Growing up in a family of smart people feels pretty awesome but can also be tiring and challenging: Bits of advice will be flowing into your brain day-in-day-out like water from glass to your mouth.
Just imagine if your father, brother, or relative was one of these people; Adragon De Mello, Johann Goethe, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, and many more. All these people are reported to have a very high IQ of at least more than 130. Among them are scholars, actually almost all of them, inventors, mathematicians, and much more. One would not be related to them in one way or the other and remain the same at least without any form of pressure. This pressure might be from within or without oneself. A good example is Adragon De Mello. His early success and ambition are said to be a result of pressure from his own father, Agustin Eastwood De Mello. Agustin believed that Adragon, his son, would win a Nobel Prize by age 16. Adragon graduated from the University of California with a degree in Computational Mathematics at the age of 11. He is said to have an IQ of about 400.
The question is, ” Does having a high IQ the only sure bet that one is going to be smart?” I believe no. Let us get to see some of the things that make people smart in their day-to-day activities.
Disclaimer: Being smart does not mean you are perfect.
1. Spend time with smart people.
During our high school days, there was one common song from most of our parents/guardians. The lyrics were slightly different but the message was the same: make ‘brighter’ students than you, your close friends. Personally, I never knew that it worked until I tried it myself. I was at least an average performing student in one of the science subjects and it was never comfortable to me since I believed that I was capable of doing better. I employed the principle of reading together with the “bright” students and trust me you, I outshined one of them during the final exam: they were two.
Henry J. Kaiser, an American industrialist who was recognized as the father of modern shipbuilding, once said, “I make progress by having people around me who are smarter than me and I am listening to them. And I assume that everyone is smarter about something than I am.”
So then everyone is important whether you are or not aware since we are all different as God created us. Never despise someone for you do not what God will speak to you through them.
We are the average of five people we spend the most time with. Whether we admit it or not, our subconscious is shaped by our surroundings. As long as you are open-minded, smart people will pull you up to their standards. This is actually a natural process. It is said, ‘show me your friends and I will tell you who you are,’ and of course, this is true.
2. Read books from great authors.
Reading may not necessarily alter your baseline abilities, but it can increase what facts you know, allow you to better identify patterns, increase your empathy, and so much more.
One of the reachest men in the world by the name Bill Gates once said, “This is one of the things I love about reading: Each book opens up new avenues of knowledge to explore.”
I think there is a way that reading alters our minds and puts us in a position to think and act as the author. Some people have mentors whom they have never met but by just reading their books, that is enough to influence their way of living.
Read a wide variety of non-fictional books to build your own mental library. When you graduate one constant statement that you will always hear being said by the Chancellor is the fact that you have been given the power to read: You don’t have to wait until you graduate, start as early as today. If you have graduated it is not yet late. Of course, you were given the power to read.
3. Challenge yourself.
Most of the time we wait for external circumstances to challenge us so that we can take action. However, it should be the other way round: the challenge should come from within us. Be the one who challenges yourself. Be your own challenger. That is how you will raise your very own bar, instead of depending on the benchmarks set by other people. Remember a force that hits an egg from outside destroys a life whilst that which comes from inside builds a life.
Don’t challenge yourself with the motive of impressing the world. Instead, impress yourself. Over time, you will find that challenging yourself is fulfilling. When challenging yourself do not announce to the world. Growth happens internally and improvement manifests externally. This practice makes your learning curve steep as opposed to nerdy bookworms as some people may refer you to. No matter how busy you are you can always start small and grow to higher heights.
“If you always keep on thinking about what you have always thought, you will always keep on doing what you have always done, and you will always keep on getting what you have always gotten. It is time to change!” – By anonymous.
4. Learn from past experiences.
The way you learn and evolve as a person emotionally and physically defines how smart you become. If you did something in the past that you felt you shouldn’t have done the grace of God is sufficient and if you run to Him he will indeed forgive you, and if a similar situation arises, you will, of course, try your best to restrict yourself from repeating the mistake and instead run from it.
Do not be tempted to lean on the negative side of your past story. Look at it as a school where you were you learn a lesson and keep going. There are better things ad days coming ahead of you. Do not get stuck in the past, keep moving. Yes, we all have our painful pasts but they should not stop us from our bright future. Stay positive always.
“It is easier said than done but it is better and makes more sense when done than just being said with no accompaniment of actions.” by Patrick Kazungu
Thanks for taking your precious time to read to the end. Blessings galore!
Do you have more insights that you would like to add to the above? Feel free to share by leaving a comment below.
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