We’ve all heard it spoken. He hasn’t got a lick o’ common sense. Or, she may be book smart, but she lacks street smarts.
Turns out that common sense is not so common and that to go with your gut could be at your own peril. Yikes!
Before you panic though, you’ll be glad to know that human gene pools come hardwired with a unique mix of inner and ethical smarts. Each time you act with courage and honesty – for instance – you grow more. How so?
Common sense, since it connects to IQ, can be taught, mimicked, tracked and grown. Not fixed, intuitive intelligence grows with use.
You’ll see inner smarts in those who rebuild confidence and hope after Hurricane Sandy. Spot inner wisdom in those who reach out to help others, even after facing calamity themselves.
Wisdom Chases Choice
Common sense may be as simple as choosing to walk forward, as Seuss’ suggests:
Don’t cry because it’s over, but smile because it happened.
Or it may be as complex as looking through another’s eyes with compassion and stepping up to rebuild peace in uncomfortable situation or when conflict strikes.
Thomas A. Edison showed why common sense is far too rare, in his observation:
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
Personal IQ in Your Gene Pool?
Intuitive IQ may feel fixed and at low levels when stress strikes or you panic and strike back. Brainpower to lead calmly may seem beyond your reach when disappointment leaves you in puddles of regret. The opposite is actually true though.
Personal IQ increases through daily choices you make – especially in difficult situations. Luckily your working memory comes equipped to help. How so?
Smile through a challenge you encounter, or care for those who don’t, and the brain rewires for higher intuitive IQ. One simple choice, it turns out, can literally spark new mind-bending possibilities.
Worth chasing common sense that reboots brainpower?
Common Sense Equals Intelligence
Also known as intrapersonal intelligence, common sense runs alongside Howard Gardner‘s 7 other distinctive intelligences. It fuels the brain with inner strength, which is why it stands as sentient in MITA’s International Brain Center.
We’re in dire need of common sense Daniel Goleman names as emotional intelligence. Others say it’s intuition, and Einstein claimed it won him the Nobel Prize. What do you say?
New research shows this inner IQ includes hunches, where soldiers in battle make fast judgment calls. It’s introspection when you grasp a clearer concept that guides good personal choices.
Have you seen intuitive smarts valued where you work? Has your organization favored that junction where people become capital, and where ethical practice precedes profit?
My question is:
What does common sense look like in the brain and how does it ramp up?
Rev Common Sense by Stalling its Enemies
We see higher intuitive IQ when tone communicates goodwill, even among those who disagree. In contrast, have you seen inner smarts nosedive when a bully or cynic strikes and you hit back?
It packs a punch when faith’s alive, yet looses steam when ethics stall. Its loss torments victims with regret, blame or cynicism, so that their brains default to ruts. It appears less in toxic workplaces, and fades quicker from people easily overwhelmed.
Common Sense and Self-Awareness
You feel it most alive when you’re content to enjoy a dinner alone at times, or when you unleash talents to celebrate your call. You’ll crave its magic moments though, whenever you’re lonely or stuck in sad spots while people around you move forward with content.
Inner IQ can be taught to others, though not lectured or delivered well. Thanks to the regeneration of dendrite brain cells, common sense is learned best by those who act. How so?
- Think before you speak and you’ll snip your amygdala so that words can build goodwill, and you’ve upped your own and other’s brainpower for common sense.
- Log your challenges for a day, and then list possible solutions you plan to try – and personal intuition begins to grow. Create and try the solution that rewires for ongoing change!
- Improve personal tone at work, so that others see you speak calmly and learn humbly from those who differ, and you’ve already expanded inner smarts along new neuron pathways.
- Create space in your day to play, do hobbies, laugh, care, question from within your spiritual self, and watch unique intelligences bloom into vibrant colors you most enjoy.
- Leapfrog over ruts in favor of taking risks for a finer place, and intrapersonal intelligence jumps to your aid with unexpected dividends, that those caught in ruts with merely crave.
While it’s in the actual doing of related tasks, that brains reshape for more of the same, you’ll likely think of better gigs than mine. Whether your own or mine listed here, intrapersonal tasks launch finer proclivity for a deeper you.
Thanks to intrapersonally intelligent leaders who inspire the charge for renewal and who engage deep common sense to stir renewal to replace tired and broken systems today. Where’s your common sense?
YOUR TURN! Join our Brain Based Circles! Would love to meet you at any of the following!
Brain Leaders and Learners Blog
Mita Brain Center Facebook
efweber on Pinterest
@ellenfweber on Twitter
ellenfweber on Instagram
Ellen Weber on Google+
Ellen Weber on LinkedIn
Created by Ellen Weber, Brain Based Tasks for Growth Mindset