To be smart is great, but it doesn’t happen overnight. If you want to become smarter, you have to create habits that will groom your intelligence and nourish your mind.
Some people are born smart, but most smart people do daily rituals to maintain their smartness. Whether they do it in leadership, business, the arts, or a different field, they push and challenge themselves daily.
Read more to be smart
Reading can introduce you to new topics that stimulate your neural pathways and improve brain health. Whether you grab a book from your shelf, download a reading app on your phone, or stop by the library, the important thing is to take the time to actually read.
For an added bonus, consider trying non-fiction when selecting your next book. You’ll both learn new information and grow your vocabulary.
Surround yourself with like-minded people
Spending time with smart people isn’t going to magically make you smarter. However, it will help you make connections with people who will inspire and motivate you to continue learning. Exposing yourself to new opinions and perspectives will give you more to think about. This is one ideal method for how to become smarter faster.
Discover what motivates you
Find a topic that keeps you interested and dive in. It’s easier to stay engaged with a topic you find stimulating. Find a format that stimulates your mind, too, whether it’s a podcast or a newspaper. Feed your mind well with things it will enjoy.
Think of new ways to do old things
To be innovative means making creativity more important than the fear of being wrong. Even in the things you do every day, you can be inventive and experimental. When you take risks, make mistakes, and have fun instead of slogging through the same routine. You’ll have a daily reminder that imagination and creativity can change the world.
Focus on building a deeper understanding
Becoming smarter takes more than just absorbing information — true wisdom comes from deeply understanding a subject. The most successful people consistently outpace everyone else because they’re able to quickly learn new skills, adapt to changes and work both collaboratively and independently.
They use a deep and meaningful knowledge of their world and a flexible mindset to understand problems and quickly come up with solutions. Their deep knowledge base gives them the foundation they need to perform.
Work to steadily build a deep and meaningful knowledge base on a few key topics and issues. Be honest with yourself about areas you are weak in and seek to reinforce your understanding of important subjects until you have a rock-solid foundation that you can build on. Knowledge is cumulative, so start with the basics. You need to have a firm grasp of how something works before you can fix it. It’s good to have a breadth of knowledge, but it’s also important to take “deep dives” to truly understand difficult and complex issues.
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