3 Things It Takes to Be a Genius (and How to Hack Them)

3 hacks to becoming a genius. 1. Raise your IQ with brain training. IQ isn't exactly your overall intelligence. It's more your ability to learn. Skiptocontent About Blog WeightLoss+Nutrition Women’sHealth Performance+Motivation HealthyAging/Anti-Aging CognitiveEnhancement SexHealth Skin+Beauty News BetterSleep Podcast Menu About Blog WeightLoss+Nutrition Women’sHealth Performance+Motivation HealthyAging/Anti-Aging CognitiveEnhancement SexHealth Skin+Beauty News BetterSleep Podcast BLOG WEIGHTLOSS+NUTRITION WOMEN’SHEALTH PERFORMANCE+MOTIVATION HEALTHYAGING/ANTI-AGING COGNITIVEENHANCEMENT SEXHEALTH SKIN+BEAUTY NEWS BETTERSLEEP BIOHACKING PODCAST COACHING SHOP UPGRADELABS DAVEASPREYBOX TRUEDARK 40YEARSOFZEN HOMEBIOTIC HUMANPOTENTIALINSTITUTE About Subscribe 3ThingsItTakestoBeaGenius(andHowtoHackThem) Intelligenceresearchershavetwodefinitionsofagenius:eithersomeonewithanIQofabove140,orsomeonewhomakesradical,enduringcontributionstotheirfield(Beethoveninmusic,Michelangeloinpainting,orEinsteininphysics,forexample). Typically,geniuseshavethreespecifictraits:highIQ,highcreativity,andexceptionalworkethic. Beingageniusismoreaccessiblethanyoumightthink.Withthetoolsinthisarticle,youcantrainyourbraintoraiseyourIQ,permanentlyincreaseyourcreativity,andbuildextraordinaryworkethic. InarecentBulletproofRadiopodcastepisode[iTunes],intelligenceandcreativityresearcherDeanSimontontalkedaboutwhatittakestobeagenius. “Therearetwomaindefinitionsofgenius,”Simontonsays.“IntheAmericanHeritagedictionary,itsaysthatifyouhaveanIQ(intelligencequotient)of140orabove,you’reagenius.AnIQof140putsyouinthetoponepercentofthepopulation. “Theotherdefinition,whichIuseinmostofmyresearch,isoutstandinganduniqueachievement.You’vegonedowninhistoryfordoingsomethingwhereyoureally,reallystandout.” Geniusdefinition:3specifictraits Simontonhasspenthiscareerstudyinggeniuseswhomakeradical,enduringcontributionstotheirfield—Beethoven,Michelangelo,Einstein,andothers.He’sfoundthatmostgeniuseshavethreespecifictraits: HighIQ Highcreativity Strongworkethic It’seasytothinkofgeniusassomethingunattainable—theresultofageneticlottery.Inreality,however,youcanhackallthreehallmarksofgeniusandincreaseyouroddsofmakingalastingmarkontheworld.ThisarticlewillgothroughthetoolsyoucanusetoraiseyourIQ,permanentlyincreaseyourcreativity,andbuildextraordinaryworkethic. 3hackstobecomingagenius 1.RaiseyourIQwithbraintraining IQisn’texactlyyouroverallintelligence.It’smoreyourabilitytolearn.ThehigheryourIQ,thefasteryou’llbeabletounderstandcomplexinformation. Speedoflearningisoftenwhatsetsgeniusesapartfromtheirpeers.Ifyoucanlearntwiceasquicklyastheaverageperson,you’llbeabletoaccomplishmuchmoreinyourlifetime. Theaverageperson’sIQis100,andthescalegoesupto140,whichisthetoponepercentofthepopulation.Thatsaid,youcanscorehigher—EinsteinandphysicistStephenHawkinghadIQscoresof160. Foryears,peoplethoughtitwasimpossibletoincreaseIQ.In2008,however,researchersdiscoveredthataparticularlychallengingmentaltaskcalleddualN-backtrainingcanpermanentlyincreaseyourIQ[].Sincethen,otherresearchershaveconfirmedthatdualN-backtrainingincreasesyourfluidintelligence—yourabilitytosolvenewproblemsquickly[][].DualN-backtrainingalsomakesyourbraincellsmeasurablydenserandstronger[].  CheckoutthisguidetodualN-backtrainingtogiveitatry.Savethetrainingfordayswhenyoudon’thaveanythingimportantgoingon,andmakesureyousetasidetimetorecoverafterward.It’sintense. 