I will start first by saying nobody is dumb or dull. It is just our focus and determination towards a goal that makes a difference. If you add enough drive and energy towards any goal or skillset, you will become a genius at that skill.
Today, I will show you some motivating steps that can turn you into an intelligent student. Take your time to read this article carefully as I will clearly explain some of the secrets for becoming an intelligent student. And at the end are some bonuses and tips for intelligent students.
Who is an intelligent student?
Before I go into explaining the steps for becoming an intelligent student, it is important for you to know who an intelligent student is. Most people confuse intelligence and smartness together. They are almost the same but vastly different.
Intelligence has been defined in many ways, some define it as the capacity for logic, learning, understanding, reasoning, self-awareness, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving.
So, putting all these together, when you say a student is intelligent, you are saying that student is of high and quick cognitive ability.
The student has the ability to understand topics easily, the student plans ahead, is creative, is always ready to learn, and always looks at problems from a solution point of view.
For example, we regard the greats of the physics world because they all have the same qualities of intelligence in their respective fields. The creativeness of Albert Einstein brought about the theory of relativity. Able to understand the topics of music and plan ahead is why Michael Jackson is still one the greatest.
How to be an intelligent student
It doesn’t matter what field you are in, even if you are an athlete, you can still be an intelligent individual in your field. Follow these steps to start your journey into success.
Step 1: Willpower
Willpower is the most important tip you need to become an intelligent student. This is the foundational level of everything, which is why it’s number one. If you don’t have this, you can progress to the other steps needed to achieve intelligence.
In other to become intelligent, it is important to be determined. It should be something you aspire to be. Have an indomitable, unbreakable will to be intelligent. Once you have this, other things needed will be easier for you.
Step 2: Consistency
Consistency is another key factor you should have if you want to become an intelligent student. You have to be consistent with your studies, reading every day, learning new things, and trying new things out.
Consistency is what sets an intelligent student from the rest. While others only read for tests and exams, an intelligent student keeps reading even after exams.
I know it can be quite challenging being consistent, especially if you have other things, you are doing and it can be easy to fool around or do something else than sit and face your studies. This is where step 1 of willpower comes in.
If you got enough willpower in you to want to read, you will make time and space to focus on your studies and not let yourself be distracted.
Any day you stop reading, your level of intelligence will begin to decrease. You might even start forgetting the things you already know.
Step 3: Engage in educative discussions
Research has shown that one of the best ways students learn in school is through educative discussions. This is so because the brain tends to store information passed through discussion quickly and for a longer time. For this reason, engaging in educative discussions is clearly one of the secrets to becoming intelligent.
When you discuss, share and learn information with others, you will never forget that information or knowledge.
This is why scientists attend expos, work in groups, have safe arguments about each other works. By letting others discuss your work or ideas, you see things from a different perspective that can help you out.
By doing this, you are developing your knowledge in a particular field of study. I personally learn through educative discussions. To make it fun, blurt out something contradicting and see how heads roll talking. My favourite is “Time is an illusion.” That always gets them talking.
Step 4: Study Regularly
In the words of Jim Rohn, “Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary”. Apparently, studying is one of the prerequisite things every student must do to become intelligent.
In fact, if you are not ready to study your books, then you are not ready to be intelligent. There are no two ways about it or shortcuts. Read your books.
There is no intelligent student you know that don’t read voraciously.
Also, you must learn to read regularly. Academics have proven that the more you read a particular text, the more you understand the content and context of that text.
For example, if I know what Neuroscience is all about, it will not be difficult for me to understand a topic that tries to explain how the brain works. Don’t get me wrong, I won’t be as knowledgeable as a Neurosurgeon but I can be able to contribute and understand what the Neurosurgeon is saying.
This is why intelligent students seem to know something about everything.
Step 5: Be Receptive
No man is an island of knowledge. You can’t know it all. One of the things that can limit your level of intelligence is not accepting or considering whether the opinion of others is better. To become an intelligent student, you need to learn how to be receptive. Always accept the opinion of others and try to understand their point of view.
Even when you think you are right, or in fact right, you should also listen to people so that you can learn from them.
You can be right about your ideas, but who knows, there could have been an easier way in achieving those same results you got.
1+1+1+1+1=5 at the same time 4+1=5. One formula involves five numbers to get a result and the other just has two numbers. Same formula but different ways of achieving the results, if you are not open to new ideas and thoughts processes from your peers, you could miss out on simpler and efficient ways of doing things.
