

So, when Otto said: “Susanna, you are extremely smart,” I absolutely could not relate to it. It was the most uncomfortable moment I had ever experienced. It was more uncomfortable than any low grade I received at school. I felt embarrassed, awkward and hurt. For hours, days and even years, I kept busy proving why he was wrong.

What I didn’t mention before was that after working for just 3 months at that ad agency, I was offered a position as associate account manager.

I didn’t know anything about advertising; I didn’t know that a job like account manager even existed, and I had no clue what my responsibilities would be. But I accepted it. I started working in a small department. My new boss was a senior account manager and our client was BMW Bank and Leasing. After 3 months in this position, I learned that my new boss had planned a 6-week vacation to Thailand and that I would be in charge of the department. This meant that I had to meet clients and discuss advertising strategies with them. I would then come back and strategize with the creative director and come up with solutions that I again had to sell to the client.

In our company, the creative team worked diligently in the background while the account manager was the only interface with the client. I did well in those 6 weeks and sold one ad project. There was no crisis and the company never really felt that my boss was gone. I wasn’t rewarded or noticed, but I successfully managed several projects in different stages of development. I handled millions of details every day, giving instructions to the creative director who had been in their position for 30 years, and I did it well. I accomplished this after just three months of working in a position that I had previously known nothing about.

As my career progressed, I was able to make a six-figure income as an account manager and yet I still believed that I never deserved to be recognized or acknowledged. My experience growing up was so strong that it took a lot of help from many people to make me realize the truth—that I was actually smart and even performed as a genius in many areas. My genius began to emerge more and more. As people helped me see what I could do, I claimed it and focused on it. I was then able to create a prosperous, happy and fulfilled life.

Through our company Genius Coaching, Otto and I now help people take shortcuts to identifying their natural genius and use it in all aspects of their lives. It doesn’t have to take years of trial and error.

After working with people for many years, we now know for a fact that everyone is a genius, and that means you too. Once you know your genius, you know much better who you are and what you can offer others. It makes your business stand out in the marketplace and attracts higher paying clients. What used to be hard work now becomes easy. You can experience a relaxed intensity that doesn’t burn you out but creates the highest quality of life.

Most people’s genius is not one profession or one thing they do best. In most cases, it is a unique set of genius abilities. When known, these can be customized and applied in different areas of business and life.

You might ask yourself, what difference does it make if you know your natural genius? It’s always there whether you know it or not. The truth is, it makes all the difference in the world because when you don’t know exactly what it is, you can’t apply it fully. When I began to realize where I was brilliant and also owned it, I started to use my genius all the time and not just occasionally. For the first time, I was able to be proud in my life. For the first time, I felt that I could truly make a difference. I felt that I deserved to be happy and prosperous. I was able to ask for the salary I really deserved and could accept recognition. Previously, most of my days just ran together in a bland existence. Now, I enjoy getting up in the morning and look forward to every day. I am having fun and I have become sociable and outgoing. The old days when I would barely talk are gone for good. I am a successful person with a six-figure income, recognized by colleagues and friends.

This book will help you identify your own natural genius and how you can use it all the time for higher performance and more satisfaction in your life and business.

Susanna Lange

Contents

Foreword
by Dave Lakhani, Author of Persuasion The Art of Getting What You Want and The Power of an Hour: Business and Life Mastery in One Hour A Week

Introduction

Chapter 1