5 Ways to Be Smart Enough to Achieve Success

In this eighth show of our 10-part series on lifelong learning, we tackle the question: How smart do you have to be to reach BIGG success?

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Latent intelligence is useless by definition.

Theoretical intelligence may help you frame an issue, but it doesn’t go far enough.

Applied intelligence drives results.

Let’s go to The Professor’s Whiteboard for: 5 ways to be smart enough to achieve success…

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1) You have to be smart enough to apply your intelligence.

This is a major stumbling block for a lot of people. It’s easy to get all excited about learning. Learning is one part of the process. However, if it never gets out of the classroom, so to speak, that time spent learning is wasted.

Keep in mind the final part of your learning is mastering the craft. And one of the ways you master your craft is not only doing it, but it’s also teaching others to do it.

2) You have to be smart enough to use your imagination

We love this quote from Einstein:

“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.”

Isn’t it interesting that the man who is generally credited with being the most intelligent person in history said that imagination is more important than knowledge!

Imagination is perhaps more important than ever before. It’s the fountain of our creativity, which is a critical skill in today’s business world.

There’s another great Einstein quote:

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

You have to move beyond old ways of thinking if you’re going to find the solutions you seek. You have to let your mind wander. You have to explore new possibilities. You have to come up with new ideas.

Now, some of them may sound crazy to other people. They may laugh at them. They may dismiss them outright. They may be right, but they may not. So…

3) You have to be smart enough to think for yourself.

Remember this – we’ve said it before and we’ll probably say it again because it is so crucial to reaching BIGG success:

The solution to the problem you face only has to work for you and it only has to work for you this one time.

BIGG success is life on your own terms. The terms – the words – we use are important when we’re trying to understand a subject.

We’ve said that it’s productive to look at your life as your enterprise with you as the entrepreneur in charge. One of the terms we hear used a lot in connection with entrepreneurship is innovation.

It’s kind of a sexy term, isn’t it? It definitely has a certain ring to it. It’s definitely a positive term. Some synonyms are pioneering, inventive, original, new, and novel.

But innovation doesn’t go far enough in describing the entrepreneurial spirit – the spirit we must all exhibit in order to reach BIGG success.

We like the term ingenuity. It builds upon innovation. Ingenuity is innovation in action.

4) You have to be smart enough to put innovation into action.

You can have the best imagination in the world, but if you never act upon it, you’re just a dreamer. When you put it into action, you become the entrepreneur.

There’s another layer to the term ingenuity. It implies resourcefulness. It alludes to survival.

5) You have to be smart enough to rise to the occasion.

The going will get tough. You do have to get going so you can go get your BIGG goals.

BIGG Takeaway

People say, “Knowledge is power.” But as you’ve heard in our discussion, knowledge is useless without action. Wise action leads to BIGG success!

George “The Professor” & Mary-Lynn
Co-Founders, BIGG Success

Direct link to The BIGG Success Show audio file | podcast:
https://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/01115-101822.mp3

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