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14 Comments to “Will You Tell Me About Being Brilliant?”

1. November 21st, 2008 at 7:08 am
   Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach said

   Being brilliant is being able to take a leap beyond mere mortal comprehension…and cast your mind out to the stars and be receptive to what you encounter.

   Years ago, my brilliant moments were focused upon my work and busines…now lots of my brilliance finds expressions in how I raise my kids and how they tackle growing up. Regarding that…the *most* brilliant thing I’ve done was recognize how utterly unique my 2nd and 4th kids “think”…and devise methods that took advantage of their weird thought patterns to transform them into something extraordinary.

   Quite proud of that, I am… (especially given that when I was their age, I had zero self-confidence or self-esteem. My kids, in comparison, can take on the world without blinking an eye. Now THAT is success….).

   Data points,

   Barbara

2. November 21st, 2008 at 7:34 am
   Karin H. said

   Hi Liz

   Brilliant for me is that kinda rare moment you find yourself suddenly in awe of a realistion – accompanied with a loud “ping” in your brain-ear.

   Karin H. (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)

3. November 21st, 2008 at 8:41 am
   ME Liz Strauss said

   Hi Barbara!
   I like the way you find brilliance in letting other folks shine. It sure seems that what makes the brightest diamonds is that they let the light in.

4. November 21st, 2008 at 8:46 am
   Richard Reeve said

   Tough question to answer without sounding pompous…but I’m thinking of those times when a person, perhaps in crisis, needs something to hold onto, and an idea or image just emerges to meet the need…when those experiences happen, it’s always a with a sense of awe that “more than me” contributes to the needed solution.

5. November 21st, 2008 at 9:37 am
   ME Liz Strauss said

   Hi Karin!
   Those rare moments are part of what makes everything worth doing. Yeah!

6. November 21st, 2008 at 10:44 am
   Vicky H said

   I think brilliance is something so rare that it takes two extremes and molds them together. An example I have seen recently is:

   Carbon Copies: I write dead people

   This gets a 10 for creepy and a 10 for clever.

   http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1392-carbon-copies-i-write-dead-people

7. November 21st, 2008 at 11:46 am
   Dianne said

   Brilliance has facets like a bright beautifully cut jewel.To me functioning brilliance is when you ignite the brilliance in others around you. Brilliance is as brilliance does. Hopefully shouldn’t hurt, shouldn’t blind, but help cast away shadows and reveal light.

8. November 21st, 2008 at 12:27 pm
   ME Liz Strauss said

   Richard,
   Yeah, brilliance has a sense of awe for me too. It fills me.

9. November 21st, 2008 at 1:04 pm
   Kathy @ Virtual Impax said

   Brilliance is like beauty – it’s hard to describe with mere words.

   For example, a while back I was reading a newsletter and the author went through step by step and answered every question I ever had about about a particular subject. In my mind, it was a BRILLIANT article. I was so touched that I wrote him and gushed. His reply showed that he was truly amazed – he really didn’t think it was that “great” of an article. Gushing wasn’t enough “thanks” so I went directly to Amazon and bought every book he’s ever written – even the $60 one!

   Truly a “heartfelt” reaction – as defined in the post!

10. November 21st, 2008 at 1:04 pm
    Kathy @ Virtual Impax said

    Brilliance is like beauty – it’s hard to describe with mere words.

    For example, a while back I was reading a newsletter and the author went through step by step and answered every question I ever had about about a particular subject. In my mind, it was a BRILLIANT article. I was so touched that I wrote him and gushed. His reply showed that he was truly amazed – he really didn’t think it was that “great” of an article. Gushing wasn’t enough “thanks” so I went directly to Amazon and bought every book he’s ever written – even the $60 one!

    Truly a “heartfelt” reaction – as defined in the post!

11. November 22nd, 2008 at 12:38 am
    Jannie said

    Well, it’s a tough row to hoe, but somebody’s gotta do it!

12. November 22nd, 2008 at 12:43 am
    Jannie said

    Whoops, I meant that to be a winky eye – see I still have so much to learn and won’t it be brilliant when I get my winky eyes right.

    ; )

13. November 24th, 2008 at 3:12 am
    kazari said

    I think I have been brilliant! But right now, not so much.
    I’ve decided that perhaps the only difference is attitude and motivation, so I’m going to try to fix it. I may even blog about how that turns out…
    Thankyou for all the inspiring quotes!

14. July 9th, 2012 at 11:47 am
    Brilliance… | Richard Reeve said

    [...] discussion was generated on twitter around the word “brilliant” last night by Liz Strauss which she encapsulated and posted on her blog this morning.  Reflecting further, I commented there [...]