Liberating Everyday Genius: A Revolutionary Guide for Identifying and Mastering Your Exceptional Gifts

by Mary-Elaine Jacobsen

Book Overview

Are you relentlessly curious and creative, always willing to rock the boat in order to get things done . . . extremely energetic and focused, yet constantly switching gears . . . intensely sensitive,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0965030261
• ISBN13: 9780345427717
• Release Date: November 1999
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Ignore the editorial review!

I had to laugh at the editorial review, which accuses Dr. Jacobsen of being "elitist," one of the many criticisms that gifted people receive. Maybe that reviewer should have read the book more carefully. This is a terrific book that will help people realize their potential. That's a good thing for the world and should not be discouraged or belittled. If you have struggled with fitting in only to feel like you cannot be your authentic self, this book will help you discover why. I also recommend "Dark Side of the Light Chasers" and other books by Debbie Ford to help you discover the damage done by all those messages to play small, and begin to heal, giving yourself permission to be BIG.

Intelligent? Intense? Over-reactive? READ THIS BOOK!

Throughout most of my 50 years of life, I have felt out of place. Like an alien being dropped upon this earth, I use a different vocabulary, have unusual bursts of energy, have a mind that travels at light speed, am highly reactive to external stimulus, and even sleep in a different pattern than most people. The labels given me are endless: too emotional, over-reacting, moody, anxiety disorder... even bipolar with hysterical mania, but without depression (the newest and my favorite!).This book gave me great peace. I understand myself better now. With an IQ of 150 and a life-long creative (writer and artist), I am normal for me... and, there are others like me out there!Those who are not "gifted," do not comprehend the lonliness or the anguish experienced by this misunderstood minority. I invite everyone to read this book, to gain insight into themselves, into loved ones, and/or into the world of the gifted.Let us celebrate who we are, and the contributions we can give to society.

Even swans must learn to swim!

For someone who's gifted, Jacobsen's book can bring a sigh of relief and recognition. "I'm not an ugly duckling after all! I was meant to be a swan." While some reviewers criticize this book as "elitist," I find the opposite. Jacobsen doesn't suggest that anyone be exempt from social norms or rules. To the contrary, she shows that the gifted may face a tougher challenge than the less-gifted: they must learn to accommodate to a society as an invisible often-resented minority group. It's up to each gifted person -- hopefully aided by mentors who can take advantage of "teaching moments" -- to learn to swim. That means adjusting a blunt style of speaking, communicating in a new style and, always, dealing with the loneliness of being "different." Gifted people tend to attract envy, not empathy, and they don't always grow into rich and successful adults. Indeed, without recognition early in life, the gifted can become severely depressed, mainly due to isolation.Once you read this book, it's easy to recognize evidence of giftedness in yourself and others, including autobiographical accounts. A combination of characteristics -- sensitivity, high-speed, high-energy -- can appear frustrating to those who don't realize what's going on. Many gifted children get diagnosed as hyperactive, depressed, socially inept and worse.I'm not overfond of pencil-and-paper tests, but Jacobsen offers ways to identify specific areas of giftedness through some simple questions. Readers can ignore this part if they choose. Counselors, career coaches, therapists, managers, guidance professionals -- all should have this book on their shelves. When they find themselves getting overwhelmed by a gifted client, they need to know what's going on.

This book changed my life

Mary-Elaine Jacobsen brings the largely invisible plights and possibilities of the gifted adult to our attention. As an intense, complex and driven gifted adult, myself, I truly appreciate her contribution to my life and the lives of others I know who've read the book. As a therapist to gifted adults for many years, Jacobsen knows what she's talking about and gives us many moving stories to find ourselves, our friends or our parents in. I cried many tears reading this book, remembering experiences in my own life and seeing them in a more self-compassionate light.I've known I was smart, intense and driven but Jacobsen helped me to see why and what to do about it to have a happier, more fulfilled life. I'm probably writing this review right now because of the influence of this book. I've always craved to get my ideas out in the world and here on the Net and in my blog (tokerud's technology treats) I've sought out ways to do that. Jacobsen gives the gifted adult the good news and the bad news. The good news is great. I can forgive myself. The bad news is, that the only way things are going to change is for me to change some bad habits and be constructive and persistent in the world and express my gifts. If you know you are intense and driven and probably pretty smart, pick this book up. It could change YOUR life too.This book is a well-written but occasionally dense read. However, it will be a page-turner for a gifted adult. And, for that matter, gifted adults tend to like dense books. One of the unfortunate facts that Jacobsen points out is that gifted adults have usually learned to keep a low profile about their giftedness. They've learned to cover it up and at a certain point in their lives, many gifted adults forget they are gifted. It is a convenient but, ultimately, very harmful defense mechanism. That's why I said earlier that if you merely suspect you might possibly be a gifted adult, read this book! It will shake you out of your unconsciousness and get you back on the track of getting your gifts out into the world where they belong!

An Important and Possibly Life-Changing Book!

"The Gifted Adult" is an excellent book, and provides one of a few lone voices drawing attention to "A Group Society Would Rather Pretend Doesn't Exist:" The Gifted Adult.Adult Giftedness is one of the "Ugly Stepchildren" in the field of Psychology. Whereas researchers, psychologists and society in general go to great lengths to study, understand and help those who dwell a long way below the mean intellect, those living their lives an equal distance the opposite side of the mean often find themselves living in a void of confusion, misunderstanding-- and misinformation. Their lives are perhaps complicated by a "split personality" support system that provides tools and special programs to gifted children, but then vanishes into thin air once the gifted individual is deemed "Adult"-- in some cases providing an abrupt perception change from giftedness as having positive "value" to suddenly being a reason for discrimination and sneers.Gifted Adults are "statistical outliers." As such, they often have special issues, living in a world whose actions are centered around accommodating the "norm." At best, a Gifted Adult seeking to have his/her needs understood, may hear the words "Well, we're ALL gifted, in our own special way." At worst (and more frequently) they will hear "How can you have problems, if you're so smart?"-- words that reflect a popular view that giftedness is a "privilege" that exempts a person from having any difficulties in life. Yet, Gifted Adults discover that working harder, seeking answers, seeing therapists and trying to contribute often leaves them with a sense of "emptiness" and lack of fulfillment.Mary-Elaine Jacobsen's book is a much-needed tool to help gifted adults understand themselves, and accept the fact that their brains work a little bit differently. Real differences, I might add, that change the way a gifted person views their interactions with the world, their road to self-actualization, or considerations for seeking therapy. In Part I of the book, Jacobsen starts to define her own view of giftedness, and addresses some of the Societal Myths (Giftedness = High IQ), and influences (Gifted adults' tendency to deny their giftedness) established by conventional thinking.In Part II, she presents her alternative theory for measuring giftedness-- a broad system she has named "Evolutionary Intelligence" (or EvIQ). Although Jacobsen "borrows" heavily from the "Multiple Intelligences" theory originally set forth by Howard Gardner at Harvard, she adds a number of new facets, presented in a 240-item "self quiz" in Chapter 7 of the book. Unlike "standard" IQ tests, this is NOT a timed exercise with "right" and "wrong" answers, but rather a self-evaluation. Of course, honest self-scrutiny is central to obtaining a "valid" result-- which may present difficulty for some.Part III explores most of the common "misunderstandings" gifted adults encounter in their interactions with daily life. Topics include "self mis-diagnoses;" the issues