4 Lesson’s From Elementary School You Need To Unlearn

You’re way smarter than you think you are. In grade school if you weren’t the top of your class you generally felt inferior when those subjects were brought up. Didn’t start reading early? Can’t write very well? School is going to be difficult, does that mean you’re not as smart? Not a chance! You may just have to work harder in certain areas to develop those skills.

I loathed reading in high school, avoided reading like the plague in University, I always thought I was a slow reader and couldn’t pay attention long enough to understand what I was reading. Reading was the devil. The only way I forced myself to read in University was while riding a bike at the gym and listening the Deadmau5 (because there’s no lyrics). I finally could concentrate when my legs and ears were working.

Today I read almost every day, I fell in love with my first business book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, I haven’t put books down ever since.

Intelligence isn’t fixed, you can improve your intelligence. In the ground breaking study in 1968 (by Rosenthal and Jacobsen) we learned that if the teacher thinks the students is talented (or the opposite) the student will perform based on that teachers expectations. That means if you assume you’re smart and have a good work ethic the world is your oyster! Similar to the Pygmalion Effect in business and in life, your expectation of other people generally comes true. This is also true for peoples’ expectations of you. We live up to (or down to) what others think of us.

Over time you change the makeup of your brain. Study something you love, apply yourself for 10,000 hours and you will have fundamentally changed your brain. Become an expert in your field and see for yourself the difference it can make.

What you’re born with doesn’t mean you’re stuck with it for life. This is probably a good time to watch “Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are”.