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14 Signs of High Intelligence. Do you show these?
Home » The human condition » 14 Signs of High Intelligence. Do you show these?
Without taking an Intelligence Quotient test, what traits, thoughts patterns, or behaviors would a high IQ person show?
When we observe or interact with people, we don’t typically know their IQ scores. We observe their behavior, learn their history, and judge what they say or do. We look for observable signs of intelligence that seem practical, not theoretical.
What you’ll find here
- What is IQ or intelligence?
- Positive signs of high intelligence
- 1. Good memory and thinking ability
- 2. Good attitude and hard-working nature
- 3. General and Tacit Knowledge
- 4. Good language proficiency and reasoning skills
- 5. Reliable decision-making
- 6. Trusted by others
- 7. High Creativity
- 8. High Achievements
- 9. Problem-solving
- 10. Intuition
- 1. Prone to mental illnesses
- 2. Anxiety-induced performance issues
- 3. Difficulty having romantic success
- 4. Difficulty controlling impulses
- Intelligence is only partly genetic
- Intelligence is trainable
What is IQ or intelligence?
Psychologists have studied intelligence for a long time and have come up with a number of tests to measure a general mental capacity to solve problems, adapt to life, and progress in life. They called that mental capacity general intelligence. These tests give a score that compares your mental capacity to others on domains like reasoning, memory, verbal ability, performance, attention, problem-solving, and pattern recognition, with a purposefully defined average of 100. This score is called the Intelligence Quotient (IQ). Typically, 70% of all people will have an IQ between 80-120. About 95% of all people will have an IQ between 70-130. High IQ people usually score above 130 IQ points, depending on which test is used. The top 1% of intelligent people in the world, according to these tests, have an IQ of over 145.
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IQ tests gained popularity to figure out who has low intelligence because it is clinically important. Especially for mental health and life-long adjustment. Intelligence testing then became about screening people for their future performance.
And now, it appears like a low-key humble brag on social media.Intelligence exists on many levels. It can be the ability to reason, think, and solve problems on-demand (fluid intelligence). It can be the ability to use previously learned skills, knowledge, and methods (crystallized intelligence). And, it can be domain-based such as music, art, mathematics, language, sports, etc. Or it could be a general off-shoot of cognitive abilities (mental processes).
There are many other types of intelligence, like emotional intelligence and social intelligence. They, too, are signs of overall general intelligence.
When we judge someone as intelligent, we don’t usually judge their IQ test score. We look at a practical combination of many types of intelligence like Cognitive capacity, Emotional intelligence, Specific expertise, etc.
Positive signs of high intelligence
I’ve explained the research cited above in the next section.
1. Good memory and thinking ability
There are many types of memory, and we typically observe a person’s working memory, access and flexibility of remembering things, and accuracy & reliability of declarative memory. Working memory is the short-term temporary memory used to hold and manipulate information in the mind, like calculating tips and remembering directions & OTPs. Access and flexibility of remembering things are all about how easily a person can think flexibly and access previously learned information. Declarative memory describes our ability to remember experiences, facts, and trivia. Remembering that information usually creates an impression that one is smart and well-learned. These 3 types of memories help people think in a useful, problem-solving, or innovative way – a sign of both crystallized intelligence (knowledge) and fluid intelligence (active thinking).
2. Good attitude and hard-working nature
People tend to believe that a significant portion of intelligence comes from hard work and a good attitude toward many things like learning, relationships, social life, criticism, feedback, etc. Essentially, both emotional intelligence characteristics like working hard and having a good attitude help people grow. Hard work (consistency & growing through failure) is a non-optional way to achieve expertise, regardless of how genetically lucky one is.
