HyperIntelligence and The Entrepreneur

 

NOTE: I am not a neuroscientist, nor a licensed mental health professional. This article is bro science as shit, but if you're a Warrior Strategist fan, you realize that creativity and honest thought/observation is a part of my life. That and Iron Man comic books. - Rob

I've been called stupid my whole life. Well into my 30s. 

After awhile you start to believe it. And you start to think something is wrong with you because you don't see the world like everyone else. 

In school my grades were up and down. I had a lot of trouble focusing. My family issues were probably a contributing factor but I cant isolate that as a primary variable. (In 9th grade, my report card was straight Ds and Fs, but I had been reading 3-4 grades ABOVE my grade level since I was about 8.) 

In my 20s I started gaining hyperintelligence. It was like that movie Phenomenon with John Travolta. I started being able to "see" patterns and understand causal relationships. 

In my 30s, I had another burst and it helped me as I enrolled in Doctoral studies. I found a book that explained EVERYTHING about my learning style. 

Successful Intelligence by Sternberg. 

Dr. Sternberg was placed in remedial classes as a child because he had severe test anxiety. He hated standardized tests and had poor grades. He went on to become a Professor at Cornell. He taught at Yale. He was also the President of the University of Wyoming. 
13 Honorary Doctorates. 

Testing almost doused this tiny flame before it even had a chance to burn brightly. 

Sternberg states that there are 3 types of intelligence:
Analytical - Logical, math strong, single solutions to problems
Creative - Imaginative, wide spatial intelligence, a need to "make" things
Practical - Street smart, can see through roadblocks and maximize minimal resources 

Society doesn't reward creatives. How many rich artists do you personally know? 

We take SATs so that we can go to college. The highest paying jobs are either heavily technical, math based, or require a LOT of tests. 

So for a guy like me that is highly creative, I never had a chance. I love skateboarding, drawing, music, comic books, video games, colors, shapes, and cooking with flair. 

Now, back to hyperintelligence: I define it as simply having an advanced form of cognitive processing. 

I see it in 4 forms:

💥Educational 

💥Experience 

💥Prodigy

💥Genius 

Educational is when you have so much learning (classroom or autodidactic) that you gain above average comprehension on a topic  

Experience is when you are exposed to something and spend enough time to where patterns emerge, spatial intelligence widens and routines and processes become very easy to recite

Prodigy is having a skill at a very young age. Its usually in a concentrated area like chess, music, etc 

Genius is your Good Will Hunting example. Being able to apply a higher thought process to nearly any situation

Hyperintelligence can be derived from any of these four. But sometimes it comes with a cost. 

Hyperintelligent people feel alone, ostracized, sometimes teased for their gifts. They dont always feel comfortable in a social setting and for those on the autism scale, its three times as confining when you throw in proximity and sensory overload issues. Its also frustrating for them when it feels like the ENTIRE world is slower than them in certain areas. 

Turning Hyperintelligence Into a Strength

If you recognize hyperintelligence in your life or someone you know, there ARE ways to isolate it, and use it to create a rich and robust life. 

Hyperintelligent people make amazing entrepreneurs. They are self starters, have an independent spirit and by going into business for themselves, can shine in their zone of genius. 

I could've been a technical writer. Commute, cubicle, coworkers. $30 an hour. 

OR

Launch a magazine, become a consultant, work from home, and charge $750 a call to a global audience. The best part? I get to do work that I alone choose and LOVE doing!! 

For hyperintelligent people there are five things I recommend:

1. Go into business for yourself. Figure out what youre better at than most people and remember that even general consulting is monetizable. 

2. Build a team so that you can farm out admin and side work. You just want to be working in your skillset. 

3. Consulting is the best way to utilize your skills. You have creative control, YOU choose your rates, and you can control what goes in the contract. 

4. Accept an asymmetrical lifestyle. You are not a 9-5er. If you want an hour each day to meditate, TAKE IT. Accept that you can create any life you want and that the universe has handed you gifts. No one will judge you if you reward yourself with perks. 

5. Find your tribe. Don't self isolate. This one is HUGE. Yesterday I went to Mission Valley Mall and wrote down my friends in San Diego. The list hit 32 and I realized that a LOT of these people have fallen in the cracks of Covid and that I haven't been a good friend following up with them. I'm going to fix that ASAP. As a hyperintelligent person, my natural instinct is to shut out the world. This leads to isolation, depression, and low self esteem. You have more to offer the world, so seek out other people. 
We need human contact. 

In summary, being hyperintelligent, regardless of which type, will make you deliciously weird and a lot of fun. Don't worry about the world judging you, figure out what you excel at and make your career out of it. 

If you have questions, please ask them in comments below! - Rob