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 #55

Position Yourself To Be Intelligent

The biggest cause of trouble in the world today is that the stupid people are so sure about things and the intelligent folks are so full of doubts. (Bertrand Russell)

Some Definitions

Biggest - Of major concern, importance, gravity, or the like. Large, as in size, height, width, or amount:.

Cause - The reason or motive for some human action. A person or thing that acts, happens, or exists in such a way that some specific thing happens as a result; the producer of an effect.

Trouble - Difficulty, annoyance, or harassment. Unfortunate or distressing position, circumstance, or occurrence. Disturbance or conflict.

World - The earth or a part of it, with its inhabitants, affairs, etc.. Humankind; the human race; humanity. The class of persons devoted to the affairs, interests, or pursuits of this life. Any period, state, or sphere of existence.

Today - This present time or age.

Stupid - Lacking ordinary quickness and keenness of mind; dull. Characterized by or proceeding from mental dullness; foolish; senseless. Annoying or irritating; troublesome.

People -Persons indefinitely or collectively; persons in general. Persons, whether men, women, or children, considered as numerable individuals forming a group.

Sure - Free from doubt as to the reliability, character, action, etc., of something. Confident, as of something expected. Convinced, fully persuaded, or positive. Assured or certain beyond question.

Things - Anything that is or may become an object of thought. A particular, respect, or detail.

Intelligent - Having good understanding or a high mental capacity; quick to comprehend. Displaying or characterized by quickness of understanding, sound thought, or good judgment. Having the faculty of reasoning and understanding.

Folks - People in general. People of a specified class or group. People as the carriers of culture, esp. as representing the composite of social mores, customs, forms of behavior, etc., in a society.

Full - Completely filled; containing all that can be held; filled to utmost capacity. Complete; entire; maximum. Of the maximum size, amount, extent, volume, etc..

Doubt(s) - To be undecided or skeptical about. To tend to disbelieve; distrust. To regard as unlikely. A lack of certainty that often leads to irresolution.

Source: Dictionary.com

What Is This Quote Suggesting?

To me, it suggests at least two things.

• Stupid people (i.e. intelligently challenged people) have somehow managed to free themselves from the shackles of doubt. In other words, they have managed to believe in their abilities, their talents and ideas, even if they have none, or the ones they have are deficient in one way or another; and

• Highly intelligent people have somehow managed to shackle themselves with lots of inner doubts as to their abilities, their talents and ideas. In other words, the more intelligent someone is, the more they tend to question. The more people tend to question, the more they start to question themselves.

Is It Right To Question Ourselves So Deeply?

Yes and no. Yes, one should always question themselves. Am I right? Is there a proper basis for what I am thinking? BUT that kind of thinking is only good to a certain point.

In other words, if we question ourselves in order to improve ourselves that is fine. BUT, if we question ourselves to the point where we become paralyzed; to the point where nothing gets done, THEN IT PRESENTS A PROBLEM.

Paralysis By Analysis

There is a famous saying about paralysis by analysis. We overthink a situation so much that nothing ever gets done. That is a bad thing.

We simply cannot allow that to happen.

WHY?

Here’s why. Even the greatest people who ever drew breath on the face of this earth had doubts about themselves. It is only natural. In fact, the more intelligent you are, the more likely you are to formulate doubts about your actions.

HOWEVER, IF ALL WE DO IS DOUBT, NOTHING WILL EVER GET DONE.

In other words, if all intelligent people do is doubt, intelligent people will never get anything done.

That simply won’t do.

So How Does One Know Which Category They Fit In?

You don’t.

You can only hope that people don’t perceive of you as “intelligently challenged” (i.e. stupid) and that they perceive of you as being intelligent instead.

You just don’t know.  HOWEVER, I’m suggesting that it doesn’t matter.

It doesn’t necessarily matter where you currently are.   What matters most is where are you going?

I’m going to assume that you desire to move forward, otherwise you would not be reading this blog.

So, assuming you want to move forward, you need to learn to examine your doubts.  A certain amount of doubt is healthy.  Too much doubt is not.

Next, examine the role of doubt in your life.

Does doubt serve as a healthy check on your actions, or does doubt serve to paralyze you and prevent you from taking any action?

If it’s a healthy check, wonderful.  If it paralyzes you, then you need to learn to let go of some of your doubts.

The more you are able to keep healthy doubts and let go of unhealthy ones, the more you will be positioning yourself to be intelligent!