3. General and Tacit Knowledge
Outside theory, intelligence is a practical concern in job performance, academic success, self-management, social growth, etc. These dimensions of life require general knowledge and tacit knowledge, which is the ability to understand things that are not always said out loud. Cultural sensitivity, flirting, conversational dynamics, etc. depend on tacit knowledge that we acquire through body language, actions, trial & error, life experience, observation, and some deductive reasoning. For example – When is it right to pick a debate? When is a bad time to ask someone out on a date? Tacit knowledge is heavily dependent on the context and what that context tells us.
4. Good language proficiency and reasoning skills
Intelligence tests usually measure verbal ability, reasoning ability, and problem-solving ability. However, many tests try to eliminate the influence of language by testing reasoning & problem-solving without the use of language – by asking people to predict patterns. Regardless of how intelligence is measured, language plays a role in how we think and communicate. At least superficially, being articulate and well-spoken often indicates a person has learned the art of communication. This includes a large vocabulary and methods of explaining their thoughts. That demonstrates many types of intelligence.
5. Reliable decision-making
A hallmark of an expert is the ability to make decisions that prove effective most of the time. This reliability requires experience, knowledge, and 2 levels of analysis: Global & local. A global analysis is looking at the big picture, and local analysis is understanding the details. Reliability also comes from understanding the nuanced consequences of past decisions and anticipating future outcomes correctly. An intelligent expert can accurately estimate how things could turn out in the future or predict realistic possibilities with confidence. With that, the expert can then evaluate decisions. One could say that an expert develops superior intuition, and research does suggest that people with a high cognitive capacity have even better intuition.
6. Trusted by others
Because of traits like reliable decision-making, knowledge, memory, and problem-solving skills, people tend to trust them and look for their guidance. So a trusted person is likely to have earned that trust by demonstrating some form of intelligence.
7. High Creativity
All intelligent people may not be creative, but creative people are necessarily intelligent, according to research. Creativity & intelligence (often mistaken for logical ability) are not 2 different mental abilities. Creativity depends on baseline intelligence because any form of creative work requires at least problem-solving, broad and narrow thinking, attention to detail, specialized skills and knowledge, and an active imagination. All of these are fundamental cognitive abilities. For the sake of this point, creativity is not the same as doing some form of art. Creativity is the ability to construct something novel, unique, or innovative that does not seem immediately obvious. Engaging in any form of art often helps us get creative but doing any art is not technically creativity.
8. High Achievements
All intelligent people may not have high achievements but people who have high achievements have probably earned them with their intelligence. At least according to traditional psychology research, intelligence “predicts” future achievement. A lot of the IQ fuss comes through this. People tend to believe success comes from good habits, perfect timing, and smart decisions – practical intelligence. But, we do grossly underestimate just how important luck and randomness are in our success. It’s fair to say successful people aren’t just lucky because of their success, they are successful because they were lucky…. and sometimes intelligent.
9. Problem-solving
If we look at the definition of intelligence, problem-solving is a part of it. Intelligence is about successfully adapting, processing information, and applying learning in useful ways. All of those are, effectively, ways to solve problems. Naturally, we observe how people solve problems, not what is happening inside their heads. Intelligence tests are also problem-solving tests. If you see people solve difficult problems in any area – kitchen, engineering, sales & marketing, mathematics, or communication, it is easy to believe they are intelligent. Problem-solving begins with pattern recognition in many cases and that is a fundamental brain ability. IQ tests often assess how people identify & predict patterns.
10. Intuition
Researchers have compelling evidence to show that smart people – those who have a high cognitive capacity – are better at finding intuitive correct solutions than correcting or reasoning over incorrect intuitions to solve problems. A generalization of this is – Intelligent people may have better intuitive reasoning than deliberate reasoning. We think of intuition as the opposite of logic. While that may be true to an extent, our brain produces both – intuition & logical reasoning. It could be that all the processes that give people their intelligence also give them a more refined automatic ability to understand things intuitively. Intuition is largely unconscious, it’s how the brain processes things without your awareness. If that processing is better, intuition gets better.
