5 Obstacles That Keep Smart People From Being Successful

Excellent grades in school and laudatory awards do not guarantee success in life. Even the most well-read geniuses are bypassed by unremarkable underachievers who make good money and occupy executive positions. Why does this happen, what’s wrong with smart guys and smart girls? And the thing is that intelligence is an advantage, only if you know how to use it correctly, know the value of yourself. What are the obstacles on the way to success that prevent highly intelligent people?

The Dunning-Kruger Effect

Smart people often belittle their talents, devalue their achievements, and suffer from insecurity. It’s about the cognitive distortion due to high intelligence-people with low competence have an inflated opinion of their abilities and are not afraid to take on risky projects, whereas smart people and smart women have a preconceived and skeptical view of themselves. They are afraid of failing to live up to their expectations, of being criticized, and of failing; this fear prevents them from realizing their inner potential.

A Tendency Toward Reflection

People with high intelligence are not accustomed to act impulsively, they need a plan, a thorough analysis of the situation, and a thoughtful strategy. Meticulousness in affairs, walking around the bush turns into an unhealthy obsession – they fixate on the problem, devote all their free time to it and do not look around. Sometimes you need to be able to let the situation go, switch to something else, think less and act more. If you can’t make up your mind about something – don’t rummage through the details, just get down to business, you’ll figure it out as you go.

The Inability to Work in a Team

Intelligent people grasp everything on the fly, are productive in business, and cope with tasks faster. This is their advantage and their curse, because when they work in teams, they assimilate information faster than others, after which they sit around and get bored. While everyone is getting into the problem, looking for the essence, the intellectuals go ten steps ahead, do most of the work, and take on increased responsibility. Naturally, intelligent people find it easier to do everything alone, they hate to delegate tasks, to adapt to the team, to notice the “meager” contribution of others. For this, they are often disliked, they are burdened with the most unpleasant duties, which ends in professional burnout.

Other Important Qualities Are Devalued

Another mistake made by smart people is that they focus on their one trump card – intelligence – completely ignoring other important qualities. The same mistake is done by those who start betting at 22 Bets and orient only on their cleverness, not on strategies. 

To succeed in life, it’s not enough to have a lot of knowledge, you need to use them correctly, to show diplomatic skills, to make customers fall in love with your product. In this sense, emotional intelligence is more important than logic. The ability to understand other people’s desires and motives, managerial skills, the ability to inspire and lead a team are valued in the labor market more than professional skills. You need to be a leader, a pioneer, a salesman with a tongue in cheek – then you will really have a chance to catch luck.

Rapid Loss of Interest

Smart people easily master the necessary skills, solve complex tasks, because of which the work turns into a routine – there are no interesting challenges, overcoming oneself, creativity. You have to perform the same type of actions day after day, the work becomes boring, monotonous, you quickly lose interest in it. In order to become an expert and earn good money, you need to endure this routine, to keep improving yourself in your chosen niche, but not to migrate from one activity to another in search of pleasant emotions. How do you fight boredom? Redirect your potential to various hobbies, sports, self-development, which will allow you to satisfy the need for new knowledge at your leisure.