Mr. Achievement – Stanley F. Bronstein – Personal Development BlogPersonal Development Blog of the Founder of the Achievement IQ Movement and Creator of the Laws of Positioning

Law #12

Position Yourself To Have Common Sense

Common sense is instinct. Enough of it is genius. (George Bernard Shaw)

Common -Pertaining or belonging equally to an entire community, nation, or culture; public. Widespread; general; ordinary.

Sense – A faculty or function of the mind analogous to sensation. Any special capacity for perception, estimation, appreciation, etc.. A mental discernment, realization, or recognition; acuteness. Sound practical intelligence. Something that is sensible or reasonable.

Common Sense – Sound practical judgment that is independent of specialized knowledge, training, or the like; normal native intelligence. It is the knowledge that most people would agree on. It is knowledge that most people would find prudent and of sound judgment.

Instinct – Natural intuitive power. An inborn pattern of activity or tendency to action common to a given biological species. A natural or innate impulse, inclination, or tendency. A natural aptitude or gift.

Enough – Adequate for the want or need; sufficient for the purpose or to satisfy desire. An adequate quantity or number; sufficiency. In a quantity or degree that answers a purpose or satisfies a need or desire; sufficiently.

Genius – An exceptional natural capacity of intellect, especially as shown in creative and original work. Natural ability or capacity; strong inclination.

Source: Dictionary.com

What Is Common Sense?

I’ve always thought of common sense as practical and useful knowledge that one might possess, even if they don’t have an education. In fact, I’ve always perceived that many uneducated people possessed more common sense than some of the most highly educated people I’ve met.

An Example of Common Sense In Action: Sometimes, because of our education, we fail to see solutions that are right in front of our nose. For example, a few months back when I was having to wear a removable boot cast on my foot due to an injury, I attempted to put on a pair of dress pants. I already had the removable boot cast on and I tried to pull my pants over the cast. I was unable to do that. I was getting ready to take a pair of scissors and cut the pants leg so that I could put the pants on over the removable boot cast. Just then, I looked at my wife and said I had an idea. I sat down. Took the removable boot cast off. Put my pants on in the normal way and then I pulled up the pants leg over my knee. I then put the cast back on and slid the pants down over the boot. Presto. The pants were on and the boot was on, and I didn’t have to cut the pants. That solution was common sense, yet it almost escaped both me and my wife, despite the fact we both have college educations.

Common Sense Is Really Just Instinct

Instinct is something that comes to us naturally. As we are all members of the human race, we share access to a group of common instinctual knowledge. The problem is not whether we CAN gain access to that common knowledge, rather it is whether or not we ACTUALLY DO access that common knowledge.

Sometimes, I believe the reason why highly educated people may be more likely to be lacking in common sense is that it is not really taught formally in our schools and colleges. Instead, common sense is passed down as a result of our experiences and the environment in which we live and work. A large amount of my common sense was taught to me by my father and he only had a 5th grade education. I don’t recall taking any courses in college that were named Common Sense 101.

What Is This Quote Suggesting?

In the quote, George Bernard Shaw was suggesting that common sense is very important and we should all try to accumulate as much of it as possible. In fact, he said that if we acquire an amount that is sufficient to satisfy our needs, purposes and desires, then our intellect will rise to a sufficient point where we achieve the status of genius.

If we unleash our potential to acquire common sense we will build our natural abilities and intellect. As we build those abilities, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish!

So, What Should We Do?

While formal education is incredibly important, we should do our utmost to supplement our formal educations with exposure to common society. By doing so, we are able to tap into the collective consciousness and gain access to an incredible amount of wisdom and knowledge we might otherwise miss.

In other words, Position yourself to have common sense!

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