7 Ways To Increase Your IQ by WJ Vincent II
7 Ways To Increase Your IQ
So let’s get and make something clear right from the get go….IQ is one of the most misunderstood, overrated, underrated, ridiculous, amazing, cool, stupid measurements we have. Confused? Well you should be, because when it comes to IQ the reality is opinions differ so dramatically across the world we live in, that on any given day at any given moment one could find opposite definitions, thoughts, results, etc., depending on who, what, and why we are discussing it in the first place. For our purposes we are going to stay as “practical” as we can. There are lots of people out there who are incredibly “book smart”. They walk around with copious amounts of random knowledge, facts, trivia, etc., and can divulge it at a moment’s notice to anyone willing to listen. While this is can be a fun and entertaining skill to have, its actual value in the real world is questionable. When WE talk about “IQ” we are referring to our brain’s ability to adapt, learn, and grow within the context of business and life.
See, when I was growing up there were lots of things I was told were incredibly important for me to know. Some that stand out more than others are Pi, E = MC2, Writing In Cursive, Using The Card Catalog System, Memorizing the Periodic Table Of Elements, and How To Use An Encyclopedia again these are just a few of the things that come to mind. To this date in my life nobody has given me my groceries, paid my mortgage, or let me skip a car payment because I could recite, quote, or state any of the above information.
There have been many occasions in my lifetime where the ability to problem solve, utilize expert advice, or get coaching or mentoring has helped me immensely. So for fun, let’s look at 7 ways we can increase our “IQ’s” in order to improve our ability to be successful at business and life, and not necessarily in a way that would land us on “Jeopardy”!
#1 – BE A STUDENT OF LIFE!
They say that true intelligence is mostly about “pattern recognition”. So many of us could do a better job of studying the patterns of success within our own lives, versus the patterns of failure. Self-Analysis is critical to self-development. When things go wrong, are we quick to blame others, or do we hunker down and try to “learn” what we could have done better? When we experience tremendous success, do we just run around enjoying the “feelgood” of the moment? Or are we making sure to take mental notes of what we did, and why it worked so well, so we can duplicate the success again?
#2 – DO CARDIO!!!
This one has a tendency to surprise people. Rather than try and convince you from my own personal life experience, here is some “science” for you:
Swedish Study On Aerobic Exercise and IQ
Mayo Clinic Cardio Respiratory Fitness and Brainpower
#3 – PRACTICE MEDITATION
So many of us already know this one to be true. Countless studies find that meditating for as little as 20 minutes a day not only boosts our mood and lowers our stress levels, but also improves efficiency when it comes to deep cognitive processing.
If any of us replaced 20 minutes of email or social media time with 20 minutes of meditating using an app like Insight Timer or Mindfulness, we would instantly begin to get smarter, and in a very positive way!
#4 – SLEEP MANAGEMENT
According to science and numerous studies, every hour less than the recommended eight hours of sleep a night can knock off a full point from a person’s IQ. There has been a ton of research done on the damage done to the intellect of our children as well. Bottom Line, get enough sleep….here are some of those studies…
#5 – READ MORE
Once again this is proven over and over again in study after study. A good measurement for ourselves is to try and read a book a week. Don’t just read self-help books, although these are incredibly important. Mix in some just for fun, literary fiction, etc., because even this kind of reading has proven to improve intelligence. Here is an article about that…
#6 – JOIN A MASTERMIND GROUP
This provides us with a little something we sometimes call “Collective Intellect”. That being the actual “wisdom” if you will of a group of people with similar experience in whatever area of business or life you are attempting to grow in. There is an old saying…intelligent people learn from their mistakes….but “WISE” people learn from the mistakes of others. Also, we can benefit immediately from the collective experiences and perspectives of a mastermind group, especially when we are faced with a particular challenge or difficulty. Our Inner Circle VIP Group is a great example of this!
Inner Circle VIP MasterMind Group
#7 – GET AT LEAST ONE MENTOR/COACH
Many times in my lifetime I have heard people talk about how making mistakes is okay, failing is okay, that is how we learn and grow. A key point that is often overlooked though, is the importance of not making the SAME mistakes over and over again. Various studies and research have been done about leaning into the pain of a mistake to insure that we learn the lesson. The best way I know to get smarter from our mistakes is a little something called accountability. The easiest way to be accountable is to have a coach or mentor “hold you accountable”. Nothing will push your “IQ” for business and life to grow faster and farther than a good coach helping you to learn from your mistakes! One of the best coaches I know is Dr. Jay LaGuardia, unfortunately he only has so much availability, but if you are interested in pushing yourself as far as you can in this life, he is one of the best. If you would like more information about Dr. Jay’s coaching programs, email info@tripleplife.com today.
Hope all of you have an empowering…full of learning week!
WJ Vincent
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About the author, WJ
WJ Vincent II is a life long entrepreneur who has been building businesses from start-up to success for almost 30 years. Some of those businesses have been as diverse as lake-shore development in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, day trading, advertising, telecommunications, internet, health and nutrition, as well as environmental products.