--- title: How to Be a Genius: 5 Secrets From Experts description: Work hard because of passion, not money canonical: https://time.com/3943174/genius-expert-secrets/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-02T04:01:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:49:32.328Z article:section: Ideas og:title: How to Be a Genius: 5 Secrets From Experts og:description: Work hard because of passion, not money og:url: https://time.com/3943174/genius-expert-secrets/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7cf50117ec9b4d6/69885944e53abad70c4de6e7/boy-einstein-genius-wig.jpg?branch=production&width=507&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 507 og:image:height: 285 og:image:alt: boy-einstein-genius-wig og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Be a Genius: 5 Secrets From Experts twitter:description: Work hard because of passion, not money twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7cf50117ec9b4d6/69885944e53abad70c4de6e7/boy-einstein-genius-wig.jpg?branch=production&width=507&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How to Be a Genius: 5 Secrets From Experts > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=295b156a-a60f-426b-b5ff-2bfb41c0e0b4&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Benedict Cumberbatch: On Playing the Role of the Genius [Watch (HLS stream): Benedict Cumberbatch: On Playing the Role of the Genius](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eCsfiaxR.m3u8) (1:39)  _Published 2014-11-19. Benedict Cumberbatch talks to TIME about the challenges of taking on the role of a genius in his portrayal of Alan Turing_ by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Jul 2, 2015 4:01 AM UTC  Little Genius Little Genius Getty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Jul 2, 2015 4:01 AM UTC Want to know how to be a genius? There are five things you can learn from looking at those who are the very best. ## **1) Be Curious And Driven** For his book [Creativity](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060928204/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0060928204&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20), noted professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi did interviews with 91 groundbreaking individuals across a number of disciplines, including 14 Nobel Prize winners. In [50 Psychology Classics](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1857883861/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1857883861&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20) Tom Butler-Bowdon [summed up](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/10/what-does-the-most-comprehensive-study-of-gen/) many of Csikszentmihalyi’s findings including this one: --- > “” --- ## 2) It’s Not About Formal Education. It’s Hours At Your Craft. Do you need a [sky-high IQ](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/10/smartest-man-world/)? Do great geniuses all have PhD’s? Nope. Most had about a college-dropout level of education. Via [Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591842948/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1591842948): --- > “” --- But they all [work their butts off](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/05/genius-work-habits/) in their field of expertise. That’s how to be a genius. Those interested in the [10,000-hour theory](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/05/is-it-true-that-10000-hours-of-practice-will/) of [deliberate practice](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/08/what-does-it-take-to-become-an-expert-at-anyt/) won’t be surprised. As detailed in [Daily Rituals: How Artists Work](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307273601/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0307273601&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20), the vast majority of them are workaholics. Via [Daily Rituals: How Artists Work](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307273601/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0307273601&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20) --- > “” --- In fact, you really can’t work too much. Via [Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591842948/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1591842948): --- > “” --- ## 3) Test Your Ideas Howard Gardner studied geniuses like Picasso, Freud and Stravinsky and found a similar pattern of analyzing, testing and feedback used by all of them: Via [Creating Minds: An Anatomy of Creativity Seen Through the Lives of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Ghandi](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465027741/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0465027741): --- > “” --- Does testing sound like something scientific and uncreative? Wrong. The more creative an artist is the more likely they are to use this method: Via [Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439170428/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1439170428&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20) --- > “” --- ## **4) You Must Sacrifice** 10,000 hours is a hell of a lot of hours. It means many other things (some important) will need to be ignored. In fact, geniuses are notably less likely to be popular in high school. Why? The [deliberate](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-type-of-practice-produces-peak-performan) [practice](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-it-true-that-10000-hours-of-practice-will) that will one day make them famous alienates them from their peers in adolesence. Via [Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307352145/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0307352145&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- At the extremes, the amount of practice and devotion required can pass into the realm of the pathological. If hours alone determine genius then it is inevitable that reaching the greatest heights will require, quite literally, obsession. Via [Creating Minds: An Anatomy of Creativity Seen Through the Lives of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Ghandi](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465027741/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0465027741): --- > “” --- ## **5) Work because of passion, not money** Passion produces better art than desire for financial gain — and that leads to more success in the long run. Via Dan Pink’s [Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594484805/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- **Join over 190,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**.** **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/05/how-to-be-a-genius/)**_._** Related posts: [How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/08/how-to-stop-being-lazy/) [How To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior Expert](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/10/how-to-get-people-to-like-you/) [New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/09/be-more-successful/) ## Transcript I think the challenge is playing some unique characters like Alan and others of really remarkable intelligence is to humanize them. We're going to break an unbreakable Nazi code and win the war. Oh. Well, that's also, actually, the, the great gift, I suppose, is, is to realize that, that down by the human condition, that, that they're blood and flesh, like us. They live in the same world. The more interesting challenges are the ones that they actually face in their stories either as outsiders or as people who [ CROSSTALK ] status quo [ UNKNOWN ] the way that the world perceives what's normal and what's abnormal about them and how they have to contest that and also contest sometimes what that brings [ CROSSTALK ] whether it's the moral conundrum. The discovery brings them into being empowered with what the knowledge, evolves into. All you have to do is ask me a question. I suppose being, remarkably stupid in comparison to any of these people's abilities is, is difficult sometimes. But that only really manifests when you're actually asked to do something that they can do. So in the sense. This is a fictional character. I played like [ Sherlock / g ] who's incredibly smart. Playing the violin is an absolute nightmare because that takes, you know, thousands of hours of practice like I'm not sort of picking it up once every two years, but, you know, that, that's when you feel com, a complete fraud and I see it as a challenge. I see it as a, well, I do, but the kind of challenge that I relish because I love learning so if I am given the opportunity for this extended hire. Education that you know this job offers me often with these extraordinary people and their extraordinary talents and worlds and ability. 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