Are you tired of feeling like you don't know
what people are talking about? Do people
tease you for not being very smart?
Intelligence isn't just something you're born
with: you can make yourself smarter with a
little hard work! Read below to find out how
you can make yourself the brains of the
operation.

*Educating Yourself
Aim to educate yourself: Keep in mind an
education isn't the junk you are forced
to do in school for diplomas and degrees;
it's an understanding of the world around
you. People who are naturally curious for
some reason begin to stop asking
questions the moment they hit school. The
truly brilliant mind however, always
questions their world and tries to make
sense of it. That is the secret to
"genius".
Try teaching yourself: You can
even learn from your life
experiences, sometimes called
" unschooling".
Work on your vocabulary: Use a few
definitions from the dictionary each
day, or subscribe to a "word-of-the-
day" service online. You can also take
the vocabulary tests in Readers
Digest or buy a book on increasing
your working vocabulary. Read the
dictionary one letter at a time. This
will take you at least a year but you
will grow intellectually.
Read a variety of books: Reading a
lot is often described as the secret to
intelligence. The smartest people in
the world tend to read every single
day. You may not always enjoy it, but
reading will open up your mind to a
variety of new ideas and experiences.
Keep your reading diverse by reading
books of all genres including non-
fiction.
Educate yourself about the world
around you: Cultivate an interest in
subjects like current events,
interesting facts, funny and inspiring
quotations, good books and movies,
scientific studies and interesting
inventions. Educational television, like
PBS, is a great way to learn. Learning
to think critically about the world
around you by being aware of cause
and effect in events will make you
much smarter.
If you can read much faster than
you can speak, it is much more
efficient to read a book, or better
yet a non-linear electronic
document like a wiki than to watch
a show for all but the most
intellectually demanding or video-
dependent learning. Commercial
television is particularly bad
because its ultimate purpose is to
do just enough to keep you at the
TV and its ads, not satisfy you so
you can do something else.
Make connections: Find uses for
information, rather than just
collecting useless trivia. Burying
information somewhere deep in your
brain is not useful; you have to be
able to access it in real-world
situations. Think of real-world
situations in which a piece of
information will make sense. Then
share it and watch it grow!

*Expanding Your Horizons
Learn a new language: Apart from
being a linguistic exercise, it may
bring you into contact with new
people and ideas. You may feel less of
a stranger when you visit a place and
you know some of the language. Also,
at some point you will realize that
there are some phrases or concepts in
other languages that have no direct
translation in English! This can be a
challenging and fun exercise for the
mind. (Note, try to be patient and
positive when studying a language as
it may take time to reach the level
you desire.)
Visit new places as much as you
can: If possible, try to visit other
countries too. Visiting cities in your
country or in a different one gives
you a open mind and teaches you
about the world we live in. You will
be able to understand other cultures
(how people live in a different place,
how they behave with each other, how
they live and so on). You will also be
able to understand that the planet
earth is huge and there is so much to
see and do. You will be fascinated on
how there are so many different
people and cultures in the world. That
will make you smart and interesting.
Be open-minded and willing to learn
new things: Just because you're
great at one thing doesn't mean you
have to stick to it! Find ways to step
out of your comfort zone. This is
where the learning happens.

*Developing Good Habits
Always ask questions: Asking
questions and questioning everything
around us constantly is what makes us
smarter. There's nothing wrong with
not knowing the whys or the hows!
Everybody has something that they
don't know. But by developing a
healthy habit about asking when you
don't know something, you'll find
yourself getting smarter and smarter.
Set goals once a week: Ask yourself
during each goal-setting session, how
many of last week's goals did I achieve? Why didn't I accomplish
some of my goals and what can I do to
give myself a greater chance of
success?
Constantly work hard to achieve
each of your goals. Without goals,
you would have nothing to hope for.
Reward yourself after
accomplishing your goal.
Be organized: You don't need to be
a total neat freak, but wasting
time is not smart. Of course, there
are many geniuses who are
completely disorganized (think of
the absent-minded professor) but
if you're making an active effort
to be smart, taking a conscious
approach to how you spend your
time is a big step in the right
direction.
Devote time to education: Educating
yourself takes time, and if you want
to get smarter it is going to require
effort. Don’t expect it to happen
overnight. You need to spend a lot of
time actively thinking and learning if
you want to really be smart.
Always learn. There are many
sources of information out there. For
example: books, documentaries, and
the internet. School is just one source
of information. If you have straight
A's, that doesn't mean that you are
smart. Exercising an open mind will
make you more intelligent and
constantly learning will help you get
there.

*Exercising Your Brain
Work on puzzles like the Rubik's
cube. Doing puzzles like these will
keep your brain working and increase
your mental capabilities. Your brain
is like a muscle: you have to exercise
it!
Sudoku is a great puzzle to try to
solve and it expands your thinking.
These can be purchased in books,
are often printed in newspapers,
and are easily found for free
online.
Do artistic activities: Drawing,
sculpting, painting and other arts
unleash your creative side and expand
your problem solving skills. A
creative brain can think outside the
box to find ways to get things done
better and faster.
Do math: Learn how to do mental
sums or speed math. The hard
thinking that is required for math will
make your brain work hard and help
develop the connections that will help
you think better and faster.
Write stories or poetry: Creative
writing forces your brain to work on
inventing situations and dialogue,
characters and environments. This
will make you a better thinker and
help you process information. Using
language like this will also improve
your vocabulary and speech. Writing
is also a fantastic way of expressing
yourself and your thoughts.

*Developing Your People Skills
Simplify: Talking about things that no
one else can understand does not
make you smart. Genius is the ability
to translate the complex into the
simple. Practice explaining concepts
to others. See just how simple and
clear you can make your explanations.
If someone doesn't understand you, it
is not their fault for being ignorant,
it is your fault for being inarticulate.
Learn to listen carefully to others'
opinions about controversial things,
or things they know about and you
do not . You do not have to agree with
them but remember everybody has
something to teach you. Asking
questions may allow you to re-
evaluate your own beliefs, or point
out the flaws in theirs. Keep an open
mind. The more intelligent you are the
more questions you will ask of the
people around you.
Be nice to people. Practicing
kindness in the face of challenges is a
sign of maturity, class and
intelligence. Remember that you also
have a lot to learn from other people.
Being kind to them will allow you
access to their lives and experience.
Who knows what you might learn?

Tips
There is more than one type of smart.
There's book smart, street smart, people
smart, emotional smart, technology smart,
and many other types of intelligence.

Creativity is its own kind of smart.

Know the difference between being smart
and being knowledgeable. Being smart is
not the same as knowing a lot about the
subject. Being smart means you
understand problems and can think of
ways to solve them. Being knowledgeable
means you know a lot about one or more
topics. Are you both smart and
knowledgeable or just one?

Meditation exercises the mind so you can
concentrate properly.

If someone asks you a question that you
don't know the answer to, ask them to
explain or to ask it in another way.
Maybe they have not framed their
question well, or they are being indirect;
maybe they are not asking a question at
all, but expressing another idea? For
example, "does this shirt make me look
fat" is not a 'real' question but a way to
ask for reassurance. If you have
determined that they really want an
honest answer from you, and you don't
know the answer, ask them why they want
to know, or the context of their question.

Once you understand what they want to
know, but you don't know the answer, be
honest and say you do not know.

Hope this helped.....Thanks for reading!