The Genius In You

How smart are you?

It’s a question we all feel the pressure to prove our value for. Every test you sit, every exam you write, every show you perform, and every speech you present carries this hidden question. It’s a question you never see on the paper, but you feel it by the butterflies in your stomach, the sweat on your palms and the quiver in your voice. And it’s really daunting. Throughout school, college/TAFE/University, you put all your energy into writing dozens of assignments to prove how smart you are. You’re conditioned to think – no, believe – if you don’t get great scores on your finals, and graduate with a good OP/GPA, you won’t have as good a future as the “nerds” in your class. You’re taught if you don’t take the hardest science and maths classes, you’re not really a genius like they are. So you limit yourself to average standards because you don’t understand calculus and chemistry. If you ask me, I think it’s ridiculous.

I spent over half my schooling life thinking the same thing. I always thought I wasn’t smart enough, because I didn’t catch onto algebra as quickly as the ‘smart kids’. Then I finally realised it wasn’t the case at all. Let me make something very clear: just because you can’t do what society tells you ‘smart people’ can do, does not mean you aren’t smart, too. And don’t get me wrong, if you’re one of those math geniuses I’m referring to, you should be proud of what your brain can do. I totally respect that ability. I just don’t think the rest of us should be dumbed down because our brains work differently.

The fact is, if you’re better at English and arty stuff than maths and science, it just means your brain works differently. The left side of the brain is what you use when you solve mathematical problems, and all your logical thought processing. The right side of your brain is where your creativity and artistic flair is produced. You can train both sides of your brain, but one will always be stronger than the other. So if you’re at the stage where you’ve realised you’re pretty bad at Art but you kick ass in Physics, you’re probably a Left-brainer.

And there’s nothing wrong with being stronger either way. In fact, if we weren’t, the world wouldn’t have all the things it does. It would either be full of art or full of architecture. They’re both great, but could you imagine if one or the other were missing? Life would simply be incomplete. That’s why it’s so important to remember that, no matter who you are or what you’re good at, you shouldn’t compare yourself to other people’s strengths. In fact, everyone should celebrate the diversity of talents other people have to offer the world. Everyone is good at different things, and we need all of the world’s wonderful brains to make it complete.

So forget what people tell you, because some of the most successful people to ever live were once told they would never amount to anything. Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper for “lacking imagination,” and Michael Jordan was kicked out of his high school basketball team. If they had let that stop them, they wouldn’t have achieved the things they did. Need I say more? You can’t let what other people say determine your ability, your intelligence, and most of all, your amazing potential for success, whatever the word means to you.

Let me tell you something: you are good enough. You’re good enough because God made you exactly the way He saw perfect, and gave you everything you need to make the most of the genius you possess, regardless of the form it comes in. I’ll tell you right now, I couldn’t have passed Maths B in grade 11 to save my life, but I always knew I was great at English, so I worked my ass off and topped the subject for five years straight.

What am I saying? Find what you’re good at, and what you really love to do, and become excellent at it. Talents are like muscles: everyone has them, but you need to exercise them to make them stronger. And let’s face it, this day and age won’t promote you to excellence unless you put in the time. There are too many people on the planet.

It’s one of my biggest dreams to see the world embrace everyone’s genius, because we all have it in us. But just as Einstein said, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” We need to quit judging people by their math grades and science certificates. Maths is not the only way to be a genius. We should be teaching students to use what they already have, instead of trying to force their brains at something else. If you were meant to be someone else, you would’ve been someone else. It’s really that simple. Life goes far too quickly to waste trying to do something you hate, when you could be the next Einstein at the thing you’re already great at. A life worth living is a life worth loving.