Hey everyone, and welcome to Pobrelo. Today, we will learn about twelve things smart people never do. Now, let’s begin. What separates the most intelligent and successful people from everyone else? Often, we think about smart people as gifted and talented, people who innately possess powers greater than everyone else in the world.
We look at the things they do, the inventions they create, and the success they achieve, and we wonder what they have that we don’t. But the difference between you and them isn’t some gift or talent. It’s not their unique or unparalleled abilities that help the smartest and most successful people stand out from the crowd.
Instead, it’s the little things that they do every single day. Think about your life like a house. If you look at a huge mansion, you’d obviously marvel at its size and grandeur, but that mansion was constructed one piece at a time, created with hammers and nails, just like any other structure.
The only difference between this mansion and a regular old house is the quantity and quality of the materials used. In other words, if you want to follow in the footsteps of the smartest people, you don’t necessarily need a high IQ or an advanced degree. What you need to do is make smarter, better, and more patient decisions that help you grow and improve as a person.
You may not build your house as fast as other people, but if you practice the right habits and maintain the right mindset, you can find the same level of fulfillment and success in your life. However, there is something you need to do first. Before you can develop smarter habits, you need to get rid of your bad habits and vices. Just like building a house, you first need to demolish your old house to make room for a new one.
The question is… which things should you tear down, and which things are worth keeping? In this article, we’re going to analyze the behavior of smart and successful people to figure out how to stimulate real change in your life. Each thing on this list represents a mistake or a toxic mindset that smart people have learned to overcome. Whether or not you have a genius IQ, you are capable of making the same smart decisions by avoiding these twelve things that intelligent people never, ever do.
1. Fabricated Talents
A smart person never overestimates their abilities. They don’t lie about what they can do, what they know, or how many skills they’ve mastered. When you ask a smart person about their talents, you’ll always receive an honest answer. In fact, it’s far more common for smart people to talk down their abilities instead of talking them up. They know better than anyone how much they still have to learn. To the most intelligent people, talent means nothing if you don’t know what to do with it.
2. The Big Picture
Smart people are exceptionally detail-oriented. They never let anything slip through their fingers and always go the extra mile to cover their bases. Why? Because they have something that most people don’t: patience. In everything they do, the smartest individuals have trained themselves to slow down and pay close attention to things other people might miss. For this reason, their work is almost always of the highest quality. All because they took their time and made sure every detail was in its place.
3. Closing Your Mind
You have noticed that smart people like to argue, but there’s one common mistake they never make. Many people argue only to prove themselves right, regardless of the subject on the table. They don’t care whom they offend or how their opinions affect others. They just want to win. Smart people like to win as much if not more than anybody else, but they’ll never cling to a bad idea just to prove themselves right. Intelligent people rarely shut their ears or close their minds to other people’s perspectives. Yes, winning an argument feels great, but the smartest people are more interested in challenging their opinions and exploring new ideas.
4. Old Ways, New Problems
What do you do when you encounter an especially difficult challenge? If you fail, do you try again, or do you walk away? The smartest people refuse to give up on anything, no matter how hard it gets. This is true of their goals, their careers, and even their relationships. They never wave their white flag unless they have exhausted all possible options. Of course, this can be a good trait and a bad trait. There are some things in life that are not worth pursuing, but most of the time, trying again is the best thing you can do. Instead of walking away, think of how you could have done things differently. Searching for new ways to solve old problems, because that’s how the smartest people end up changing the world.
5. Dangerous Territory
Smart people don’t necessarily plan everything they do, but they rarely ever act without thinking. You’ll never catch them doing something reckless or irresponsible. It’s simply not in their nature. Why? Because smart people have a hard time ignoring the potential consequences of their actions. They naturally think through every decision they make, which often steers them in a positive and responsible direction. That doesn’t mean smart people can’t be spontaneous and impulsive. They just don’t allow their impulses to lead them into dangerous territory.
6. Shallow Motivations
Smart people may receive attention for their intelligence, but they never demand attention from anyone. While it feels good for anyone to receive compliments and praise, these are not the things that motivate the smartest people to improve and excel. Instead, smart people pursue a different kind of reward — a more powerful, internal reward, which comes from inside of themselves. They don’t pursue complex subjects or long-term success to earn people’s attention. They do it to fulfill themselves. At the end of the day, what matters most isn’t what people think of you, but what you think of yourself.
7. Broken Promises
The smartest people keep their promises and honor their commitments because they recognize the value of trust and loyalty. Not only is trust fundamental to any relationship but it’s also important for your personal and intellectual growth. Establishing trusting relationships with people allows you to learn and improve as a person. It teaches you to stand by your word, follow through on your actions, and surpass expectations. It’s easy to look back at a broken promise and think, “how bad could it be?” But that’s rarely the point. It’s not about the promises you break today, but the trust you’ve lost, from others… and from yourself.
8. Total Dependence
No matter how smart you are, you can’t do everything on your own, but that doesn’t mean you should heavily rely on others. Yes, there are skilled people out there who may compensate for your weaknesses. However, you still need to bring your strengths to the table. For this reason, the smartest people do not rely too heavily on other people. They still ask for help and seek advice when they need it. But just because people can help you, doesn’t mean you should depend on them for everything. Try something on your own first. Give it your best shot, and then turn to other people for help. Not only will you learn more in the process, but you’ll learn new skills and steadily expand your abilities.
9. Neglected Innovations
Not every good idea sounds like a good idea to everyone who hears it. You may think of something that you think is brilliant, but your friend or family member might tell you otherwise. Does that mean you should give up and move on? Truly intelligent people don’t allow others to stop them from pursuing their best ideas. If you believe wholeheartedly in something, you should try to make that something a reality, whether the world is ready for it or not. There’s no guarantee your idea will yield fruit, but you’ll never know until you try.
10. Uncertain Commitments
Many of us have a hard time saying no. When someone asks for a favor, we instinctively say yes, even if we’re busy, stressed, or simply uninterested. The smartest people are much stingier with their time and resources. They don’t say yes to anything unless they’re actually interested or excited about the opportunity. If not, they don’t think twice about saying no. Why? Because the smartest people know the value of their time, and so should you.
11. Battling the Past
In life, you’ll fight many battles; some you’ll win, and some of which you’ll lose. But when each battle is over, no matter how it ended, there will come a time when you need to move on; yet most people struggle to lower their fists and let go. Smart people know it isn’t practical or healthy to continue fighting old fights, long after they have ended. Instead, they focus on new opportunities and turn their attention to future endeavors. In other words, they leave the past in the past. So, stop fighting old battles and concentrate on the opportunities to come.
12. The Value of Failure
Last but not least, intelligent people never ignore their mistakes. When something goes wrong in their lives, they don’t pass the blame or wallow in self-pity. Instead, they examine what went wrong and try to learn from their past mistakes. They see the value in messing up and falling down because every failure gets you one step closer to success. If you learn anything from the smartest people, let it be this: never ignore your mistakes and failures. Every failure is an opportunity to learn and grow, so pay attention to their value, make changes to your behavior, and try, try again.
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