Quiet People Are Hidden Geniuses

Social media and the news are louder than ever.    Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash You can hardly hear yourself think with all of the chaos. I went to the garden supply center to buy an indoor plant known as a Peace Lilly (they have been shown to help you be positive in hard times). The shop attendant started preaching politics. They got louder and louder. It was as though the devil’s son had taken over their body. An innocent person in a gardening work uniform began looking like an evil garden gnome ready to hurt somebody. They kept talking about all the drama in politics. They had a near-perfect description of every problem. But no solution to any problem other than more outrage. Their face turned tomato red. I stood there covered in tomato sauce. The world definitely doesn’t need more loud people right now. We’re exhausted from all the noise. Layer in the pandemic, add a looming economic crisis caused by continual lockdowns, and you’ve got yourself a halloween shit show. There are hidden geniuses to show you another way. Examples of Quiet Geniuses Investing legend, Warren Buffett​ Harry Potter actor, Emma Watson Albert Einstein The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind — Einstein They don’t feel the need to always talk. Talking doesn’t always solve problems. Thinking about problems deeply, in quiet solitude, is where the life-changing insights come from. It’s why many former presidents and financial gurus like Warren Buffett spend so much of their work time alone in their office. Talking becomes a productivity killer after a certain point. Answers are found in quiet contemplation. Throw in a domestic cat or dog for added effect. Talk is cheap to them. Silent actions are more powerful. Lot’s of people talk. Your boss tells you they care. Then they give you a bad performance review you weren’t expecting and blame an invisible virus. Your doctor tells you they want to help you be healthy. Then they forget to tell you the food you’re eating is making you sicker and prescribe pills to overcome the side effects. Your government tells you they want to help you in rough times. They give you free money. They forget to tell you they created this free money out of thin air and it’s more like a future tax than a freebie. The company leaders you work for says they value you. They send out employee surveys and talk a lot about company culture and being there for one another. Then a virus wreaks havoc on the world and they fire you and those around you. At the moment you need them the most they cut you loose with four weeks’ pay and skip your farewell party due to social distancing. You have to go home and tell your family you’re are unemployed after years of loyalty and service. You feel like garbage. I no longer judge people based on what they say. I measure effectiveness based on results. If you tell me you care and then screw up my life, I don’t believe you. Many actions that create genuine change are silent. Think about the whistleblowers who go up against corporate giants. They don’t promote their name or seek fame. They quietly take actions to help unveil a huge problem money would normally hide. If we judged leaders based on quiet actions that don’t lead to success metrics, rather than cheap words they tell their seven year old daughter when they don’t want to buy her a toy, we’d have a seriously different world. Value action. The rest is noise. Quietness is open-mindedness. I am slightly obsessed with quiet people — they intrigue me. I find myself slowly morphing from a loud person to a quiet person. I’m a long way off, so I continue to study quiet people like writer, Genius Turner, who fascinate me. Open-mindedness is a trait many quiet people have. They make less noise about a subject because they can see both sides of an argument being right. On one hand the world’s reaction to a deadly virus makes us all global citizens of Idiotsville. On the other hand humans were never going to be prepared for a pandemic where a hug could kill your grandmother. It’s easy to call people idiots. It’s hard to sit in your bedroom with the door closed and imagine both sides of a controversial argument as being right. Humans really know nothing at all. That’s what these quiet geniuses remind us of every day. Noise is the sound of your ego. If your ego made a noise it would be your voice talking. There is a piece of your ego in everything you say. The same is true for me. It hurt when I wrote an article with a formula for improving your life and got the math wrong. That’s right — I stuffed up simple math and hid in a corner, hoping no one would notice. I could have corrected the error but a part of my ego couldn’t bear the thought. Another part of me liked the error and hoped it revealed a tiny bit of imperfection people could relate to. The hardest thing to do is witness a huge injustice and say nothing. The temptation is to talk a lot, thinking it makes everything better. A tough truth to face is this: Not every situation requires your awesome commentary. Some topics are better left untouched. Talking too much is your ego desperately wanting love. Self-love is the answer, not talking more. The new minimalism trend that’s about to go viral. I watched the documentary “The Minimalists: Less Is Now.” It’s about how Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus discovered minimalism. They share a strategy to get rid of one thing per day so you can experience higher levels of joy and happiness. Minimalism when it comes to having less stuff is already a trend. Minimalism when it comes to money is an upcoming trend that allows people to retire early. The next minimalism trend is going to be based around your ego. A minimalist ego can save you from yourself. Too much talking is bad for how others perceive you. You’re likely to say more things that aren’t properly thought out. You’re likely to offend the very people you set out to help. What will be the cause of the minimalist ego trend? Politics. We’ve seen how one world leader’s ego nearly brought down an entire country. People will start to realize an overinflated ego can be the cause of nuclear war, if left unattended for too many years. Your ego needs attention when your mental health falls off a cliff. I should know. My mental health got so bad that I had to leave behind a business I loved. I lived in mental health denial for years. Once I discovered the power of healing from mental illness, my entire life changed. The genius of quiet people is that their mental health is thriving, so they don’t need to let their ego ruin people’s lives. Takeaway Quiet people will take over the world again. Actions will be valued over more talking about nothing. Each of us has an opportunity to choose quietness when chaos takes over the world. It’s not what you say; it’s what you do. And you don’t need to fly a space shuttle to Mars for the first time to create lasting change. Tiny actions that contribute to the greater good are an opportunity you can access when you develop your inner quiet muscle. Geniuses don’t talk a lot. They listen. They ask questions. They think deeply. Then they quietly take action when most people aren’t looking. Be the peaceful quietness you wish to see more of in the world. ​ – Tim Denning

