People Less Smart Than You
Are Making Way More Money
It wouldn’t take a long time on social media for you to find an example of a hyper-successful influencer, public figure, or business owner who doesn’t come exactly across as the brightest bulb in the box.
At the same time, you probably know someone who is particularly intelligent (by most conventional measures), who hasn’t had that intellectual potential translate into any material success.
It’s easy to shrug off such situations. Maybe the social media algorithms just reward idiots who are willing to do anything for views. Maybe smart people are not amused by material possessions, instead seeking some higher purposes.
After all, it is natural to conclude that, for any two individuals of equal character, the one who has higher intelligence should more often than not be able to achieve more.
But what if this intuitive belief just isn’t as true as we all think it is?
Certainly, in your own life, you’d know someone who isn’t as bright as you, but yet has achieved more than you in an area that matters to you. What if it isn’t just their luck? What if your relative advantage in intelligence to that person is in fact something holding you back?
Boldness beats intelligence
Attachment to identity
One of the biggest reasons that some people who are supposedly “dumber” than you are more successful than you, is your own pride (a.k.a insecurity).
See, the pursuit of success comes with risk. And people with a reputation of “being smart” to uphold, will be far more hesitant than people who don’t.
For someone who isn’t as bright, they’ve likely been underestimated their whole lives. They don’t see failure and embarrassment as a loss.
Whereas, someone who has been accustomed to being praised as smart, competent, and full of potential might fall into the trap of attaching their identity to these ideals. That’s what makes failure so dreadful. Because openly failing would shatter the identity and sense of self-worth you’ve built. If you fail now, the world will see how foolish, how incompetent, how unimpressive you are.
Praise – the very thing that made you feel powerful and capable now shackles you from further achievement. And it’s not the fault of the people who praised you. It’s the fault of the receiver who chose to tie their identity and sense of worth to their performance.
What it takes to succeed
Intelligence is, in and of itself, by no means a direct impediment to one’s success. If anything, it should be the opposite. However, if said intelligence leads to a lack of boldness and courage to fail, it can be a psychological roadblock.
After all, until you’re willing to put yourself out there to be judged and make mistakes, all that intellect is just stored potential yet to be turned into anything meaningful. Smartness, without boldness, is nothing.
And sometimes, all it takes is throwing a bit of caution to the wind and having that blind courage to go out and fail. To drop the ego, accept your insufficiencies, and rebuild yourself.
After all, winners lose more than losers.