How to Become More Intelligent Than You Are Now
Do you ever feel less intelligent around other people? Are you embarrassed when you don’t know the answer to a question? Everybody has those times when they just feel like they don’t know anything. Of course, you can’t know everything, but no matter how smart you are, you can start becoming more intelligent today by actively focusing on enhancing the skills that aid intelligence.
Part One of Four:
Improving Your Mind's AbilitiesEdit
Improve your memory. Much of what is considered intelligence is simply the ability to remember things well. Observing something or paying attention is not enough. The key is to retain that information. Associate things you want to memorize with things you already remember. Associating new information, observation or data with old memories would make it easier to memorize in comparison to creating new memories. Your technique of connecting and associating memories would be unique. Practice, practice and soon you will be developing new techniques to learn and retain new information faster. Only the first attempt is hardest.
Be more curious. How do some people get to know so much? Good memory skills are only part of the answer: you also have to be curious. If you’re satisfied going through life with little or no understanding of things you’re unfamiliar with, you won’t learn much. Make a conscious effort to be more curious by reminding yourself that developing your curiosity will broaden your horizons and help to make you more intelligent.
Exercise your mind in different ways.Most of us are good at the things we excel in naturally or the activities we do everyday. Challenge yourself to learn a new skill or to think in a different way, however, and you’ll actually become more intelligent. Choose something you’d like to learn to do (play theaccordion, for example) or a subject you don’t do well in (maybe math) and focus on that thing. Initially, you may be uncomfortable and feel even less intelligent than you did before, but if you study or practice diligently, you’ll become more confident, and you’ll make new connections in your mind.
Meditate. If you could just regularly practice meditation then it alone will improve all other aspects and habits, mentioned in this or any other self improvement article, naturally. It is scientifically proven that meditation not only improves your concentration but also makes you feel happier and joyful [1] . For more benefits of meditation read the referenced article.Here's a simple but profound meditative practice: Just be aware of your breath. Like inhaling and exhaling cycles and gap between them, belly movement etc. Read How to Meditate for more depth.
Part Two of Four:
Smarter LearningEdit
Study more effectively. If you find yourself at a loss when your teacher, lecturer or tutor puts you on the spot, or if you perform poorly on exams, you may not be studying enough. Even if you study a lot, improving the way in which you approach the studying process can make a big difference. Some help can be found in these articles:
Do your homework if you're in school and your post-lecture revision at college. The homework is there for practice, the revision is to help you to digest what you've just learned. When you do it, you'll become more confident in that subject.Mostly, homework time is not the same as study time, so you can't count homework as studying. Studying involves deeper reflection and breakthrough understandings that stick in your memory.Avoid the temptation to procrastinate, finish your homework at the last minute, or copy someone's paper to hand in. That isn't learning––it's making do and forgetting straight afterward; this is hardly useful when you're out in the work world and need to remember and use your knowledge.Don't learn simply to learn, it will not work. Find a way to be interested in it, make it fun and you will learn faster, and remember more.
Read a lot. Just about everything that humans know can be found in print, whether in books and magazines or on the internet. Become a voracious reader, and you’ll expose yourself to more ideas and information. If you’re a slow reader, consider learning speed reading. Consider jotting down notes, and perhaps looking up a word or two in the dictionary .If you are a slow reader, you may simply need to accept this rather than trying to read faster and lose your sense of comprehension. Set aside uninterrupted time for reading, and ask that nobody disturb you. Choose quality of reading over quantity and set yourself both mini-goals and mini-rewards for completing blocks of reading.
Visit the library frequently and pick up anything which looks interesting to you.The subject matter is not quite as important as is the act of reading. Always have something good to read at hand.
Research. Curiosity without initiative is like having a car that’s out of gas—it won’t take you anywhere. Fortunately, when it comes to knowledge you’re never far from success. If you read a word that you don’t know, look it up in the dictionary. If you wonder how airplanes fly, read a book about it. If you want to know more about politics, pick up a newspaper. Go online and explore the world in depth.
Learn how to look things up. If you know how to use references, from an internet search engine to an encyclopedia, you’ll be able to find the information you want more quickly and effectively. Effective researching skills will nourish your curiosity because you’ll become more confident in your ability to access knowledge. If your research skills leave something to be desired, take a class or workshop on how to research, ask a librarian or teacher, or simply practice researching. Or, just press the "help" tabs on the internet and computer programs and read.
Figure things out on your own. There’s a lot more to intelligence than “book smarts". We can all learn to perform everyday tasks at work, home, and school better and more intelligently. If you don’t know how to do something, resist the urge to ask somebody else to do it for you or show you how. In most cases, you’ll be able to figure it out on your own, either by trial-and-error or by researching. While it usually takes longer to figure something out than it does to ask about it, you’ll learn more about the overall process, and you’ll remember it better. Most importantly, you’ll exercise your problem-solving skills instead of your “do as you’re told” skills.
Part Three of Four:
Linking with Others to Improve Your IntelligenceEdit
Ask for help. It’s great to figure things out on your own, but sometimes you don’t have enough time to do so, despite your best efforts. Don’t give up; ask somebody to show you how. Make sure to pay close attention and ask any questions that you have, so that you’ll never have to ask the same thing again.Most people love to be asked questions about something they're really good at. It's a way of showing that you value their opinion and knowledge and it gives them an opportunity to pass on some of that knowledge. If someone reacts badly to a request for help, it can often mean that they don't feel sure about their own knowledge or they're pressured for time; in both cases, this is not a reflection on you and you can either ask another time or realize that the person feels a little insecure and try to reassure this person that you value his or her advice a great deal.
Teach others. In order to teach something to somebody else, you’ve got to know it pretty well. When you try to explain an idea or skill to somebody else, you’ll not only remember it better yourself, you’ll also find that the other person’s questions will help you find out how well you really know what you’re talking about. Don't let not knowing a topic inside out hold you back from teaching though; you will learn as you go and there is no shame in saying, "Wow, I don't know the answer to that, let's both go and find out!" Putting aside defensiveness is a sign of maturity and maturity adds to your emotional intelligence.Volunteer to pass on what you know. Knowledge is something to be shared, to build a better world. Don't hide your star under a rock; share your experiences, skills, talents and knowledge with other people so that they too can grow in confidence and ability.
Part Four of Four:
Fun Ways to Increase IntelligenceEdit
Learn a new word each day. Go through the dictionary and find a word that you don't know yet, then practice using it throughout the day. When you come across a new word when doing #3, look it up.
Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Funlola Odunlami (middle) and other top government officials during the launch on Tuesday.
