Matshona Dhliwayo's Blog - Posts Tagged "career"

1. Brainy people are intelligent, but not always wise. Wisdom, not intelligence, is what truly distinguishes you in life.  Intelligence only takes you to the mountaintop, but wisdom takes you to the stars.  This is why professors are only honored for a year or two after they die, but sages are honored for centuries.
2. Creativity is more important than intelligence to many employers. The ability to provide customers new products and services is what sets companies apart.  If a ‘C’ student provides creative solutions and an ‘A’ student does not, it is highly likely that the ‘C’ student will earn the promotion.
3. Brainy people sometimes lack perseverance. They are used to easily getting A’s; they have never truly struggled, and so lack the inner strength to get to the mountaintop.  In life, those with heart certainly outdo those with ‘smart’.
4. Low E.Q (Emotional Quotient). Reading books will get you to the door; reading people will get you inside.   I.Q gets you the job; E.Q gets you the promotion.
5. They lack intellectual humility. ‘Knowledge puffs up’ an ancient Jewish Theologian observed.  Because acquiring knowledge comes easily to brainy people they may be tempted more than the rest with intellectual snobbery, which always hinders growth, as arrogance is the chief enemy of learning.
6. Not fun to be around. Brainy people are not always fun to be around, but successful people are almost always likeable people.  Whether people or ideas, people almost always buy products or ideas from people they like.  So, if one can only relate to equations or ideas, and not people, it limits one’s potential to rise to the top greatly.
7. They have fewer connections. As the old saying goes, ‘The squeakiest wheel gets the grease’; but if one is introverted, no matter how intelligent or well meaning they are, someone of lesser intellect and suspect intentions will rise above him.  It’s not only what you know, but who; introverts tend to know fewer people and therefore, have fewer connections, limiting their networking opportunities.
8. They don’t experience life. We don’t always learn the best lessons from books but from life.  Lessons other students learn outside the classroom, brainy students miss out on.  But life is the world’s greatest university, and experience is the world’s greatest professor.  If you miss out on her lectures, you will miss out on her invaluable wisdom.

1. Self-fulfillment. More important than money, fame, and power is self-fulfillment. If you love painting, you will never be fulfilled doing something else, even if that thing earns you hundreds and thousands of dollars. The only way to feel whole is to do work you love, for work you love gives you the kind of joy and satisfaction you can’t find anywhere else.
2. You are more likely to excel. There is no greater force or power than love. When you love doing something, you are likely to spend more time doing it, inevitably becoming good at it, and are, therefore, more likely to succeed at it. Your energy for learning and executing work you love is boundless.
3. You are easier to work with. When doing something you love, you easily put petty things like ego and jealousy aside. It is about the work and not about you—about achieving the ultimate objective. As a result, you become easier to work with—easier to teach and learn from.
4. Life is better. As you spend much of your life at work, it is only natural that life becomes easier if you do work that you love. Hours you spend at work add up to days, days add up to months, and months add up to years. You might as well spend them doing work that naturally comes to you; peace will effortlessly flow from it.
5. You are more likely to add to the discipline. Throughout history, those who have either innovated or originated have had one thing in common: they immersed themselves in work they loved. This is because, when you love something, you are curious about it; when you are curious about something, you study it; and when you study it, you discover all sorts of things about it. It is no wonder, then, that doing work you love increases your chances of adding to that discipline.
6. You can achieve your highest potential. Your mind functions at its best when doing work you love; so do your heart and soul. You are able to give your finest performance, thereby achieving your highest potential in the process.
7. Financial rewards. As you are more likely to excel at doing that which you love, you are more likely to earn more doing it. The greater your love for something, the greater the energy you will pour into it. People pay well when you exert your mind at something, better when you exert all of your heart, and best when you exert all of your soul. Your financial rewards are in proportion to doing work you love.
8. You were born to do it. If you were born to do something, there’s no reason to do something else. You were born to do work you love, not work you hate. Your passions point to your purpose; your purpose points to the reason why you are still breathing. If you are not doing what you were born to do, you are no better than the dead. As you were birthed for a purpose, be inspired to live purposefully.