What does it mean to be smart? How does wisdom or work ethic become part of the equation of success? I know a lot of very intelligent people and many of them are not spending their days doing what fulfills them. Whether you call it I.Q. or intellectual ability, intelligence is something much bigger than being able to process information. Even while I was in school I always believed that my success in life was never directly tied to my grades. I was a B student and somewhat inconsistent but I knew that would not hold me back.
What do you think makes up a person’s intelligence? Is it the ability to learn from our mistakes, because this would help to not repeat them? What about the ability to observe and learn from other people’s successes and mistakes? This ability to transpose other people’s experiences into your own life can speed up the learning process but we must not forget to have our own experiences to validate what we think we learned. Intelligence is not life by proxy. We have been taught that being smart is a key to success, but I disagree. If we are not living a fulfilled life with happiness and joy, then is it smart to live this way? No, it’s not. I’ve met plenty of people with high I.Q.s that are not successful and fulfilled.
Whether through traditional means like college or less traditional methods like school of hard knocks or street smarts, how did you learn what you learned in life?
Increasing your knowledge and skills will almost always put you in a stronger professional position. What can you do today to adopt and expand your current skill set? When I was going through my second break up, I chose to go back for my MBA. My job had a tuition reimbursement program and it seemed like I was leaving money on the table if I didn’t put it to use. It was also a great distraction from the chaos in my personal life. What can you do? What can you do this year to jump start your career and add to your list of skills?
This blog is part of a series from the book Discover Your Best Life by Mike Hintz. His personal, professional, and spiritual growth tools are also featured in Northlink Retreats. If this topic resonates with you consider reading the book or attending one of the upcoming retreats.