Negative signs of high intelligence
There are many cliches like super-intelligent people are prone to mental disorders, are impulsive, have anxiety-induced mental performance issues, or are romantically less desirable. All of these are at least partly supported by evidence. It’s not that average or low IQ people don’t have these problems, they do. However, sometimes, specifically, high intelligence contributes to these problems in unique ways.
I’ve explained the research cited above in the next section.
1. Prone to mental illnesses
A less popular theory in psychology is the hyper-brain/hyper-body theory which suggests that those who have high IQ are also at a higher risk of physical and mental illnesses. Research does show that high IQ (Mensa members) have an added risk of developing mood disorders like bipolar, anxiety, and depression, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), Autism spectrum disorder, and immunity problems like allergies, asthma, and autoimmune diseases. One reason this could happen is that those with high IQ might overthink, worry a lot, or overreact to environmental stress, which also creates physiological excitability (stress hormone, cytokines). So a high IQ brain could be hypersensitive to the environment as well as internal bodily changes, which only magnifies worry and anxiety.
2. Anxiety-induced performance issues
A large component of intelligence is working memory. It is our ability to hold and manipulate information in the mind for a short duration. Our current thoughts, self-talk, factual data, neutral information like login OTPs, etc. rest in our working memory. Research shows that people with high working memory can have a lot of anxious thoughts while performing tasks when the stakes are high. So when the consequences of performing have a lot of value, it tends to choke-up working memory with negative thoughts. Working memory helps us perform well and when it is choked up, our performance drops.
3. Difficulty having romantic success
People love to say they want an intelligent partner, but surveys show a limit to how intelligent. Up to the 90th percentile in intelligence (120 IQ), people find intelligence desirable. But for higher intelligence (top 10%), they begin to show concerns about social skills and compatibility. This doesn’t necessarily reflect intelligent people are bad at socializing; it just shows people have these concerns before making dating decisions. There seems to be no such limit for emotional intelligence. People straight-up find emotional intelligence desirable up to the 99th percentile. They also find emotional intelligence just a tad bit more attractive than cognitive intelligence. A combination of high emotional intelligence and not extremely high intelligence would be quite attractive. Read more about the psychology of love and romance here.
4. Difficulty controlling impulses
For adults, high intelligence is associated with 2 important aspects of impulsivity – low scores on delay discounting and high scores on non-planning (improvising, winging it, going unprepared to shop, etc.) Low scores on delay discounting mean it is more difficult to avoid instant gratification, or there is a preference for immediate rewards or devalues future rewards. Intelligent people might rely on their intelligence to afford the risk of not preparing enough or “repairing” the negative consequences of impulsive actions. It could also be a form of sense-making with the belief that intelligence can somehow compensate for impulsivity-related drawbacks.
Personality traits of highly intelligent people
Research on intelligence and personality is quite common and we can say a few things.
Cognitive intelligence & personality: They are curious and open to experiences
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There is only a weak association between personality traits and intelligence. So most intelligent people would have personalities similar to most other people. A major personality trait – openness to experience – is probably the only personality trait associated with high intelligence in general. One reason could be people who are open to new experiences could also be curious, willing to learn, and try new things out. All of these factors are important to learn efficiently and gain new skills & knowledge.
Emotional intelligence & personality: Their personality makes relationships easy
Emotional stability, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness are also weakly linked to emotional intelligence. One reason is that emotionally stable extroverts or those who are likable and mindful generally have good relationships. Emotional intelligence can develop through meaningful interactions with people.
Characteristics of genius and gifted people
Beyond those considered highly intelligent, there are a group of people called genius, gifted, or profoundly gifted. Their IQs are generally above 145 points. Researchers have defined their giftedness as extremely high general intelligence that affects most parts of life and a specific intelligence in one or two areas where they excel. Some of the common themes in their lives are listed below.
Note: These traits are common in gifted and highly intelligent people, but non-gifted and average intelligence people (IQ between 80-120) also show these, perhaps to a less degree.
