Do these 4 things and be clever!

"In a drought, Tigers go hungry and die but the Jackal adopts and survives..."

Haven't we all felt extremely dumb at times in some company? Remember Joey Tribbiani and the Encyclopedia episode from F.R.I.E.N.D.S? How often do we have to pretend that we understand the situation and pretend to laugh happily while we rack our brains in frustration to understand what is going on?

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People often think intelligence and cleverness go hand in hand. Not necessarily. In fact, many highly intelligent people are not necessarily clever.

We have all heard the story about Newton making two holes in the door - one for the cat and one for the kitten!!

Being clever needs a lot of adaptability, judgement and quick thinking, Not many of us are equipped to exercise those qualities - especially, under pressure.

I have often observed Jackals go about their business around Kubu or Tshwene drives at Pilanesberg. Their alertness, even when seemingly dozing off often amazes me. They are bold but careful, very determined and highly flexible in their food habits. They adopt very quickly to any habitat - from deserts to marshy grass lands, from stark mountains to thick jungles. They are very hardy survivors. I have many pictures of the black backed Jackals like this one I took as the jackal stood, listening intently, to decide it's next move during it's prowling, with my Canon SX50HS camera.

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I have often wondered why we, the humans, fail to adopt to situations as quickly as the Jackals do. Why are many of us not clever enough to think on our feet, adjust our course and take actions to counter any threats or harsh situations?

I firmly believe that, doing the following few things will help enhance our cleverness -

Becoming clever...

There is no magic bullet that we could shoot in our brains to get clever. More likely, we would DIE trying of course.. LOL. Wrong metaphor. I am not that clever you see! Should I even be talking about cleverness? Well - there are some great 'dumb and dumber' brothers and sisters out there that may need my advice since I am relatively better off than them at using my brain. Everything in life is relative you see...

As Einstein frequently mentioned in his great theory of relativity.. (let me stop here. Who am I fooling? I have not read the theory beyond it's title!!). Anyway, without further ado - here are the things we must do to exercise that 'cleverness' muscle in our brain.

Become clever tip 1: Think of the worst thing that could happen...

We must get into the habit of analyzing 'What is the worst that could happen' in any critical situation. This prepares our brain to think of alternative solutions and trains the brain to react faster. Ever wonder why Laura Croft always finds a way out from the tombs with her path blocked by stone zombies - because she is running scenarios in her head as soon as she enters a tomb... Others blabber and stand routed to the spot in confusion and fear while she REACTS.

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Having a few alternatives already ready at the back of your mind makes you a winner when it comes to executing a strategy fast.

Become clever tip 2: Break a few rules...

Many of us are trapped with the so called 'rules' which are nothing but our own inhibitions or at best 'common wisdom guidelines'. We are hesitant to overstep those limits. Try being a 'Jack Sparrow' from The Pirates of the Caribbean for a change. (Oh boy - I am on my movie analogies binge today isn't it? I request you to bear with me. It won't last long - promise.) Jack wins because he does not follow the regular 1-2-3-4 marching order of the society. He constantly challenges himself to think differently and is not bound by the rules. The rule says the ships must follow a navigation chart but does Jack follow that rule?

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I do not mean that we need to become criminals to be clever. However, we need to be bold enough to be 'unconventional'.

Become clever tip 3: Pretend you are broke...

A life filled with comforts may dull our edge to be competitive and sharp. Remember those days when we all struggled - for a better job, for better opportunities or for achieving MORE in our life. Think, now that you have a comfortable life, do you try hard to solve a problem by being clever? Probably not. You end up throwing money at most of the problems - isn't it?

So think you are broke. Imagine what would you do if you had no money. You will find yourself thinking more and come up with very clever ways of solving any problem.

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Being poor does have it's advantages!!

Become clever tip 4: Pretend you have only 5 minutes to solve the problem...

Remember those instances when you were the intelligent one in the group but took too much time to analyse stuff and someone else came through with a solution faster. All the girls Ooohed and Aaahed and fawned on THAT guy and you were left with a brilliant solution, perfect but too late?? Even though you were intelligent, you could not be clever...

Rings a bell?

Well - procrastination kills a lot of initiatives. It also delays your conclusions and responses in real world situations. The ones who take decisions (some times even wrong ones) keep moving forward and are considered to be clever. Therefore, the best way is to pretend you have only 5 minutes to solve a problem. Cut through all the procrastination naturally.

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Imagine a situation when you analyse an Altcoin to death while the clever ones quickly apply the above 3 rules, take a quick decision and are in huge profits before you decide to buy. So - sometimes, do a quick risk analysis and then JUST DO IT!!

I am not probably super intelligent but I can say I am clever because I made all that up!! Use at your own risk suckers! Mu hahahaha. (Just kidding. My points above do have some basis such as this article and books such as 'Being clever for dummies' ( my work - still in progress... LOL)

In Conclusion:

Be clever as a Jackal - Be seen as a 'Jack-of-all'

Steemians, please comment freely to share your experiences, knowledge and views about being Clever. Thanks.

Note: All images except for the wildlife photos and the title image created by me are from pixabay.com. Image credit has been specifically mentioned for images not falling under these two categories.

Gif crafted by the Legendary @stellabelle for me