It’s obvious that as intelligent as we may be, we would all like to be that bit smarter. As clever as we may think we are, there is always someone that bit brighter. Just by opening their mouths, they make us feel about 20 IQ points dafter. It’s one thing sitting in front of a quiz show and knowing all the answers. But if you switch over to University Challenge or Mastermind, it can take about ninety seconds to feel like a dunce.
It helps to sit for a minute and remind yourself that you’re never going to know everything. Of course you’re going to feel a little bit clueless watching a particle physicist talking about quarks. They’ve devoted years, even decades, to studying them. You can’t do that with everything. But if you’re concerned with gaps in your knowledge, there are ways to make up these deficiencies. Just be prepared to feel dimmer before you feel brighter.
Watch Or Read The News Every Day
Yes, it can be depressing. It seems that more and more these days, things turn up on the news that make you feel sad or angry. But those feelings of uncomprehending shock can go one of two ways. You can wonder what’s wrong with people and the world, or you can learn. The more you know about situations, the easier it is to process bad news in general. And a wider understanding of the world can be useful in everyday life, too.
Sleep On It
There is a reason sleep deprivation is used as a means of torture. If you want to get information out of people, get them to a position where they feel so fried that they can’t think straight. Even if you’ve just had a sleepless night, you can easily find yourself forgetting the PIN for your debit card. You get slower, and that’s cumulative.
Get to bed at the same time each night, turn out all lights an hour before and make sure you’re comfortable in there. You need to be at a medium temperature to ensure your sleep is of a high quality as well as quantity. The bed shouldn’t be too soft or too hard. Investing in a Tempur mattress or similar is worthwhile if you’re not sleeping well. A good night’s sleep gives you a clearer head and better decision-making abilities.
Lose Yourself In A Subject
How often do you sit watching something on TV, or hear people talking about an issue, and think “That’s interesting. I’d like to know more”? For a lot of us, it happens almost every day. Take that thought a little further. For virtually any subject you can name, there is a wealth of information to be found. And with the internet at your fingertips, you can find it fast. If you’ve got a holiday planned, learn about the destination or learn its language.
It doesn’t matter what it is – it could be French pop music or local politics. The key is that as you learn more, you get a better command of the subject and can talk about it with authority. You’ll be less prone to doubting your intelligence. This allows you to approach any subject with a mind that is ready to take things in.