Their cognitive characteristics:
- Learn very rapidly and show high curiosity and depth of understanding
- Think deeply about patterns and the inner-workings of things in life
- Have long concentration ability for things that interest them
- Offer creative or unusual solutions
- Think abstractly
- Wide general knowledge in at least a few domains
- Easy to take multiple perspectives
- High problem-solving, analytical, and reasoning capacity
- Have personal reasons and motivations for doing things that may seem odd to others
- Highly perceptive, intuitive, and observant
- Quick to spot errors or problems
Their social characteristics:
- Question authority and the status quo
- Sees problems in society when others don’t
- Find it hard to relate to everyone, prone to loneliness
- Unusual humor and peculiar manner of speaking
- Range from silent to outspoken personality
- Intrinsically motivated to help, sometimes without the goal of helping (personal curiosity, thrill, etc.)
Their mental health characteristics:
- Prone to boredom
- Have weak emotional regulation with possible rage problems
- Find it hard to belong
- Unhealthy perfectionist tendencies
- Prone to depression, anxiety, and suicide
- Highly sensitive or highly insensitive
Most studies have looked at gifted people in White economically healthy populations. However, studies show that giftedness in minorities and underprivileged groups looks similar across different cultures, except for language use. Some gifted people are silent, and some are talkative, which is affected by culture and upbringing. 10 broad cognitive areas showcase their giftedness: communication skills, imagination/creativity, humor, inquiry, insight, interests, memory, motivation, problem-solving, and reasoning.
Can you become more intelligent?
Everyone’s intelligence, in the practical sense, is unique. And there is good reason to believe we can change intelligence.
Intelligence is only partly genetic
The most crucial combo is IQ + Hard-work + Motivation. All 3 together give us our highest potential. And all 3 are partly inherited. A huge study on the genetics of intelligence done on nearly 280,000 people identified approximately 1000 genes that determine a portion of our intelligence – neurogenesis, and plasticity.
There is a 0.3 correlation between a child’s IQ with their mother or father’s IQ. That number is small. That means the parent’s IQ explains about 10% of the child’s IQ.
According to one study, genes tend to explain about 45 -76% of general intelligence, about 60% of verbal intelligence, and just 19% of performance intelligence.
Intelligence is trainable
People’s brains are not hardwired. They are soft-wired. Brains can rewire themselves and dramatically change how their neurons behave based on how and what you learn.
To know what you can do to increase intelligence (real & perceived), or parts of intelligence such as memory or learning ability, follow the guides listed below.
- Scientifically reviewed ways to improve memory and counter cognitive decline
- 50 lifestyle habits to foster mental growth (indirectly, intelligence)
- Best and worst ways to study for academics
- Best ways to learn anything casually
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Hey! Thank you for reading; hope you enjoyed the article. I run Cognition Today to paint a holistic picture of psychology. My content here is referenced in Forbes, CNET, Entrepreneur, Lifehacker, a few books, academic courses, and research papers.
I’m an applied psychologist from Bangalore, India. Love sci-fi, horror media; Love rock, metal, synthwave, and pop music; can’t whistle; can play the guitar.
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Shukla, A. (2020). 14 Signs of High Intelligence. Do you show these?. Cognition Today. Retrieved from https://cognitiontoday.com/signs-of-high-intelligence/.
Shukla, A. (2020). 14 Signs of High Intelligence. Do you show these? [online]. Available from: https://cognitiontoday.com/signs-of-high-intelligence/ [accessed December 17, 2020].
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Signs of High Intelligence You Need to Know
It is proved that there are something in common among geniuses, for example, many of them have similar peculiar behaviors. What else can indicate that you or your friends have very high intelligence? Read the following list and you may find that you are just a genius!
Signs of High Intelligence
1. You Are a Night Owl
Researchers have found out that people who work efficiently at night have a higher intelligence than the early birds. People with high intelligence just like to work during night time. When others are sleeping, they can read a book or learn an instrument. Many things can be finished during night, which may be a surprise to other people.
