Comment by arscan | Hacker News Reader

Comment by arscan | Hacker News Reader

Awhile ago I realized that it was extremely detrimental to think of myself first and foremost as a "smart" person. Not because that self-image was directly harmful to me in business/the real word (though I don't doubt that it was), but because it reinforced very bad behavior on my part.

In order to protect my image of being smart, I would avoid situations where I could make mistakes or appear less intelligent than I thought I was. And so I wouldn't try new things, and I would stay away from any activities that could "out" me as not actually being smart. Its really a vicious cycle, and the result was that I was far less productive & useful than I should have been.

Now I try to project an image of being hard-working instead. It frees me from having to constantly worry about messing up -- all that matters is that I get the job done. And I think I'm much better for it.

It's great to hear someone talk about this. I've struggled with the same situation my entire life. When I was a kid I was constantly told by adults how bright I was, that I could do anything if I applied myself, and it became this odd burden despite the clear advantages of whatever smarts I may possess.

I've always wondered what my adult life would be like if a different perspective had been pushed on me as a child. Something different than 'you should be doing this at this level because you're so bright, you can do X without much effort even'. I'm hoping to not make the same mistake with my child.

Interestingly, there's actually at least one study that backs up your intuition here: http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/

I think the problem with thinking of yourself first and foremost as a "smart" person, is that there is always someone else smarter out there, then who are you when you meet them?

I agree with your post, that thinking encourages a lot of 'just stay in my small pond' behavior that's not really a good way to go through life

This sounds like a textbook description of research into "mindset": http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-secret-...

Have you not heard of it before?

Edit: Just realized SA has erected a paywall... That article used to be available in full, but apparently isn't anymore.

>In order to protect my image of being smart, I would avoid situations where I could make mistakes or appear less intelligent than I thought I was.

This only happens if you adopt the deterministic mindset that one is born smart.Things get easier if you subscribe to the growth mentality that one can increase her intelligence if she works at it.

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