Am I actually smart?

Am I actually smart?

What makes me smarter than anyone else?

Based on my writing, you can tell I’ve read and experienced a lot.

Yet I still don’t feel smart.

There’s still so much to learn.

The more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know anything.

I hate when people call me smart.

It makes me uncomfortable.

Of course I know objectively I’m well read and have experienced more in my life than people experience in multiple lifetimes, but I never consider myself smart.

I got really lucky.

I had parents who showed me the value of hard work and was born into circumstances where education was the cornerstone of my childhood.

I was pushed into this.

My mom instituted discipline in me.

I also had people take a chance on me at a super young age.

Shout out to my kindergarten teacher Shashi.

She used to teach me in her spare time concepts reserved for grade 1s and 2s when I was 3 years old. At lunchtime. After school. I was doing more work than everyone else.

She obviously saw something in me where I could pick up concepts quickly but she also put in the time.

I’m not here without her.

I learned how to read fast, likely from my mom.

I know I picked it up from her.

So when you’re in a situation where you read fast, pick up concepts quickly, have parents that institute discipline and education is at the bedrock of your childhood, how can you not do well in school? It’s pretty hard.

Then I got to experience the world by moving halfway around the world at 17 for university.

What I realized when I got there was I was just as good as anyone.

I could keep up with the smartest kids.

The people in medical school were all top of their classes at their respective schools around the world. They’re the best of the best.

When I realized my work ethic and discipline could help me compete with them, I became more confident. I could compete with the best.

Yet through all of this, I’ve never thought of myself as smart.

I got lucky and put in some work.

That’s it.

That’s all education is.

Time spent learning different concepts.

People have different abilities to process information and different brain capacities, but if you commit time to doing something and are given the right circumstances, you can learn a lot.

Learning how to learn is the biggest skill you need to know as an adult.

If you can pick up new skills reasonably easily, you have a superpower.

Then it’s about desire.

What do you really want? And how hard are you willing to work for it?

This is what the best know – the game never stops.

Learning never stops.

There’s always more to understand.

Now this can also be a trap because you may run on a hamster wheel forever with no end in sight.

So you have to enjoy the process but also figure out your brain.

Understand yourself.

Understand the world by understanding yourself.

Become smart by learning about your mind.

You realize you’re smart when you figure yourself out.

So am I smart?

Maybe a little bit, but I still have a long way to go.