So rumor has it that you don't need to be a genius to make compelling art (or for that matter stories, or inventions, or any other hobby your wacky little monkey mind can aim for). It seems a healthy bit of dedication will do just fine for most.

William J. Sidis was a true genius though. He could read by age one and a half, graduated Harvard cum laude at 16, and was heralded the foremost mathematician of the 20th century after one speech. And he had already published four books while twiddling his thumbs in between. Young Sidis' IQ was estimated at somewhere between 250 and 300 points, versus the average IQ score of 100.

But for all of the celebration, Sidis made a few choices very smart people often do. He closed himself off from art, music, the whole world, simply in hopes to concentrate on his research. His fame pushed him into the spotlight and so he continually ran from one job to the next, running from the pressure. He soon became a wreck of nerves unable to even look at an equation without recoiling. Bitter. A recluse. Idiosyncratic. Much of his time was now exclusively spent obsessively around his hobby, the railroad system. Mr. Sidis spent his last years working as a poor office clerk and died alone without leaving any true mark.

The smartest folks I have ever met mirror William.

They are gripped by the inability to confront their emotions which never allows their personal beauty to engulf the world. They let their acute mind regurgitate fears and desires without end. They never try and tame their minds. And without a disciplined mind pressure will eat you alive. You aren't prepared for debate with another because you lost the first fight with yourself.

I have watched friends destroy their careers.
I have heard co-workers disown their family.
I have seen family members build a personal prison of fear that encourages inaction.

Taming your mind doesn't mean beating it down into homogeny, it means understanding that anyone can get sucked into fear. The first step to gaining control is as pure as not listening to your fears. They are made to break you down and make you into a creepy little domesticated mammal. Aren't you better then this caged life?

Put another way, happiness is the antithesis of fear. The two can't be in the same place at the same time. You are either happy OR you are afraid, but you can't be happy AND afraid. Sound good so far? So if this is true then wiping fear from your vocabulary should be job number one. For every moment fear steals from you, a second of your unique gift was taken. Fear needs to go. To do this you treat it like a child, and when ignored it whithers plant-like into nothing. Without fear you are free to rise above. Face your creativity. Face it full on with no regrets and no excuses.

Sit your ass down today and DO something that makes humanity regard you with anything more than a whisper. If you look at your life, and anyone else could have taken your place, you have failed.

No one needs any more William J. Sidis'.