AM I CAPABLE OF MAKING MY LIFE EXCELLENT?
CAN I HAVE CONFIDENCE IN REACHING THAT HIGHER LEVEL?



Unless genetically handicapped, each of us have the basic brain capability to do the necessary basic functions that we need to develop virtually any level of thinking and skills.  Thereby, we are capable of developing ourselves to become a powerful person.

We need only do the learning necessary to create the level we want, which will in turn create the level of life that we truly want!


CAN I LEARN WHAT TO DO?

Yes, you can, one bite at a time.  You have not yet accumulated some of the skills that permit you to learn more quickly and accelerate your progress.  When you do, it is like a geometrically (multiplicatively) rising curve of functionality in life.

You can make yourself sharper mentally in terms of your brain function by following The Care Of Your Frontal Lobes - The Key To What Creates A Happy Life and The Healthy Living Master Checklist.   When you are fully functioning in this way, you make better decisions, you feel better, and you function better in all ways.

Yes, I know, you don't believe you are capable of implementing the Healthy Living components.  But you can if you begin by taking little bites of the seeming elephant, so that you will build up effortless and automatic habits that provide a platform for your going to the next level, not of perfection, but of very high life effectiveness. 


AM I SMART ENOUGH?


Unless you are truly mentally handicapped, you do have the capability of making your life excellent.  Those who are truly mentally handicapped need some extra help, but they can achieve a good level of happiness, with coaching on specific thoughts and strategies; they will not be as capable as you are of devising what will work and challenging their thinking and beliefs. 

The Dalai Lama:  "Right now, at this very moment, we have a mind, which is all the basic equipment we need to achieve complete happiness."  

Of course, it doesn't happen overnight.  Skills and abilities, of course, take time and effort to develop (but the process has a net gain from early on).  You must commit to completing the process.  But your net benefit will be greater than the time costs as you go.  In other words, you'll be ahead from very early on in the process, feeling better and functioning better, as you tackle higher and higher learning - just like you did in school.

If you're ahead on the benefits versus the time/effort costs, then there is no net cost and no reason to stop progressing even further, creating more and more bonuses for your life - beyond, far beyond, what most people even achieve.


BE SURE OF THIS

EQ, or emotional intelligence, can be learned - and it is the key quotient that leads to success in life.

IQ is not closely linked with career achievement and happiness. Emotional intelligence has proven to be more important for achieving success and happiness than IQ.   

IQ explains less than one sixth of the income variance.  That means 5/6  are due to other factors.

Even IQ is not fixed, not set for life.  You can add some IQ points.  Plus you can add "wisdom". which is the knowledge of how things work and how to work them to get the results you want. 

Many people with high IQ are not very successful in life.  So the real question is the application of one's intelligence, so that you have "forward power" and learn what works.  You don't need to be able to do rocket science.  You need to just be able to do the basics.  Like learning how to add and multiply and to read and understand.  If you can do that, then you can succeed at the non-rocket-science endeavors, IF you apply your basic IQ.  

An IQ of 140 not applied to practical areas of life might produce a net result like this, with the % being the portion of one's intelligence applied toward a specific result:

      140 x 60% = Net IQ power of 84

A person with a rigorously applied 90 IQ points might actually do better than that super high IQ person.  (Starting in the 80's, one may actually have something in the way, and perhaps need more assistance.)
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If you need to lock this down further:

Do You Need A High IQ To Be Successful?, an article based on a book written by a specialist in IQ and brain function.   

If you have anything you do competently in life, you have the ability to develop any other basic area in your life.  However, you need to follow the brain health rules.  You might read the brief instructions in ehow's How To Increase IQ, or a longer list in WikiHow's How To Improve Your IQ..

Exercise increases your intelligence.  And learning to juggle increases the size of your brain and your IQ.




The Fixed Mindset Vs. The Growth Mindset - The difference between a defensive life and having a great one

BookMindset, Carol Dweck, wherein she proves the case that we are not fixed, even in IQ, and that the "I will develop it" mentality is what works to create success.

Also in agreement with that book is Succeed, Heidi Grant Halvorson.  Also excellent, plus lots of good stuff on how to create success.

The Motivation Manifesto

Excerpt:  We hold these truths self-evident: That all men and women are created equal, though we do not live equal lives due to differences in will, motivation, effort, and habit.

That we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, but that it is incumbent upon each of us to be vigilant and disciplined should we wish to attain such a vital, free, and happy life.

We believe the greatest of human powers is the ability to independently think for ourselves, to choose our own aims, affections, and actions.

For in the hearts of humankind lives a natural instinct for freedom and independence, a psychological predisposition for self-direction, a biological
imperative toward growth, and a spiritual joy in choosing and advancing one’s own life.

It is the main motivation of humankind to be free, to express our true selves and pursue our dreams without restriction—to experience what may be called Personal Freedom.

Brendon Burchard, The Motivation Manifesto