According to this study featured in Singapore Business Review, Singapore has the unhappiest workforce in the world.
From what I gathered from the ground, the displeasure is a result of 2 problems:
feeling stuck after realising their career progression isn't paying them enough to live their preferred lifestyle, yet fearing to take on new challenges or a career switch
earning a good remuneration but are overworked and lacking time to spend their money
If we are unhappy, why can't we get out of this situation?
Very often unhappiness is a result of feeling stuck in a situation we feel is difficult to unwind ourselves from. If a problem is easily solved, unhappiness is usually short-lived right?
Most of the time, these unhappy career situations is also partially affected by ongoing family & financial commitments. I've clients who have been telling me they want to quit for ages but are unwilling to start again. In fact, my career as a financial consultant tends to elicit a lot of interest from those with a push factor to leave. Many are attracted by the perks of the flexible hours and the fairly good remuneration. Just not the risk...
There's also the constant fear, what if I'm not smart enough to succeed like you?
In fact, if one is asking this question, I'm willing to bet many similar questions will end up persuading the person to stay unhappy and compromise.
Which is the reason for this article. I want to share my views on the idea of being smart enough and the development process. I think that overcoming this barrier of limiting beliefs would help an individual a long way in pursuing a more meaningful life.
The idea of being 'smart enough'
According to Carol Dweck's book Mindset, there're 2 types of mindset: a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. People with a fixed mindset generally believe their qualities are fixed and therefore cannot be changed. In other words, talent is a natural trait and thus cannot be developed or enhanced. On the other hand, people with the growth mindset generally believe that skills and intelligence can be developed. You can get smarter and improve your odds of success over time if you put in effort.
In my opinion, this idea of 'what if I'm not smart enough' is a fixed mindset limitation. In a growth mindset scenario, the question should be 'how can I become good enough?'
Once we establish this, then it brings me to my next point. The idea of being 'smart enough' is simply a case of how early we start to build our competencies. It's a matter of starting points.
A person who is deemed 'smart enough' for a particular challenge is simply reaping the rewards of developing the abilities required for the task earlier in their lives. This might be in the form of leadership roles in their school days, part-time jobs or entrepreneurship endeavours among other stuff...
A person deemed not 'smart enough' for a particular challenge is simply experiencing the consequence of not building the capabilities required earlier. However, this is not to say that the person is permanently not 'smart enough' because skills can be learnt and developed.
Won't late starters be disadvantaged?
I don't agree with this thought process. The idea of being disadvantage for starting late only becomes true if our effort and learning intensity is constant and equal. To begin with, if we started developing certain skills late, it also means we have been doing something else with the same amount of time. We would have other experiences and skills. Unless we just spring out of a rock and enter adulthood straight away, we aren't starting from zero.
Also, depending on who we are comparing with, the intensity of the learning and effort differs among individuals even if they seem competent today. Which is why I love the tortoise and the hare story.
Imagine Hare started training to run at the age of 19. Today he is a good runner at the age of 29. Hare is actually a fairly laid back person. He chose to train leisurely over the years hence he only managed to become a competitive runner after 10 years. On the other hand, Tortoise is new to running. He knows he is only starting at 29 so he trained particularly hard. During the race, Hare took a lead but because of his laid back nature, decided to take a nap thinking he is way ahead of Tortoise. We all know the ending, Tortoise overtook the sleeping Hare and won.
Now, if Hare trained as intensively as Tortoise, have 10 years of running experience, didn't nap, of course Tortoise would have a harder time catching Hare. That's life. If you start late, you need to pay your dues.
The good news is, most challenges in life unlike a race can have multiple winners. Within an industry, even if we don't make it to CEO in company A, there's still Company B, C, D... even within my own industry, there're multiple Million Dollar Round Table recipients each year. If we start late, we just need to put in more effort & work more strategically if we wish to shorten the timeline.
How can we become 'smart enough'?
Even if we have zero experience in the challenge we wish to take up, it's never too late too begin. We start by believing we can be smart enough and accepting that ‘smart enough’ is simply a result of our personal development. The only reason why some people appear ‘smarter’ is because they started earlier.
Once we accept we can be moulded to take up any challenge, then we simply need to start. In every endeavour we do, there will always be experienced people who have walked the path who can guide us. Eg: if we wish to learn piano, our piano teacher would have gone through the process of learning so they can impart us the skills. If we join a new company as an inexperienced hire, someone in the firm with the relevant experience would tell us how to get started.
As long as we are willing to take the first step, the rest of the process is on us. How fast or slow we learn depends on how intense we are willing to put ourselves through the moulding process. A lot of times, 'not smart enough' becomes a convenient excuse to explain away why we aren't achieving the results we want within a desired timeline. More often than not, the reality is we want to achieve what someone else did in 5 years within 2 years but chose to work at the intensity as though we don't mind reaching the goal in 5 years.
Is Intellectual Capability really irrelevant?
In my opinion how fast we absorb certain information may vary. However, this doesn't take away our ability to learn. A lot of times the determination to learn can more than make up for born talents. Think of it this way, if you play a game and you get a special character, if you don't level up the character, the special character would still be level 1. Fighting a level 5 monster is unlikely to give special character any advantage. In fact, an ordinary character if levelled up sufficiently might beat that level 5 monster while a level 1 special character might not.
Growth can be exponential over time
A lot of times, people make the mistake of thinking that learning frequency is a linear progression. I feel that learning typically is exponential.
A lot of times, our initial learning progress is the slowest. We do not understand the knowledge and take time to get accustom to it. Each person adaptation would vary. However, everyone who has learned the basics would be able to execute and apply new relevant knowledge faster. This is because of familiarity and experience that is derived from a deeper understanding of the topic. Then you might catch up and even surpass those who started earlier but are working with lesser intensity.
In Summary
Asking 'What if I'm not smart enough?' is actually a wrong question. It doesn't make a situation better. Basically, a fixed mindset limits growth. On the other hand, asking 'How can I become smart enough?' is a productive question. By seeking the answer to this question, one can move towards improving and eventually rise up to the challenge.
When it comes to personal development and growth, time is actually our friend. Whether a person is 'smart enough' is simply a result of whether they have developed the capabilities for the task earlier in their life. Even if we are late to the game, once we get past the knowledge crystallization stage, our learning curve will be exponential. How fast we achieve this depends on our determination and effort intensity. Most importantly, there can usually be more than one winner. Someone winning first doesn't rob you the chance of also winning.
After reading this article, you might want to explore a career in financial advisory or ask more questions, feel free to drop me a message.
Be sure to share the article if you feel this information is helpful. You will enable a lot more people to learn more about financial planning as a career.
About Janice
I specialize in portfolio optimization (ensuring you get maximum value for every dollar you put in) and retirement planning. I am also building a team of financial advisors who are committed to help responsible individuals attain their goals without misallocating their resources. Do reach out if you would like to explore a career with me.
Clients look for me primarily to outsource their retirement planning needs so that they can focus on other aspects of life that interests them. Many of whom are very good in earning their incomes in their respective professions and wish to ensure their monies continue to work harder while they focus on what they are good at. Refer to client testimonials here.
I've helped many clients who are referred to me reduce the costs they are paying for their insurance or help provide solutions when they deem they are stuck with huge commitments bought when they were younger but unsuitable for their present life stages. You can reach me at 94313076 or my social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram.
Disclaimer: The content created are based on my personal opinions and may not be representative to everyone or any organisation. If you have any doubts or queries pertaining to insurance or investment, please seek professional advice from a trusted adviser in an official setting. You may also reach out to me if you do not have a present adviser using the message box under 'Let's Talk'.
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