Getting your IQ tested by a medical professional or psychologist is really beneficial. It lets you know where you stand in life and what your strengths are as a thinker. There are a couple of good IQ tests that you can take. I personally took the WAIS. It has four sections: Verbal Comprehension, Working Memory, Processing Speed, and Perceptual Reasoning. Each section is self explanatory besides the Perceptual Reasoning, which I would say could be accurately dubbed as pattern recognition. I forget my scores on most of the subsections, but I got a 140 in Verbal Comprehension. Scoring a 140 in any subsection places you in the top 1% of people for that subsection, and you can technically call yourself a genius.
I obviously think calling myself a genius is arrogant and stupid, but I do know that I’m better at writing than most. So I’ve pursued writing. So far it’s been working pretty well for me, and I should be on track to earn 3,000 views this month as of writing this article. I should be able to earn a small living from this blog either next month or the month after.
If you’re actually high IQ and apply your skill set, you should find some success
It took me a while to get some traction as a writer, but it was bound to happen. I started off writing fiction, and a short story of mine went viral on Amazon. I was able to build a pen name, but I didn’t really enjoy it and I never found my voice. But I did learn about content, and how good and consistent content creators get pushed to the top. I know what it takes to become a good a profitable content creator, and I’m in the process of making it happen for the fourth time over. As I said, I’m on track to hit 3,000 views per month and am pushing for 4,000 after less than a year of blogging. Many bloggers are still under 1,000 views at this point in their journey (although I’ve written a lot of articles). This is in part because I’ve worked hard and practiced, but also because I have natural talent. If I had chosen to dedicate my energy to basketball, I would be broke and an embarrassment. Instead I dedicated my energy to something that I’m talented at, and it’s starting to pay off for me.
But IQ isn’t everything
It isn’t, at all. But it is an objective measure of talent in a specific field. Having a high IQ doesn’t guarantee you success, but it can help tremendously if you’re attempting to undertake intellectual tasks. This doesn’t mean that IQ is the only way to measure skills, however. A test like SAT or LSAT may measure one’s math ability, for example. Sports matches have objective winners. If you want to do something, find an objective way of measuring your skill in the area. Do the thing that pays most, given your skill level. After a bit of work, you should be able to follow your passion. Oftentimes, you’ll find that you like what you’re good at, especially if you’re doing it for yourself. With the internet, there’s a million ways to make money. Most of the time, you don’t even need to monetize directly. You can just drive attention to a product with entertaining and informative content. In the words of A$ap Rocky, just don’t suck. I’ve tried a lot of different ways of making money online. They all work if you stick to them and just don’t suck.
How Can I Find Something I Don’t Suck At?
You have to try a lot of things, and put yourself in a lot of different situations. Being in the world and moving through life, you find opportunities of all sorts. Try new hobbies, go to new places,meet new people. I wouldn’t focus on making money at first, although there’s nothing wrong with diving headfirst into something you’re skilled at. I was aimless until the age of about 21. After that I focused on wealth, and have learned what it takes to generate it online. It wasn’t easy, and the only reason I did it was because I’m crazy, and was willing to go all out. I also accepted a brief period of poverty, always knowing I needed to keep striving even though the numbers didn’t look good on paper. All worth it, I think.
How Do I Ignore The Doubters?
Thomas Picketty is one of the world’s leading economists. He made his name (and most of his money) by coming up with a mind-numbingly simple but accurate equation.
R>G
This equation means capital is greater than labor. Meaning that capital will always increase in value faster than labor under current conditions. This means that if you want to follow your passions, you need to be working for yourself. Every year that goes by, having a job does less and less for you. If you want to have even a fighting chance at following your passion, you must start a business related to your skill set. This is extremely hard in a globalized world. Right now, a good salary globally is about $15,000 per year. Expect blue collar work and government jobs to be the big moneymakers in wealthy countries. White collar work is being outsourced, and you’re going to have to fight tooth and nail for your position as time goes on. But screw it, you can still make your first $1.2M by age 35 if you’re in the top 1% of people worldwide. My goals are far less lofty than that. Try slicing that number by about a 3rd. It doesn’t take THAT much to live well in many places.
So basically, you need to acquire capital if you want to be getting ahead. The lowest-level, most basic way of doing this is investing, but then you’re losing the ability to buy stock and assets every year. The best way to make it is to have a scalable business.
In terms of mindset, this is something that you’re going to need to be determined to do. You have to just be persistent, and constantly take small steps in order to achieve your goals. Don’t burn bridges, but you can get pretty far ignoring other people. It’s a long, boring process, and you’re probably going to want to quit. But it’s really fun when you hit your stride.
If you’re a smart person, have some self-confidence. Do what you want to do, as long as it’s ethical and well-reasoned. If you’re actually putting in the work, you should be able to get ahead in a few years.
