Dear Entrepreneur,
Oftentimes, intelligence is just not enough. The truth is that when it comes to being successful, attitude is a better predictor than IQ. What’s your attitude towards bad situations? Do you have a fixed mindset, or do you have a growth mindset? You see, with a fixed mindset, we believe that we are who we are, and thus we cannot change our situation.
Now, this mindset creates a lot of problems when we are challenged with difficulties, because anything that appears (to us) to be more than we can handle, is bound to make us feel hopeless and overwhelmed. And when we feel hopeless and overwhelmed, we can’t change our situation.
On the other hand, people with a growth mindset believe that they can improve with the required effort, and thus they outperform those with a fixed mindset, regardless of their intelligence. So, even with a lower IQ, people with a growth mindset embrace challenges, treating them not as a barrier, but as an opportunity to learn something new and keep trying until there is a change.
You would think that being intelligent inspires confidence, but that’s only true when the going is easy. What’s important is how we handle setbacks and challenges. The important question is: “Do you welcome challenges with open arms?”
With love,
Chidi