3 Ways to Become Less Stupid

Do you want to know the secret to making good decisions?  

In this post I will show you my 3 rules that have helped me to become a little less stupid.

      Rule #1: Don’t trust your feelings  

Let’s face it. Feelings always change. Hunches come and go.  Our feelings our volatile. We can be blissfully happy in one moment and angry in the next. If your decisions are based solely on feelings, rarely will you make good ones.  Wisdom and good decisions go hand in hand.

The first step to wisdom is not to trust feelings; go against them instead.  I know that this is radically counterintuitive. However, I firmly believe this. It has saved me many times from making terrible life decisions. So, the next time that you ask, “What is the best decision that I can make now? Engage your mind first.

        Rule # 2: Make Good mistakes. 

      Ever since we were toddlers, we have all been indoctrinated to fear making mistakes. I remember when I studied the classical guitar at a conservatory how this perfection mantra was beaten into me daily.  Unfortunately, this approach crippled my playing to the point where I gave up playing the guitar for years. It took me years to undo the damage caused by these well intentioned, but unwise professors. 

Paradoxically, the road to wisdom is paved through mistakes. A good mistake is the one that you learn from. A bad mistake is one that you don’t learn from.  If you make it a habit to make “good” mistakes you will start to make better decisions and good decisions lead to wisdom.

     Rule #3:  Read good material only. 

      This is so important especially in our increasingly distracted world.  So how do you select good reading material? It is deceptively simple; ask this question the next time you are reading something: “Is what I am reading adding value to my life? If the answer is yes, then keep on reading. If the answer is no then stop reading it. Start treating your mind with respect. Don’t feed it garbage.

I sincerely hope that this post has helped you in some way. If it has please share it or even better sign up for my blog. 

What are some of your own rules that have helped you to become less stupid?