2.Increaseyourcreativity Geniusesarealsoalmostalwayshighlycreative,whichmakessense:ifyou’regoingtodosomethingnobodyinyourfieldhasdonebefore,youhavetobecreativeenoughtodreamintoexistencesomethingthatdidn’tpreviouslyexist. Thebestmeasureofcreativityis“openness”,oneofthemetricsintheBigFivePersonalityInventory[].TheBigFiveInventoryisthemostscientifically-backedpersonalitytestinpsychology(andbytheway,it’sworthtakingifyouwanttolearnmoreaboutyourpersonality.Youcanfinditforfreeonline).Opennessmeasurestwothings:howopenyouaretonewideasandexperiencesandhowinterestedyouareinabstractthinking. Therearetworeliablewaystoincreasecreativity(openness)long-term. Meditationincreasesopenness,aslongasyoudoitonaregularbasis[].Allittakesistenminutesaday.Tostart,checkouttheBulletproof30-DayMeditationChallenge. Psychedelicsalsoreliablyandpermanentlyincreasecreativity[],possiblybecausepsychedelicsdecreaselatentinhibition,yourbrain’stendencytoscreenthingsinyourenvironmentasirrelevantorunrelated.Decreasinglatentinhibitionmakesyoumorelikelytoseeconnectionsbetweenthingsthatyouwouldn’tnormallysee,whichincreasescreativity(especiallyifyouhaveahighIQ)[].It’sworthnotingthatpsychedelicsareillegalinmanyplaces.Youcanreadmoreabouttheminthisguidetopsychedelics.Alwaysbiohackresponsibly. 3.Buildupyourworkethic Theothercommontraitingeniuses—and,accordingtoSimonton,themostimportanttrait—isstrongworkethic.Geniusestendtoworkhardtowardsomethingformanyhoursaday. Whenyoucombinestrongworkethicwiththeabilitytolearnfast(highIQ),yougetexponentialprogresscomparedtotheaveragepersoninyourfield.Ifyouputin60hoursaweekandthenextpersonputsin40,andyoulearntwiceasfastastheydo,attheendofayearyou’llhaveabout6,000hoursinwork,comparedtoabout2,000fortheaverageperson. Thisiswhygeniusescandosomuchmoreintheirlifetimesthantheaveragepersoncan.StrongworkethicplushighIQmakesyouunstoppable.Andlikeeverythingelse,workethicissomethingyoucanimprove.Thereareafewwaystoincreaseworkethic: FollowtheBulletproofDiet.Whenyougetridoffoodsthatmakeyouweakandreplacethemwithfoodsthatactivelyimproveyourbiology,yourfocusandenergygothroughtheroof.TheBulletproofDietisdesignedtofeedyourbodyandbrainwiththebestfoodspossiblesoyoucanperformatyourbest.YoucandownloadtheBulletproofDietRoadmapforfree;ithaseverythingyouneedtogetstarted. Upgradeyourmitochondria.Yourmitochondriaarethepowerplantsthatcreateenergyforyourcells.Thebetteryourmitochondriarun,thelongeryoucangowithoutburningout,andthesharperyourthinkingwillbe.Herearefivewaystobuildstrongermitochondria. Challengeyourselfeveryday.Thisistheonethatnobodywantstodobecause,bydefinition,it’shardwork.Butthebestwaytobuildupworkethicistodohardthings,andthesenseofsatisfactionyougetfromsucceedinggivesmeaningtoyourlife.Learnhowtosetgoodgoalsandactuallyachievethem.It’llbechallenging,butoverthecourseofacouplemonths,you’llfindyoucanhandlealotmorethanyouthink. Beingageniusisn’tasoutofreachasitseems.UsethesetoolstoincreaseyourIQ,creativity,andworkethic.You’llbeamazedbyhoweffectiveyoubecome.   Youmayalsolike HackYourNeurochemistrywithCustomizedNootropics–Mr.Noots&MattGallant–#861 HowtoBoostYourAlphaBrainWavestoLowerStressandImproveMood HackYourLearningToMakeInformationStick–JonathanLevi–#642 YourBrainVoltage:MeasureIt,RaiseIt,ControlIt–PaulSorbo#619 IntuitionisNotaFeeling–JoyMartina–#574 BiggerBrainsfromAdultPlayandHypnosis:Dr.MikeDow#525 TeamAsprey DaveAspreyisthefounderofBulletproof,andcreatorofthewidely-popularBulletproofCoffee.Heisafour-timeNewYorkTimesbestsellingauthor,hostoftheWebbyaward-winningpodcastTheHumanUpgrade,andhasbeenfeaturedontheTodayshow,FoxNews,Nightline,Dr.Oz,andmanymore. 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