Motivation And Willpower Are Far More Important Than IQ

Motivation and willpower will always make the difference…

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The Intelligence Quotient, or IQ in its abbreviated version, is the result of a psychometric test aiming to give a standardized quantitative indication of human intelligence. Originally created to detect and help children in difficulty, the IQ Test was quickly adapted to be applied to adults.

Although the concept or way of calculating it may have changed slightly over the past decades, IQ has always been a source of fantasy for many people. Since the average IQ of an adult human being is between 90 and 110, people with an IQ below this average have always been predicted the world’s greatest difficulties in achieving great things in life.

On the other hand, people with an IQ above 110 or even 120 are considered particularly gifted. As a result, society generally promises them a brighter future.

The IQ Score Is Too Reductive

All these theories around IQ are very interesting but they do not take into consideration, in my opinion, several essential points. First of all, many experts now agree that it is ultimately very difficult, if not impossible, to define a human’s intellectual intelligence with a simple global figure such as IQ.

Presenting the result of a person’s intelligence with a number such that IQ is tantamount to suggesting that intelligence is a one-dimensional concept. This is a monumental mistake!

Indeed, there are many different types of intelligence and it is therefore not appropriate to retain only one number. It is much more relevant to characterize a person by his profile on the different components of intelligence than by a global figure such as IQ.

IQ Tests already evaluate several different components of intelligence such as verbal comprehension, reasoning, spatial visualization and memory. The main defect of the IQ score is that it does not show a person’s specific strengths and weaknesses in these different areas.

Emotional Intelligence Is A Key Element

Worse still, IQ does not measure a key element of success in society, namely emotional intelligence. The latter is a much more recent concept since it was born in the early 1990s.

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Generally abbreviated as EQ, emotional quotient refers to the ability to recognize, understand and control one’s own emotions and to deal with the emotions of others. This notion is finally quite close to the concept of social intelligence.

Many studies have finally shown that superior emotional intelligence gives more chance to individuals for succeeding in the professional world through a better ability to adapt to others around them. Indeed, people with strong emotional intelligence are able to create social relationships more easily and work better as a team. Essential assets to succeed in the business world.

However, nothing is ever guaranteed in life.

A Superior Intelligence That Becomes A Handicap

Whether we are talking about IQ or EQ, having superior intelligence often becomes a disability from the moment we are detected. Indeed, people with such intelligence and who are screened will have high expectations from those around them.

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An ultra gifted high school student whose IQ has been detected as higher than 120 will necessarily attract attention and we will promise him a brilliant career without even giving him time to choose his own path.

EQ is less measured, but I imagine it would be the same with a person who has been found to have superior emotional intelligence.

Being considered superior is never a good thing in itself because it puts additional pressure on you. A kind of obligation to succeed that can quickly turn into a handicap. I have seen many people considered to be superiorly intelligent feel a huge weight above their shoulders.

This weight is a kind of obligation to succeed given their potential. However, whatever your potential, nothing is achieved in life unless you make the necessary efforts throughout life to achieve high goals.

Analogy Between Talent And Work Among Pro Athletes

On reflection, I see a very strong analogy with pro athletes. Succeeding to become a pro athlete is very difficult and many parameters must be met for a person to reach this level.

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However, for some, this seems easy. Whatever the sport, we have all seen young athletes who are naturally gifted. These athletes have a superior talent that will allow them to fly over the competition during their early years and then reach the professional world in their discipline.

Nevertheless, once they have become professionals, they are confronted with a delicate problem to manage for them. Indeed, they have always dominated their opponents easily without having to work too hard.

Once they arrive in the professional world, they only meet the best athletes. In other words, the best of the best in their discipline. To succeed, they will have to work very hard in training! Since this is the first time in their lives that they are confronted with this necessity, many will fail and never fully exploit their immense talent at the highest level.

There are an extraordinary number of such examples. And I’m not even talking about the young, extremely talented athletes who fail to become professionals because they are devoured by the pressure put on their shoulders by their families…

Motivation And Willpower Make The Difference

All this leads me to highlight what really makes the difference to achieve great things in life. For me, there are two key elements that are motivation and willpower!

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Motivation represents what you want to do, i.e. the objectives you will define. The willpower represents what you will do to achieve your objectives.

As a result, many people are motivated to succeed in great things and to succeed. However, how many really have the will to do so? Very few finally because many give up along the way frightened by the work to be done every day to succeed.

Unfortunately, people of superior intelligence or high talent are often among those who give up or never really start the struggle to succeed.

Why? Simply because they do not have their own objectives or because they do not have a sufficient sense of work because of excessive facilities throughout their early years.

In other words, they do not have the motivation or the willpower to succeed and accomplish great things. On the other hand, people without immense intrinsic talent will very quickly develop the ability to work harder than average. These superior working capacities will become a major asset once they have defined high goals in their life.

Often, all they lack is the motivation to achieve great things. Once this motivation is in place, their willpower will make a difference and will allow them to achieve their goals at some point.

All this leads me to the following conclusion: motivation combined with willpower will always make the difference on the superior intelligence that it is intellectual or emotional.