Why is attitude more important than intelligence?
Many learners often say, “I’m bad at this,” when they receive less than average results.
That is alright. Most of us are average at most things.
What is more important is for the learner to add, “But I am willing to improve and get better at it". This is the attitude that will help us succeed not just in learning institutions, but most importantly, life.
And the latter is what all learners and educators should practice and inculcate consistently.
Just imagine: These days there are so many news following the lack of moral practice in society. How gruesome. This entails attitudes of fellow parents or educators towards the young, between siblings, among friends and colleagues as well as the humanity at large. Our own dooms-day in the making.
Common sense would suggest that being intelligent inspires confidence. It does, but only while the going is easy. Living in the current era, nothing is easy, really.
At times, I think people are turning into lunatics. Too much stressors that have been swept under the rugs. Other times, I thought to myself perhaps all of these have been happening wildly since centuries ago but due to technological limitations, maybe we were not able to know about it too much too fast at an overwhelming rate as we do now. Time to take the bull by the horns now.
What good does it make if everyone in this world is super smart yet possess zero good attitude?
Imagine a nation filled with brains without hearts. The deciding factor in life is how you handle setbacks and challenges.
To achieve success, (and these are milestones of numerous events, mind you), it is all about one’s attitude while dealing with those “failures". Again, attitude over intelligence indeed.
How can we solve this from the people or soft skill’s point of view?
Here is a way: tune into your heart and connect to life from an angle of heart resonance where one can feel all the C’s: Calm, Curious, Compassionate, Caring, Connected, Creative, Confident, Clarity and Courage.
Since young in school, we have largely been conditioned to lead from our heads and to focus on logical reasoning. Let us balance it now.
Hence, people with good attitude believe they can improve with effort. They can develop self-awareness, figure out their weaknesses and move next towards a more positive change. They also know their limitations, thus being able to ask for help leading to a desire to learn and overcome negative thoughts or behaviours.
Do not stay helpless. Growing old is easy, it comes with time. Growing up, that is difficult. There is not a single correct passage to choose from. We are all products of different upbringing.
We want to see educational institutions free from issues such as sexual harassment, bullying, extremism, gangsterism and mental health deterioration. Therefore, implement the most basic things first. Emphasising lessons based on morality, religion, people or life skills and personality enrichment is fundamental.
What an irony if the education sector itself adds up to the problematic attitudes of the society.
With that, let us shift the education system to a needs-based approach and focus on the root problem before putting any expectation to be utterly intelligent and eventually over-achievers; leading to disappointment and dissatisfaction.
The outcome of sculpting life lies in our own hands.
SYAZUIN SAZALI is a Subject Matter Expert in soft skills. She aims to continuously advocate for progressive growth in education. Linkedin & Instagram: @syazuinsazali, Email: [email protected]
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of Sinar Daily.
