Intelligence Difference: A fresh look that gives hope to Academic “Failures”

In the recent past, I have debated with my audiences about the truthfulness of this statement: Knowledge is power. I have found that scores of them take that statement at face value and believe it et all. Years back, a motivating speaker challenged me to change my thinking by stating that “It is applied knowledge that is the real power”. Today, I am going to use just one word to talk about this “applied knowledge”. It is what you and I need to be successful. It is more powerful than goals. In fact, without it, goals are useless.

[clickandtweet handle=”@Namale” hashtag=”#LifeSignatures” related=”” layout=”card” position=”right”]“It is applied knowledge that is the real power”[/clickandtweet]

There is no debating the fact that the most successful people of our time in every area of life are intelligent people. Now, there is a universally accepted definition of the word “Intelligence”. Today, again, I beg to differ and offer my own Life Signatures definition of that word. You will find that it has absolutely no inclination to education or lack of it.

In other words, the half a million High School leaving kids in Kenya who got grades below the C-level can find solace in the fact that they are/can be intelligent. I have found out that a definition of something can either limit people or it can liberate them. I am sure that if you interviewed the relatives of these former High School students in Kenya who failed their KCSE papers, they will tell you that their kids are not intelligent. I beg to differ, and I do differ extremely strongly.

A friend of mine, who is a Life Coach and a Purpose Trainer when she saw the extent of “failures” by these kids, put up a simple post on Facebook that said:

The New Definition of Intelligence

I was the first one to comment on that post with 3 words, “Let’s do it”! And I mean it. Whereas these kids have already been labeled as “failures”, we choose to rise up and counter that bias today and give them hope. Now, we are in no way telling these kids that it is going to be easy. We are not offering in easy way out. We are offering the best way out which involves direction, intentionality, urgency and lots of hard work. For starters, let us define that word “Intelligence”

Intelligence in my opinion is marked by the capacity to master the sustenance of a passion, an innovation or a creation successfully, without ever needing your micromanaging presence. This is the Life Signatures definition and I am sure there are many other definitions out there. One thing is for sure, my definition applies to EVERYBODY.

Do You Have Any Systems in Place?

An intelligent person is simply someone who has systems in place to run something. That’s it. God did it. Jobs did it. King David did it. Jesus Christ had a system and today we still talk about him, centuries after his resurrection. Bill Gates has it, every successful Government has it and every failing Government has a failing one or does not have it.

Take a look at yourself. You are an entity of systems! You have a nervous system, respiratory system, digestive system, reproductive system, blood circulation system and so on. Let us learn from God. The very best of his creation, he crafted us to have systems.

Systems when working free us from the hassle of micromanaging things. I do not need to think of when, how, if and where of my breathing. I just do. All I need to do is to be alive. The systems release me to pursue other things that require my intentional involvement such as writing this post. Behind the scenes, I am breathing, blood is flowing, my brain is coordinating things…it is simply amazing. Now, ladies and gentlemen, that is intelligence.

Like I said, Intelligence is not just about knowledge known. It is about knowledge applied. That is why the half a million guys who have been branded “failures” by the Kenyan Education System can be intelligent in their own right, circumventing the system itself. What do they need to do? Build systems.

1. Find a Mountain to climb
2. Plan each of their days
3. Develop laser sharp discipline
4. Dedicate YEARS to only that one mountain
5. Work exceptionally hard

In other words, they need to build a lifestyle over a period of time that will eventually enable them create a system that churns out results for them. They might not need to be there in order to see the results come.

Intelligence is not about the content of a brain, it is about a lifestyle that creates results. Anybody can do this, including the half a million failures…but it is not easy. It is a dare. The only dare worth taking in life.