2. You Are the Dumb Type
Whether you call them introverts or socially awkward, the duff kids in your class or the silent friend are more likely to score higher in intelligence tests. This is because smart people are generally more aware of the fact that they could be wrong, and therefore keep dumb to assess the situation. They won’t speak until they find a perfect response. And, if there is nothing more to add, they just keep quiet to avoid a pointless conversation.
3. You Can Deal with Your Own Problems
Fairly intelligent people face up to their own problems. They will never be brought down by difficulties and always can find a way to solve them. When problems arise, they can handle these problems easily before things get out of control. Actually, people with high intelligence welcome challenges.
4. Smart and Creative People Are Around You
When it comes to signs of high intelligence, you should take a look at people around you. As the proverb says, birds of the same feather flock together. Smart people also want to hang out with people like them. If you find yourself always enjoying the company of people who are regarded as smart and creative, then you must be an intelligent person.
5. You Are Perfectionists
If you are one of those people who try to do everything in an excellent manner, you could score high in intelligence levels. Geniuses are always up to achieve improvements, commanding everything from cooking to speech to be prefect.
6. You Are a Self-Critic
Another sign of high intelligence is that you are constantly hard on yourself. When you make a mistake, you always accept your fault and are not afraid to be criticized. The ability to recognize the faults and the willingness to correct those problems can indicate that you are an intelligent person.
7. You Always Want More Information
High intelligent people love to read newspapers, news blogs, educational materials and everything else that will keep them informed. They are not choosy on the information but will generally yearn for information in all areas. They care about everything in the world. For them, they can learn from the information and improve themselves step by step.
8. You Are Always Busy with Some Projects
If you want to know signs of high intelligence, you must understand that intelligent people will never feel boring. They often have more than one project to work on. These projects are not compulsory school or work assignments but are some self-assigned tasks such as learning a new language, taking dancing classes or learning horse riding skills. Intelligent people always make full use of their free time.
9. You Do Not Think You Are Smarter than Others
While people with low competence consider themselves as the smartest among their friends and peers, people with high intelligence always think they are just like everyone else around them. They know a lot, therefore they can realize that there is space to improve and they are not satisfied with their current knowledge.
10. You Are Left-Handed
We can see that many famous and intelligent people are left-handed. Researches have shown that lefties tend to have superior divergent thinking which is linked to high intelligence levels. Usually, the left side of the brain will control the right side of the body, and vice versa. Therefore left handed people are able to equally use their both sides of the brain, so they can interpret information faster and more effectively.
11. You Always Doodle
Signs of high intelligence can often be observed in your daily life. If you find yourself constantly expressing your points and ideas in pictorial form, you might just be a genius. Geniuses have the tendency to put down ideas in an easily comprehendible form such as through doodles.
Here are 10 signs of high intelligence. Do you have them?
by Reece Robertson November 9, 2019, 2:19 am
Let’s be honest, most people think they’re a whole lot smarter than they are. They read a couple of books, and suddenly, they start spouting off facts like they’re Einstein.
However, what are some true signs of intelligence? What does it really mean to be smarter than average?
1) You choose simplicity over complication
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” -Albert Einstein
It’s easy to look and sound smart. Many people have a lot of head knowledge. They know a lot of facts and figures. However, ask them a simple question it gets overly complicated.
“Oh, there are so many variables,” “It just depends,” “That’s really not something you give a simple answer to,” they say.
And hence, Steve Jobs has said, “Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.”
Similarly, Leonardo da Vinci once noted, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
Thus, as an intelligent and sophisticated individual, you’re not busy devouring towers of information and then conjuring up grand dose ideologies and theories. Instead, you’re taking only the information you need and immediately applying it.
Indeed, you have embraced the words of Epictetus, “If you wish to improve, be content to be seen as ignorant or clueless about some things,” he said.
