Do you believe that you’re just average? Would you like to achieve more in your life, but don’t know how? Did you know it’s possible to get smarter overnight? Sometimes letting your smart shine is more about how you learn, not how smart you are. It’s about what you do to bring out your smarter self.

When I was in high school, I did not think I was smart. I looked at the kids who got straight A’s and wished that I was like them. I figured some people were born smart. The rest of us were less than. I was wrong.

I did not think that I could improve my intelligence. It is hard for me to focus. I’m a terribly slow reader, and memorizing information for tests was not a strength of mine. I still have difficulty with multiple-choice tests because I can always see several angles of a question. I didn’t get straight A’s like the smart kids.

Accepting that I was average, I went on to college scared to death that I would fail. I was so afraid someone would figure out that I was not smart enough to be there.

One question changed my life

Then, with one question, Dr. Blakeslee changed my life. He was preparing for certification to administer the Stanford-Binet Intelligence test and needed to practice. He asked me if I would be willing to help him out and take the test. I agreed, but I was afraid he was the one. He was the one who was going to find out that I was not smart enough to be in college.

I held my breath when he called me in to share the results. To my surprise, I scored in the high average range. He was puzzled because I correctly answered some exceedingly difficult questions, yet, got two easy questions wrong. I would have scored in the superior range if I had not missed the two easier questions. He said, “I don’t understand how you could get this difficult question but miss these easy ones.”

The fact that I got easy questions wrong did not surprise me. It was the story of my school life. That’s why I thought I was not smart.

But again, I was wrong about myself. I was smart, but I didn’t realize it. The way I learned was not aligned with the way schools test, grade, and measure students.

Dr. Blakeslee changed my life with that test. Once I realized I was smart, nothing would stop me from figuring out how I learned best. I threw out study methods I was taught in school that did not work for me and figured out what worked for my brain.

I learned how to get smarter overnight. The first step was believing I was smart enough to learn.

Since my college days, I’ve dedicated my life’s work to education. Through extensive research, I found ways to help others learn fast and achieve more. Average is no longer an option. Reaching your highest potential is possible. And guess what? It’s not that hard! Once you know how to get smarter overnight, you’ll achieve more than you ever thought possible!

Five ways to get smarter

To help you get started, I’m going to share five tips to learn fast and achieve more:

1. Use technology that’s available to you. Technology will help you be more efficient and save you time with your learning. For example, use the Video Speed Controller browser plug-in to speed up or slow down webinars. This can save you hours! I find listening to webinars at 1.75 speed also helps me stay focused.
2. Find alternative sources to learn information. Often, the way information is presented is not how you learn best. Find the information somewhere else. Because of the internet, we have access to infinite amounts of information! Find videos on YouTube, or other classes on-line that present the topic in the way you learn best. Find infographics on the topic by searching Google Images. If you are a hands-on learner, ask someone to show you! Don’t be afraid to deviate from the canned program to get a better understanding of the topic! Of course, be certain to ensure that your source is credible.
3. When you’re taking in information, make sure to record key takeaways. Sometimes, we’re overwhelmed with the quantity of content. Stop often and jot down key points. Better yet, record the most important things using your phone’s voice recorder. Writing or speaking key points will help you to remember them.
4. Create a focus friendly environment. Distraction is the killer of focus. I understand it’s often harder to do during this COVID-19 environment. If you are working remotely, you might be dealing with challenging circumstances. Possibly, the entire family is home, you’re homeschooling your children, or household tasks are beckoning. I recommend investing in noise cancelling headphones. It’s amazing how much difference they will make in your ability to focus!
5. Build in the time to reflect on what you’ve learned. Give yourself some time to let your brain process what you’ve learned. Take time to move. Take a walk around the house, or if you’re at work around the building. Walk outside. Fresh air does wonders. Do something to give yourself quiet time to reflect on your learning.

Ten tips to Shock Your Potential

By uncovering how your brain takes in information, you’ll learn faster. Do what works for you to reach your highest potential. You’ll get smarter overnight!Listen to my guest episode, Learn Fast and Achieve More in Your Career, on the Shock Your Potential Podcast. Podcast host, Michael Sherlock and I discuss my top ten tips on the topic. I invite you to listen here: https://www.shockyourpotential.com/2020/10/08/learn-fast-achieve-more-in-your-career-susan-fitzell/

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Then there are the days where the audience is overwhelmingly extroverted and there’s a low rumble in the background all day. Extroverts process their learning by talking their process. I do get complaints on these days that some audience members can’t hear. Of course, I’m an extrovert, so these days are very energizing for me. I have tons of energy flying around the room to keep me going!

I taught high school for most of my career. I also taught a third/fourth grade, did some work through my Master’s program with second, fourth and fifth grade and did anger management work with middle school as well as high school students. Now that I teach adult learners much of the time, I’m fascinated at how the personality of learners creates the same dynamic in any learning environment, regardless of the age of the learner. It reminds me every day of the key question teachers ask themselves, “How do I reach every learner in my classroom?” I have tremendous respect for how hard teachers have to work to create a successful learning environment for all learning styles.

I got some fantastic strategies and tips from my audience today. Given the hour, I plan to collect the tips this week and post them next week when I’m back in the office for a few days. Please check back for some very cool strategies, tips and resources from the trenches.

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