Everyone wants to become better in life. Being smart is important for gaining confidence in yourself and helps you achieve goals in life. We all are smart in our ways but want to better ourselves, which is a good thing! But how does one become smarter? There are habits that make you smarter and can help you become better.
Habits That Make You Smarter
Here are 22 habits that make you smarter as a person. See how many of these you already have and how many more you can incorporate.
1. Read, Read, Read
Do you know that reading a book can reduce your stress level by 68%?
People who read more are not only more knowledgeable but also wise. You must have seen many of the successful people globally share reading as one of their habits.
Add reading as a habit to your daily routine, if not daily try to read at least twice a week. Be selective about your books, and focus on things you want to educate yourself.
It can be finance, spirituality, history, or anything you are keen to learn about. Are you willing to choose education over entertainment? Then find a book today.
2. Learn Something New
Being curious is good for your brain. You must adopt the habit of learning from different ways and experiences of life. Challenge your brain to try new things.
If you make a list of things you don’t know how to do…the list will definitely go on. We can’t be the smartest! Ask yourself things you are interested in. I am sure you can make a list of a few things you want to learn in life.
Pick out the ones you can do now. Research about them and start learning. The goal is not to be perfect in everything, it is about growing yourself by teaching different things. Be open-minded to learn anything you find a spark in.
If you want to learn some digital skills, read Skills You Can Learn Online For Free
3. Taking Care of Your Health
Your health should be your priority…ALWAYS! Compromising your health is like cheating on yourself and smart people won’t do that!
Do any kind of workout you feel happy doing. Eat food that is good for you, and avoid junk. When you feel healthy inside you will perform your best outside.
Also remember, a healthy mind comes from a healthy body. Therefore eat well and exercise to make yourself smarter.
4. Hang Out With Smart People
It is said that smart people make you smarter. You must be closer to a few people in life than others. This is because you feel mentally and emotionally connected to them.
Similarly, some people may seem to be more interesting and smarter than others to you. Find out people who you feel are smarter than you, and listen to their thoughts and ideas. See what you can learn from them, this will also help in developing healthier relationships with people around you.
You can connect with such people on social media or through your friends. Do not hesitate to approach. These people will make you up your game, therefore choose your company wisely and smartly.
5. Don’t Care What Others Think
In order to become smarter, you need to eliminate the unnecessary worrying about what people think about you. Everyone can think and form their own opinions.
For some reason, you sometimes might not like what others think about you. Although it is not possible to completely overlook what others say, it is possible to not let them harm your mental peace.
It should not affect your life, know yourself and start respecting your own opinions. Be confident in who you are and try not to be overly conscious of yourself.
Read How To Build A Better Relationship With Yourself
6. Try to be Organized
Organizing your life is one of the most important habits that make you smarter. all struggle with being organized all the time. When you are organized you feel more confident about yourself and the things around you. It makes your life efficient and you can make time for other important things. Read my blog on How to make your life organized.
7. Be Self-aware
Some people try to learn about themselves while some keep figuring it out even towards the end of their lives. That teenage self-consciousness can make you keep an image of yourself in front of others that they will like.
It depends on you how long you can continue it. You just need to know more about yourself than about others. Journaling can be a great way to do so.
Write down your feeling once in a while if not daily. Understand your likes and dislikes, your emotions, things you love, people you like, and much more. Start exploring yourself now!
8. Travel and Explore
Travel can be seen as a source of entertainment and leisure but did you know that it can boost your brain power?
There are studies today that say that travel makes you smarter. When you travel you step out of your comfort zone, you go to places and things that are new to your brain.
Your brain is more focused and creative. You learn about new cultures, new routes, languages, and how to deal with difficult situations in a new place. You do not need to travel around the globe, pick a new state, nearby monument, or any local sightseeing place you have never seen.
9. Use Your Smartphone Wisely
Our smartphones are one of the major distractions globally today. But we cannot eliminate or ignore them for long because of their highly useful value.
From calculating to finding answers to almost every question, everything is just a click away. This technology can be used both in productive and unproductive ways.
Read my blog on How to stop phone addiction and live life offline.
10. Work Smarter, not Harder
One particular industrial engineer named Allen F. Morgenstern coined the phrase “work smarter not harder” in the 1930s, but the concept has been around for a long time.
So, what should you do to work smarter?
The first thing for that is to know yourself, you should never over-exert yourself with work. One step at a time is all that is needed to climb a staircase.
You should know when you need to take a break, Your body and mind can only handle so much, and your brain needs to get rest in order to give you the most focus capability during the day
Another thing which you should keep in your mind is to plan your work. It’s always beneficial to plan a routine that will help you make the mornings and workdays easier.
Work is an important and enjoyable part of your life, but it should never consume all your efforts and attention.
Working smarter will help you cut down on wasted time and boost your overall productivity, leaving you free to care for yourself or pursue other interests outside of work. One such example is making mindmaps of studying instead of long notes.
