According to Dr. Davis greatness can be defined as making the most of your native intelligence and abilities. There is an unexpected surprise waiting for all who read this topic. The surprise comes in the form of several videos you can watch of one special "great" person in action.

Let's face it, we are a species of underachievers. I am not a naturalist, but I suppose one giraffe achieves about as much as another giraffe. Why is it that some humans achieve so much more than others? Were they born great or were they made great by themselves or others?

Greatness can be defined in many ways. Tiger Woods is a great golfer. Michael Phelps is a great swimmer. George Washington was a great president. Albert Einstein was a great physicist. Thomas Edison was a great inventor. We don't judge Tiger Woods by his ability to do complex math programs. Albert Einstein probably could not break 100 on the golf course.

One way to measure greatness that is fair for everybody, and that will allow everyone the chance to become great, is to compute the amount of his or her native intelligence each person uses. Then, if you multiply that figure by the person's IQ, you will have what I call the person's Real IQ.

Say you have a person whose IQ is 100. The person uses 5% of his native intelligence and so his Real IQ is 5. Say you have another person whose IQ is 150. This person uses 3% of his native intelligence and so his Real IQ is 3. (Yes, I have assumed very low numbers for how much of a person's brainpower is used. Think about how much time in 24 hours you are actually functioning at absolute mental capacity? Think about what you could achieve if you had servants and staff to handle all the lesser chores in life-and, maybe more importantly, a super coach or guru to tell you exactly what to do every minute of the day! If you are now using 10% of your brain's potential, you are likely already a genius.)

The proof of my Real IQ theory lies with a special segment of the population called idiot savants. These people of abnormally low IQs are known to perform astounding mental feats. Some are blind, some can hardly speak, some have difficulty with the simplest tasks in life-yet they can do extraordinary math calculations, memorize pages of phone directories, perform rapid calendar calculations.

In the book Extraordinary People: Understanding Idiot Savants Darold A. Treffert, M.D. chronicles at length the abilities and disabilities of Leslie Lemke. On the negative side, Leslie has a “triple handicap--blindness, retardation, and cerebral palsy.” On the positive side, Leslie has a repertoire of hundreds of songs he can play on the piano. He can hear a complicated opera one time and play the piece back perfectly on the piano-and sing the words in the foreign language which he had heard for the first time! That's astounding. That's Real IQ of genius proportions.

You may want to know how idiot savants become geniuses. I have a theory that at least partially accounts for the very rare phenomenon. The answer is--hard work, endless practice. Idiot savants put more of their time and energy into one task than we do. Most of us spend a large proportion of our time in fragmented multi-tasks. Getting ready for work, washing clothes, preparing meals, driving. How much time in a day do we spend on the actual activity that could make us great? Probably minutes a day or less.

1. Decide what it is you want to be exceptional at. If you know you have natural aptitude in an area, that fact might help you make your decision. Why labor on something you don't love and that doesn't come easily, when you can spend your time doing the thing that you have a natural inclination or gift for? I was over 40 when I discovered public speaking. Although I can't say I had a natural gift for speaking in front of groups, I definitely had an inclination toward the activity. Public speaking will always be the best use of my time, the most enjoyable and exciting thing I can do.

2. Spend time daily imagining yourself successfully doing what you want to do. Day dream. Use odd moments fantasizing. See it. Feel it. Get so you expect it. Heroically ignore any contrary ideas that may pop into your head. Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. It's the preview of life's coming attractions.” Use this phrase as your rallying cry or motto.

3. Take action daily. Thoreau said, “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.” When we follow our dreams confidently we become Real Geniuses or as Wayne Dyer says in Real Magic: Creating Miracles in Everyday Life-Real Magicians. Spend more and more time every day taking action on the subject matter of your dreams. This is how every person on earth can improve his or her Real IQ and become great.

Note: Thanks to the miracle of the internet, you can see Leslie Lemke in action. Google search Leslie Lemke, then select the Wisconsin Medical Society site that offers several free video clips of Leslie's concerts.