Clever and cunning? How to become smarter

Becoming smarter, is it possible? It traditionally accepts that each of us is born with an intelligence quotient, the famous IQ. However, it is possible to expand one’s level of intelligence through different activities throughout our life. No matter your background or age, the more you try to learn, the more your brain will become trained and efficient.

Research has shown that neurons continue to increase in size and number throughout our lives in response to intellectual stimuli. Of course, the inverse is also the case: if we stop trying to learn new things, our brains will stop developing. It has even shown that the longer a person continues to use their neurons to learn new things later in life, the less likely they are to get Alzheimer’s disease.

It is therefore entirely possible to become smarter throughout one’s life. This article will provide you with ways to increase your intelligence and maintain the health of your neurons by showing you how to improve your abilities to learn, reason, and understand:

Ways to get smarter

1. Read Regularly

Do you realize that you can learn in a matter of hours what has taken someone decades to learn through reading? Reading not only keeps you informed but at the same time increases your ability to memorize, understand and synthesize this information. Reading also allows you to improve your vocabulary and your ability to concentrate. In other words, reading makes you smarter.

We live in a generation where we have almost unlimited access to information: thousands of people have achieved “success” and are selling a book that explains how they got there for a few dollars. It would be a disgrace to deprive ourselves of this kind of reading.

However, I would advise against going to extremes like reading several books a week. Indeed, it would then be difficult for you to have the time to synthesize the information you subject to, and the effectiveness of your reading would reduce. Try to read books on topics that will be useful in your everyday life, such as health, physical activity, finance, social relations.

2. Choose a hobby that helps you develop your creativity

Paint watercolors, paintings under glass, tags or get started in pottery, experiment with calligraphy, or learn a new language (human or computer). Sign up for an improved drama class or start writing your blog. Even knowing about cooking or interior design will help you increase your creativity.

Increasing your creativity will force you to stimulate your brain in different ways. New neural connections will therefore be created, which will increase your intelligence.

3. Teach others what you know

Explaining what we know to others forces us to express our thoughts in a clear and structured way. Teaching will help us improve our ability to reason and order our thoughts, which is an essential aspect of intelligence.

You had certainly had the opportunity to teach, if only to help your children with their homework, or when you were studying together during your studies. You certainly had a chance to notice how much more specific things seemed to you once you explained them to someone else. Indeed, it prompted you to question what you knew to deal with the objections and oppositions that were sure to arise.

Teaching is often more beneficial to the teacher than to the student: so do not deprive yourself of this opportunity to increase your intelligence.

4. Try new things every day

These could be talking to a new person, trying a new sport, being interested in a new topic. If you use the same road to go to work or college every day, try taking a new one. If you do similar physical activity every day or eat the same food, switch it up.

The only good reasons to repeat an action every day are trying to create a new habit or trying to learn or master a new skill. Apart from that, repeating the same activity every day will only have the effect of boring you to death and decreasing your motivation. And above all, it will not stimulate your intellect much since it is something that you already know how to do and that you repeat automatically.

On the other hand, if you try to do something new regularly, it will allow you to become more innovative while enjoying life.

5. Become an expert in a field

As I said earlier, one of the only valid reasons to repeat an action daily is to seek to master a field or a skill.

Indeed, expertise is a sign of intelligence. It is not for nothing that companies are willing to spend a fortune to hire an expert in a field. Expertise can only obtain by focusing on a subject until you fully understand it.

The advantage is that if you can fully understand a subject, it will help you fully understand other topics. For example, if you can fully master internet marketing, you will significantly increase your marketing understanding in general.

I would add that if you can acquire a comprehensive mastery in a field, you will improve your ability and learning methods simultaneously. You will also increase your confidence in yourself and your ability to succeed. If you decide to become an expert in a different field, you shouldn’t have a problem with that.

By practicing these principles regularly and being intellectually curious, you should become smarter throughout your life.