Hi Everyone, It's Tim Denning from Medium and LinkedIn. Here is my most shared article this week: Quiet People Are Hidden Geniuses Social media and the news are louder than ever. You can hardly hear yourself think with all of the chaos. I went to the garden supply center to buy an indoor plant known as a Peace Lilly (they have been shown to help you be positive in hard times). The shop attendant started preaching politics. They got louder and louder. It was as though the devil’s son had taken over their body. An innocent person in a gardening work uniform began looking like an evil garden gnome ready to hurt somebody. They kept talking about all the drama in politics. They had a near-perfect description of every problem. But no solution to any problem other than more outrage. Their face turned tomato red. I stood there covered in tomato sauce. The world definitely doesn’t need more loud people right now. We’re exhausted from all the noise. Layer in the pandemic, add a looming economic crisis caused by continual lockdowns, and you’ve got yourself a halloween shit show. There are hidden geniuses to show you another way. Examples of Quiet Geniuses Investing legend, Warren Buffett​ Harry Potter actor, Emma Watson Albert Einstein The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind — Einstein They don’t feel the need to always talk. Talking doesn’t always solve problems. Thinking about problems deeply, in quiet solitude, is where the life-changing insights come from. It’s why many former presidents and financial gurus like Warren Buffett spend so much of their work time alone in their office. Talking becomes a productivity killer after a certain point. Answers are found in quiet contemplation. Throw in a domestic cat or dog for added effect. Talk is cheap to them. Silent actions are more powerful. Lot’s of people talk. Your boss tells you they care. Then they give you a bad performance review you weren’t expecting and blame an invisible virus. Your doctor tells you they want to help you be healthy. Then they forget to tell you the food you’re eating is making you sicker and prescribe pills to overcome the side effects. Your government tells you they want to help you in rough times. They give you free money. They forget to tell you they created this free money out of thin air and it’s more like a future tax than a freebie. The company leaders you work for says they value you. They send out employee surveys and talk a lot about company culture and being there for one another. Then a virus wreaks havoc on the world and they fire you and those around you. At the moment you need them the most they cut you loose with four weeks’ pay and skip your farewell party due to social distancing. You have to go home and tell your family you’re are unemployed after years of loyalty and service. You feel like garbage. I no longer judge people based on what they say. I measure effectiveness based on results. If you tell me you care and then screw up my life, I don’t believe you. Many actions that create genuine change are silent. Think about the whistleblowers who go up against corporate giants. They don’t promote their name or seek fame. They quietly take actions to help unveil a huge problem money would normally hide. If we judged leaders based on quiet actions that don’t lead to success metrics, rather than cheap words they tell their seven year old daughter when they don’t want to buy her a toy, we’d have a seriously different world. Value action. The rest is noise. Quietness is open-mindedness. I am slightly obsessed with quiet people — they intrigue me. I find myself slowly morphing from a loud person to a quiet person. I’m a long way off, so I continue to study quiet people like writer, Genius Turner, who fascinate me. Open-mindedness is a trait many quiet people have. They make less noise about a subject because they can see both sides of an argument being right. On one hand the world’s reaction to a deadly virus makes us all global citizens of Idiotsville. On the other hand humans were never going to be prepared for a pandemic where a hug could kill your grandmother. It’s easy to call people idiots. It’s hard to sit in your bedroom with the door closed and imagine both sides of a controversial argument as being right. Humans really know nothing at all. That’s what these quiet geniuses remind us of every day. Noise is the sound of your ego. If your ego made a noise it would be your voice talking. There is a piece of your ego in everything you say. The same is true for me. It hurt when I wrote an article with a formula for improving your life and got the math wrong. That’s right — I stuffed up simple math and hid in a corner, hoping no one would notice. I could have corrected the error but a part of my ego couldn’t bear the thought. Another part of me liked the error and hoped it revealed a tiny bit of imperfection people could relate to. The hardest thing to do is witness a huge injustice and say nothing. The temptation is to talk a lot, thinking it makes everything better. A tough truth to face is this: Not every situation requires your awesome commentary. Some topics are better left untouched. Talking too much is your ego desperately wanting love. Self-love is the answer, not talking more. The new minimalism trend that’s about to go viral. I watched the documentary “The Minimalists: Less Is Now.” It’s about how Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus discovered minimalism. They share a strategy to get rid of one thing per day so you can experience higher levels of joy and happiness. Minimalism when it comes to having less stuff is already a trend. Minimalism when it comes to money is an upcoming trend that allows people to retire early. The next minimalism trend is going to be based around your ego. A minimalist ego can save you from yourself. Too much talking is bad for how others perceive you. You’re likely to say more things that aren’t properly thought out. You’re likely to offend the very people you set out to help. What will be the cause of the minimalist ego trend? Politics. We’ve seen how one world leader’s ego nearly brought down an entire country. People will start to realize an overinflated ego can be the cause of nuclear war, if left unattended for too many years. Your ego needs attention when your mental health falls off a cliff. I should know. My mental health got so bad that I had to leave behind a business I loved. I lived in mental health denial for years. Once I discovered the power of healing from mental illness, my entire life changed. The genius of quiet people is that their mental health is thriving, so they don’t need to let their ego ruin people’s lives. Takeaway Quiet people will take over the world again. Actions will be valued over more talking about nothing. Each of us has an opportunity to choose quietness when chaos takes over the world. It’s not what you say; it’s what you do. And you don’t need to fly a space shuttle to Mars for the first time to create lasting change. Tiny actions that contribute to the greater good are an opportunity you can access when you develop your inner quiet muscle. Geniuses don’t talk a lot. They listen. They ask questions. They think deeply. Then they quietly take action when most people aren’t looking. Be the peaceful quietness you wish to see more of in the world. ​ – Tim Denning