11. Accept Others As They Are
All human beings might be 99.9 percent similar in their genetic makeup but we still find distinct behaviors even among family members.
Accepting people how they are will help you in developing healthier relationships with people around you. Instead of being uncomfortable because of indifference, think about why they feel a certain way.
Stop taking things personally. When you do this, the other person will respect your things too.
12. Do Puzzles or Brain games
Many young people today ignore their intellectual growth. To keep your brain healthy and smart, you must do some brain teasers, games, or puzzles to sharpen your brain power. These will develop your intellectual health and is one of the great habits that make you smarter.
13. Developing Good Communication Skills
It is not what you say but how you say it makes all the difference. You must have heard elders giving you this advice. Today communication has become a fundamental skill.
Working on your communication skills is imperative for not only your professional life but also for your personal one. Thinking and organizing your thoughts in an effective way makes others feel good about you.
This will also make you feel confident about yourself. Work on your speaking and writing skills. Try writing something once a week, a journal can be a good idea. You can be creative and your communication skills will also improve.
14. Focus on the Solution
Problems are an inevitable part of our life. Whether it’s a tiny one or a serious one, a smart person will try to find solutions instead of being stuck on a problem.
Accept failures and problems and think about what can be done.
Focus on what can be controlled. Talk to your trustworthy people and ask their opinions. Analyze the problem but focus on finding out the solution or alternatives.
15. Learn new skills
Learning new skills is just a click away nowadays. There are many digital skills and non-digital skills that you can learn online. Internet today is a platform to learn things from anyone around the globe at your own ease.
Find out skills you might be interested in. It will not only look good on your resume but also make you feel more confident and smarter. Read Skills you can learn online for free.
16. Invest in Yourself
Investing in yourself is the most profitable investment you can do. I have written a blog on how to invest in yourself for personal growth. Make smarter choices of investing in yourself. Prioritizing yourself is one of the advantageous habits that make you smarter. will make you thank yourself in the future.
17. Monitor Your Money
Are you always stuck between spending money and saving it?
Have you heard of the famous 50/30/20 rule about spending money?
According to it, 50% of your money should be used for your needs, 30% for your wants, and 20% should go for your savings directly.
There are no hard and fast rules, it depends on individuals how they want to fix their budget percentages.
Just a tip: E-wallets have made it easier to make different accounts for different purposes, you can choose your budgets for your different needs. These financial habits make you smarter and will also make you feel more confident about your pocket.
18. Meditate
Meditation improves your memory and concentration. Many studies prove that it also helps in anxiety and stress reduction. There are numerous benefits that can occur once you start adopting yoga and meditation in your life.
19. Develop a Routine
Since childhood, we are taught the importance of having a routine. It is one of the most important things that highly successful people swear by.
Having a routine not only makes you a disciplined person, but it is also good for your physical and mental health and achieving growth in life.
Do not get confused between following a routine and becoming a robot. We are humans, we can’t work as machines, there may be emotional and physical ups and downs.
The idea is to create a life pattern to keep you happy, healthy, and staying motivated.
Read How To Make Your Life Simpler and Happier
20. Be a Good Listener
“Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking “— Bernard Baruch
Listening is an art, It is a sign of respect, It makes people valued. Being a Good listener not only makes the person around you feel humbled but also results in your self-development. You should always take it in a positive way, be it your appreciation or your critique
When you listen to someone carefully, it will help you to know more about the person, avoid any misunderstanding, enhance coordination and win the trust of others.
It will give you a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction and will help you reduce conflict with your peers, thereby making your life easy, comfortable and happy
21. Observe Things Around You
Do you know that very few people around you are good observers? Have you ever noticed how many steps are there in your house? Or How many parks do you pass by while going to your College/Workplace?
Very few people do this, but being a good observer brings a lot of benefits to your table.
Observing things around you, be it a place, be it your locality, or be it your peer group makes you well aware of their nature. It will make a difference to your mood, and your creativity and will increase your curiosity within you.
It will help you to slow down and open yourself to the details of your surrounding. It will help you listen to more than just your ears and make better decisions.
It will bring calmness to you as now you are not just self-centric, but you are exploring the world around you, which will fill you with a sense of excitement, joy, and happiness.
22. Accept Criticism Positively
The world is not always kind enough to keep you happy, One bad feedback at your work or one negative comment on your Instagram post is all that can derail your day.
But, do you think this is even worthy of making you feel sad? Definitely not!
So, how should you handle your criticism positively?
First of all, you should listen honestly for knowing the intention of the critique, then decide whether the feedback is constructive or destructive. It’s important to take note of the people in your life who really want the best for you.
If they do criticize you, then that criticism should be a dialogue. You should always take it in a positive way knowing that it is for your benefit. And if the criticism is coming from people who are close and trustworthy to you, you should consider it.
Over to You
These were some of the habits that make you smarter. How many of these do you already have? Are you already feeling smarter? Hope it helps you in growing yourself and becoming better. Remember that no one can be 100% smart and knowing this is a smart trait itself!
