Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life: How to Unlock Your Full Potential for Success and Achievement

THE DEFINITION OF INTELLIGENCE
Some years ago, the Gallup organization interviewed 1,500 very
successful men and women in a search for some of the common de-
nominators of success. But when they asked them to define “intelli-
gence,” they got an unexpected answer.
The top people in the survey defined intelligence not so much
as IQ or good grades in school, but more as 
a way of acting
. Intelli-
gent behavior was defined as doing only those things that moved
them toward their goals. They defined intelligence as the ability to
systematically eliminate those time-consuming activities that did
not help them to achieve their goals, or even worse, moved them
away
from their goals.
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GET SMART
Whenever you are doing something that is moving you in the direc-
tion of your own self-professed goals and ideals, you are acting in-
telligently. This is true irrespective of your education or your IQ.
This is why there are many people of average intelligence or who
did poorly in school who are accomplishing far more than people
with university degrees. These high achievers focus more and more
of their time and energy on activities aimed at accomplishing only
those goals that are most important to them.