How To Become Smarter Than You Already Are!
Hello Teens,
I am aware that most
of us, at some point in our lives must have been intimidated by hat smart guy n
class, that smart girl in class. Well I’ve got news for you; you could just be
the smart one. If you’re reading this and you’ve already been ‘certified’
smart, then good for you, you are about to get even smarter; if you’re reading
this and you’re yet to be inaugurated into the league of the smart ones, the
geniuses, congratulations your inauguration is a few paragraphs away.
As you read this
article, open your mind and embrace, understand and apply ALL that you read
here. Do not read this with a doubtful mind, because anything is possible. Now
let’s get down to business—making you Mr/Ms Smarty Pants!
STEP #1—Improve you memory
Most of what is
considered intelligence today is the ability to remember previous learnt
information. Play memory games, try cramming an entire page of a boring novel
and reciting it offhand. Do stuff that would exercise your memory. Next time
you want to remember stuff, learn to use mnemonics or any other technique that
would help you remember it.
STEP #2—Develop a curious mind
Most of the inventions
we have today came as a result of the curiousity of someone’s mind. When we
seek to understand, when we seek to know when we are eager to find out how
stuff works, when we are eager to find out how to create stuff, we can then be
said to be one step closer to becoming smarter. Learn to never accept things
the way they are on the surface. Learn to always seek to find out more.
Curiousity is the basis of today’s scientific world. Become more curious, and
become even smarter.
STEP #3—Meditate
By this, I’m not
entirely talking about the Buddhist form of spiritual meditation, no. However,
it has a few similarities. In this form of meditation, at least once a day,
stay away from all forms of technology, sit in the open, on the grass, or
simply in your room; clear your thoughts, and just stare into thin air. You
would need a lot of quiet, focused breathing exercises to attain a mental calm.
A state of mental calmness boosts your memory, function and attention span. So
knowing that this is what the simple act of meditation does for you, why not do
it?
STEP #4—Try out new stuff
Say you were not good
at Math, just try it out sometime. Try out solving that complex problem n
Calculus. You may seem to be torturing yourself, but believe me you are
creating more brain passages that would help you understand that stuff. Simply,
flex your mind, do things you’ve never done before, challenge your brain to do
things you couldn’t do and when you find yourself doing those things, you’ve
just started getting smarter.
STEP #5—Study more effectively
As we know, studying
requires a lot of reflection and breakthrough understanding that should stick
to your memory. Create more time for studying and less for that pointless chit
chat. Do your homework as quickly as possible also. Doing your homework helps
you to reflect on what has been taught in class and to apply that knowledge to
solve a given problem. You may want to give into the temptation of delaying it,
or submitting last minute, or copying from a friend. But, my friend, that only
reduces your creativity. Think out stuff, tackle that homework by yourself, be
the boss of yourself. Effective studying comprises all these factors, make the
most of it.
STEP #6—Read like your life depends on it
Although I know that
there are some smart people who do not need to read, #GiftedKids, most of us
need to. Learn to pick up anything and read. Read the nutritional value of that
juice pack, read through the business sections—which for most people, is the
most boring part—of newspapers, read that 500-page novel, read read read. You
can never fully understand the benefits of reading. Reading a lot would expose
you to a pool of diverse and new ideas. If you are a fast reader, kudos! If you
are a slow reader, try improving on your reading speed, by this I don’t mean
just speedreading, no. Learn how to read fast and understand at that same
speed!
STEP #7—Learn to figure stuff out on your own
Definitely, there’s
always this impulse to ask people for help whenever you get stuck with
something. I’m not saying that this is bad, though. Just next time, try to figure
it out on your own, only ask for help after you’ve tried several methods for a
considerably long time yet being unable to come to the knowledge of that thing
at hand. This trial and error method would help you to understand that thing better
and even be able to remember it better. Figuring things out on you own would
help to improve your problem-solving skills and not you ‘do-as-you-are-told-skills’.
STEP #8—Teach others
We all know that when
we teach people stuff, that thing sticks in our memory. So if you know this,
why not teach someone today. Teaching someone helps to bring the knowledge of
what you’re teaching them come closer to your fingertips. When you teach
someone, you end up finding out stuff that you didn’t know about that subject,
which should prompt you to go back and study that subject; when you do this,
you’ll find yourself having a clearer understanding of that subject
STEP #9—Surround yourself with smart people.
It is a fact that we
are not much different from those we surround ourselves with. That’s why it is
said: “Show me your friends, and I’ll tell you who you are.” Having smart
people around you would inspire you to become like them, to become as smart as
they are. The only thing that may hamper this is if you begin to feel inferior.
