Ingenious insights arise in our thoughts, usually when our mind is at rest and operating on automatic. When we've been noodling on a problem, that "aha" moment is a welcome surprise and seems to give us an answer that feels like a divine intervention of sorts. It always seems like a good idea to us, but does it also resonate with others? That's the big question. An insight that is useful to you may be a dud for someone else.

How can you know if your big idea is worthy of the world at large? You can't until you test it and get proof of concept. In the meantime, you can increase your odds by increasing the breadth and depth of your knowledge and perspective. That's because every insight arises from what is already in your memory. If a person doesn't employ continuous learning over time, that store of knowledge will more than likely be less valuable to others. The only way to cultivate more significant insights that are also of value to more people is to expand the vastness of what you know. It is well known that Bill Gates was known to consume numerous books every week, sometimes every day on weeks where he devoted all of his time to a learning period. This practice explains how one man is helping to solve world problems within his lifetime with evident success.

Study at least an hour a day in your unique areas of interest. Then go outside your specific interests to other domains of study that may inform a broad understanding of the world at large.

Somewhere in the convergence, you will find your genius.