However, in doing this, you should be careful so that you will not be deceived by others. In my opinion, it is important that you listen but be sceptical about their opinions except when they can fully show that their own opinion is better.
Step 6: Never run away from difficult topics
Honestly speaking, you can’t become intelligent by avoiding any problem you encounter when studying. It won’t help at all. The more you spend time on difficult topics when reading, the better you will understand those topics.
Now you may want to ask, “What if you are unable to understand at all?” The answer is simple. Whenever you are studying and you come across a very confusing topic, simply ask your teacher for a clearer explanation. If you are not in school then, direct the question to any educated person you know around you.
It is totally not advisable to avoid them because, if you are able to fully understand those difficult topics, you will find it easier to understand more complex and difficult ones.
This is why universities love it when students take AP classes or college inductor classes. It shows the admission offices at these universities that you don’t shy away from tough problems or courses and you can copy, adapt and comprehend the courses that will eventually come your way when you enrol in their school.
Step 7: Read broadly
Another step to becoming an intelligent student is by reading broadly. Students often take the words of their teachers trivial when they refer to other textbooks or authors. But these materials actually help in most cases.
If you develop the habit of going to read those reference materials suggested in class, you will see yourself growing more than every other student in your class. Reading those recommended textbooks will certainly boost your understanding of a particular topic to a very large extent.
Sometimes, even when you are not given any work to research, you can decide to research on your own about a particular topic. After doing your research, come to class the day that topic will be taught and see how it will flow. You will see yourself answering all the questions that will be asked.
Step 8: Learn practically
We can all agree that students love to learn practically than theoretically. It’s always exciting and invigorating to see what you read in a book live and see what works and what doesn’t. practical learning is great for students. The reason for this is that; students tend to understand better when they are taught practically.
Again, practical teaching has a tendency to be more fascinating and actual. Hence, students find it easy to remember and relate what they have learned to other areas of their study. The things you remember easily during examinations are usually those things you tried to visualize and make practical when reading for the examination.
Some people even prefer jotting things down with their pen to typing on a laptop, because it forces them and their brain to be active in the process of creating that new set of information. Compared to typing on laptops, where auto corrects can help predict your next text or correct misspelled words.
The point here is that learning practically will help to make you understand a topic better and also help to make you more intelligent. Trust me; this is one great way to become an intelligent student.
Extra Tips for Intelligent Students
Since you made it all the way here reading all the steps involved in becoming an intelligent student, I have decided to go further and offer some bonuses or tips on how you can even make this transition seamless.
Tip 1. Organize all your school materials. Whether it’s one week before school resumes or one week before school ends, organize your materials. This means all your papers, your folders, your binders, and everything you need for every class.
Throw anything you don’t need out! If your space looks like a paper hurricane just clean it out! The less stuff you have to sort through to get to what you want, the more time you save to do other, more important things.
Tip 2. Make yourself a study space. Do you know how they say never to work in bed? That is because if you work in bed, it suddenly becomes a workplace and not for sleep – we tend to associate activities with where we do them.
Have you ever heard of context-dependent memory? That is when your memory finds it easier to remember things in the place where it learned them.
So, if you study there one night, studying there the next will make it easier to remember what you studied before!
To take advantage of this, make a place at home just for studying. When you get there, your mind will go into the study mode automatically, because it is the only association it has with that place.
Tip 3. Make note-taking fun and memorable. If you are writing down every single word your teacher says, you are going to get so bored and have far too many notes to go over at home. Instead, stick to the important stuff and make it fun!
Turn sentences into charts or pictures. WWII started in 1945. Turn it into a drawing of a gun with WWII 1945 like a brand name written on it. It will be easier to see in your notes, too.
Use mnemonics to help you remember. What are the colours of the rainbow? Why Roy G. Biv of course! (Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain)
Use highlighters. The more colour your notes have, the more fun they will be to read. Develop a colour-coding system to help you find stuff quicker, too.
Watch More Tips To Becoming An Intelligent Student | Video
Conclusion
Honestly speaking, becoming intelligent is not very easy. It is not something that will happen overnight. It will take time for you to actually become very intelligent. This means that you must make the above steps part of you.
The day you stop following them, the day your cognitive ability will begin to decrease again. Remember, no intelligent student can be intelligent without reading.
So, if you really want to be among the most intelligent students in your class, those are the prerequisite steps you need. I hope you found this article helpful. If you did, share with your friends and classmates, so you can also help them be intelligent.
