Never Doubt Your Intelligence!

Do you read for pleasure or just to impress someone?

We are all intelligent, in one area or another. Intelligence comes from knowledge, knowledge comes from acting on curiosity. When you are curious about, for instance, soccer - you read about it, watch it, and maybe play it yourself. You feed a curiosity by acting on it and that makes you knowledgeable about a certain subject area. If you want to be knowledgeable about a difficult subject area, you read about it, you take notes on it and you test yourself on it. One is not more intelligent than another person, but more knowledgeable in a certain subject area than another person because they studied it, or tested themselves in it, more. Sometimes there are "natural talents" like someone can sing better than others, but that's different. That's not intelligence, that's talent. Knowledge about a subject area is different from having a "natural talent" for it, but if the talent is something that you are capable of improving on, then having knowledge and practicing does help.  

Now, intelligence is recognized in two ways - confidence and results. If you are not confident about yourself or in what you say, you are perceived as less knowledgeable. But confidence is a two-way street. To be confident in what you are saying, you have to truly understand (study, be intelligent about) what you are trying to say. When you know exactly what you want to say, you are confident about it.You can be confident without intelligence behind it, but that's arrogance. It's fake and works counter-productively because people will see right through the lack of substance. But what about if you're shy? You don't want to speak up about it?

Shyness is a result of being self-conscious about yourself and thinking about other people's perceptions of you. Are you shy when you talk to your mom or a close friend? No, because you are not self-conscious and you know that they already approve of you. If you're shy, take the chance to speak up for yourself, not for others. Have in your head the idea that everyone likes you, and that idea will manifest into a positive self-confidence and self-esteem. It's like why you don't ask a person out. You're scared that they'll reject you, or you try to rationalize that you're "too good" for that person, before you even get to know them as a friend.

Secondly, intelligence is recognized in results. You don't speak up in class, but you do well in tests, or you graduate with your Honours B.Sc. with High Distinctions. Or even, just landing a great job. People will think you're more intelligent when you work as a doctor as opposed to a cashier (though that is not the case, you are more knowledgeable than a cashier in a certain subject area). Ultimately, confidence works together with knowledge to create the results. Confidence and results also both rely on ambition, you have to have a passion, drive for what you are trying to achieve and work hard to achieve it.

So, don't read a book or learn about something new just to impress someone else because you can't control what others think about you. You only can control how you think about yourself. Admire your strengths and if you want to improve in an area work hard on it. But do it for yourself. Do it because you honestly want to learn about it. And never doubt your intelligence!