Although, as a highly intelligent individual, it’s not just your words that are simple, but also your life.
You’re not constantly jumping from one thing to the other. Instead, you’re present. You’ve actively removed everything from your life that takes you away from your highest purpose.
Rather than having a random chop-shop of daily habits and activities, everything in your life actually makes sense. You know exactly what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.
2) You prioritize your life
Because you know what you want to achieve with your time on this planet, you no longer allow your time to be wasted on meaningless tasks.
Rather than having a to-do list, you have what Gary Keller would call a “success list.” As he writes in his book, The ONE Thing,
“Instead of a to-do list, you need a “success list” — a list that is purposefully created around extraordinary results. To-do lists tend to be long; success lists are short. One pulls you in all directions; the other aims you in a specific direction.”
Indeed, productivity and success are not about doing lots of things fast. Instead, it’s about doing ONE thing well and then moving onto the next.
3) You’re true to yourself
Although 70 percent of U.S. employees hate their jobs and only a third of Americans report being happy, highly intelligent people absolutely love their lives.
Why? Because they’ve realized that there’s no one to compete with but themselves. They’re not trying to fit in. They’re not trying to impress anyone else. Instead, they’re only trying to live a life that impresses themselves.
And as a result, they’re willing to completely and unapologetically be themselves.
If something doesn’t fit who they are and where they want to go, then they simply get rid of it. To quote Dan Sullivan, “You can have everything you love in life as long as you give up what you hate.”
4) You never stop learning
“Ordinary people seek entertainment. Extraordinary people seek education and learning.” -Benjamin P. Hardy
Similarly, highly intelligent people also seek education and learning. They’re constantly reading books, listening to podcasts, and attending seminars.
However, they also know that information alone will only take them so far.
To quote Napoleon Hill,
“Knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action, and directed to a definite end.”
Similarly, Jim Rohn has said, “Reasons come first, answers second.”
Indeed, without an ends to pursue, learning becomes absolute. Said Dr. Stephen Covey, “To learn and not to do is really not to learn. To know and not to do is really not to know.”
Thus, highly intelligent people don’t just stop at reading a few books or watching a few YouTube videos. Instead, they put it all into action.
While most people are still reading, thinking, and dreaming, highly intelligent people are already out there practicing.
Now, does this mean that they don’t think things through before they do it?
No, but it does take us to the next point:
5) You’re always curious
Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
Thus, no matter how much their learning, highly intelligent people are always using it as a means to take on bigger and brighter futures. Said Dan Sullivan, “Always make your learning greater than your experience”
Indeed, their vision is not limited to what they know or do, but rather, to how big they’re willing to make their thinking. They know they need not live out of their memory, but instead, have the freedom to live out of their imagination.
Thus, their vision of who they are and where they’re going is continually expanding. Although, this is not about fueling their ego or trying to look good, but rather, to fulfill an insatiable desire to see how far they can go.
6) You prefer being alone
In a 2016 study, it was found that highly intelligent people actually prefer being alone.
According to their scientific findings, it was found that those people who had a greater level of intelligence were most likely to have a lower level of life satisfaction when placed in frequent social situations.
Thus, if you have a leniency to prefer being alone, then you’re likely smarter than you think.
There could be two reasons:
- It goes back to our early ancestors. The hunter-gatherer lifestyle promoted problem-solving and thus, building intelligence. If you were highly intelligent, you were more likely to be able to solve problems alone. Consequently, you may have been happier simply solving problems in peace. Thus, such situations and circumstances may still increase our life satisfaction today. This makes sense, the human brain has adapted and remained the same since our ancestral environment.
- However, it could simply be that people of a higher intelligence have a different focus in their lives. They’re not so much worried about partying or hanging out with friends, but rather, have a higher purpose for which they want to spend time. For example, they may be busy writing a book, building a business, or getting into college.
7) You go with the flow
Highly intelligent people have an ease about life. When something goes wrong, they’re not rigid in their thinking. Instead, they’re flexible.