Do not feel inferior when you are around smart people, rather feel privileged and
open your mind to learn from them. The trick I use everyday is to never leave a
smart person, or a conversation with a smart person without learning a thing or
two from him/her.
STEP #10—Learn music
I know that this may
come as a surprise to some of you. Music helps your mental wave and improves
your cognitive abilities. When I say “learn music”, I’m not saying that you
should become the next Mariah Carey, or the next Lionel Richie, no! Simply lean
how to play at least one music instrument. Learning how to play a guitar a violin,
a piano, a harp, a saxophone, the drums, or any musical instrument at all can
help you to relax your brain and allow for higher mental processing.
MORE TIPS
• Distractions exist for a reason––humans like
being distracted. It's not the fault of the distraction, it's the fault of the
brain, which loves seeking out the new and the exciting. Rather than banning
yourself from all distractions all of the time, make room for them on occasion,
as rewards for staying focused the rest of the time.
• You can't know everything. Being
really good at some things is better than being over-stretched in many things.
Concentrate on your strengths and making the most of these.
• Some psychologists now say there
are multiple types of intelligence, such as interpersonal intelligence (how to
interact and get along with people) and bodily intelligence (coordination, athleticism).
Nurture these aspects of yourself; even if they don’t make you “smarter"
in the traditional sense of IQ, they can help you lead a happier, more
well-rounded life.
• Classical music can be helpful for
embedding new knowledge and helping you to study. There's no harm in at least
trying it!
• Use your initiative. Scary maybe
but incredibly useful for the rest of your life. Read and study beyond what is
expected, learn laterally and think broadly. Look for gaps and things that
could be done better and work out ways for fixing, changing, overriding the
status quo. From entrepreneurs and inventors to parenting and workplace
relations, using your initiative is a way of breaking free from ruts, solving
hairy problems and making your world a better place to be in.
• TV can be useful for learning
provided you choose wisely and keep the watching to a minimum. Select
educational programs, documentaries and well informed news pieces. Keep all TV
viewing to only a few hours weekly. Don't fall into the habit of watching
because you're tired; that's when you need to sleep or do something more
energized.
• Get enough sleep. Some researchers
say, while you sleep, your brain makes new connections. For example if you
don't understand how to perform a math equation completely and you 'sleep on
it', there is a chance that your brain will have figured it out while you
slept.
• Eat breakfast when you're young.
It's a very important meal as it provides the brain fuel needed to kick your
thinking cogs into gear. As you age, the amount and timing of breakfast may
vary but still be sure to have something to start your day with some energy
input.
• Be active. Movement is a key part
of being a human being. Sitting on your backside all day isn't conducive to
leading a fully engaged human experience. Get out and about several times a
day, and fit the computer work and play around the rest of your life, not the
other way around. A healthy body results in a healthy mind.
• Some subjects or fields are
considered "smarter" than others. This is unfortunate because all
fields of knowledge are vital and it is in the bringing together of many
different perspectives that the wicked problems (those really big problems that
seem unsolvable, like climate change or global recessions), that humankind
comes up with amazing solutions. Find your interest and niche and pursue it to
its zenith; it is by knowing and doing something really well that you can
contribute your part to making this world a much better place.
• Learning new things is confronting
but learn to embrace the initial fear and do it anyway. Learning new things
boosts intelligence and keeps you alert, invigorated and curious. Persevere to
push past the initial reluctance, and then you'll wonder why you didn't start
the new thing sooner!
• Consider tutoring. Learning
one-to-one can really boost your knowledge and skills in ways you can't get
from simply reading or watching videos.
• Don't ever dwell on negative
feelings of being mentally inferior to others. Let that emotion encourage you to
reach and even surpass your full potential. Anger is a secondary emotion,
meaning it's caused by another emotion. So find that deep emotion down in you
and use it as fuel for your motivation. It's not always easy to sort out
emotions but give it your best to understand the viewpoint and position of
others so you can develop and open your mind to the people and opportunities
around you.
• Exercise your brain and body
regularly by doing the above given activities.
[Source: WikiHow]
So there you have it.
Congratulations for making it to the end of this extremely long post. I believe
that if you apply these, you will get smarter by over tenfold. Share this piece
with friends and those you care about. It may just be of help to them.
I have a confession to
make. I kept the last piece of the puzzle for those who made it till the end. I
use this online program, Lumosity, to train my memory, attention span, focus,
and so on. Try it out. At first, you’ll get a one-month free trial, after that
you’ll have to pay. I must tell you that since I started using Lumosity, I have
been getting smarter and smarter. I use the games there to improve on my IQ; I
advise you do the same. Visit www.lumosity.com
to get started.
I hope you had a nice read.
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