Rather than trying to force the desired result, they simply trust the universe (or their higher power) will take them where they need to go.
They know that any negativity lies not within the event itself, but instead, in how they responded. To quote Ryan Holiday,
“There is no good or bad without us, there is only perception. There is the event itself and the story we tell ourselves about what it means.”
Thus, they don’t take things too seriously. They laugh and are happy even when they make blunders. They’re okay with the fact that life and themselves are not perfect.
To them, all of this experience is upside. They know that every day is a gift and don’t take a moment for granted.
8) You’re not easily distracted
“What we choose to focus on and what we choose to ignore — plays in defining the quality of our life.” -Cal Newport, Deep Work
According to a 2013 paper published in the Current Biology journal, people of a higher intelligence generally have a better ability of sensory discrimination.
In that, they are able to suppress irrelevant information and focus on only that which is most important.
In the study mentioned, they found that people with higher IQ’s were slower to recognize background movements within an image, and thus, were more likely to be able to focus on one thing at a time.
The researchers had hypothesized that intelligence and sensory discriminations were most likely governed by similar neural functioning.
9) You’re sensitive to other people’s experiences
Highly intelligent people know that there is no right way to live. They don’t view other people as beneath or inferior to them. Instead, they understand that everyone is living their best life based upon their own perspective.
So, rather than anger and resentment towards them, they have empathy and compassion. They simply want the best for all.
10) You aren’t afraid to ask for help
“Getting lost doesn’t mean you’re an idiot. But if you stay lost, if you waste more than a second of your time being more lost than you need to be, then yes, you are an idiot.” -Ryan Holiday
Highly intelligent people know they don’t have all the answers. And as a result, they aren’t afraid to ask for help.
If they get lost, they don’t stay lost. Instead, they ask for directions. If they’re having a hard time, they aren’t too proud to say so. Instead, they simply seek assistance.
Most people, however, would rather suffer than get help. Getting help requires vulnerability, humility, and admitting that you’re not as capable, as strong, or as smart as you think.
Hence, Jordan Peterson has said, “Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping.”
Indeed, it’s far easier to help someone else than it is to help yourself. However, if you don’t ask for help, no one’s going to do it for you. So, why wouldn’t you?
In conclusion
To summarize, 10 signs of intelligence include:
You choose simplicity over complication: Rather than saying more than what needs to be said, you keep things simple. You’re not constantly jumping from one thing to another. Instead, you’re present.
You prioritize your life: Your life is not just a never-ending to-do list. Instead, the things on your to-do lists actually make cohesive sense. You know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.
You’re true to yourself: You have only things you love in your life and scrap the rest. You’ve realized that the only person you’re competing with is yourself.
You never stop learning: You’ve fully embraced the words of Benjamin P. Hardy, “This life is a classroom. If you’re not learning, growing, and changing, then you’re missing the point,” he said. However, rather than attending lectures and studying textbooks, you learn through Doing. While most people are focused on inputs, you’re focused on output.
You’re always curious: You’re never stuck in the past or the present. Instead, you constantly see what something can become rather than what it currently is.
You prefer being alone: Given the choice, you would rather spend the night working on a personal project than hanging out with friends. To you, socializing or mingling with others is not as important as living out your highest purpose.
You go with the flow: You understand that life is not about but what happens to, but instead, how you respond. Thus, you always respond positively and make the most of it. Be consigned to a concentration camp, and it won’t change you.
You’re not easily distracted: You focus only on what needs to be done, rather than everything else that’s going on around you.
You’re sensitive to other people’s experiences: Rather than putting other people down, you seek to bring them up. You know that each individual is simply living their best life based upon their own perspective.
You aren’t afraid to ask for help: While most people would rather suffer than get help; you understand that seeking assistance is often the only way to move your life forward. So, you ask for help whenever you need it. You know that this is not a sign of weakness, but instead, a sign of strength.
