Intelligence Quotient (IQ) Vs Adversity Quotient (AQ) Contribution to Success in Life

“Smart people who lack the courage to take risks often end up bitter, as they keep witnessing less smart people with more courage do much better than them.”

I stumbled upon this tweet earlier today and was blown away by the truth in it.

Remember the classmates, neighbors, friends, or even relatives who were star kids back in the day? The ones who would top in all exams, ask complicated questions in class when the rest of you couldn't make sense of what's happening? The role models that your parents advised you to emulate for their brilliance and make friends with perhaps hoping some of their mojo would rub off on you. Where are they now?

A few are doing well in life as expected, however, most work in dreary jobs, facing the same struggles just like everyone else. It seems like somewhere along the way, they lost their Midas touch. Why?

See, success is typically predetermined by two factors in a child's life. Privilege and Adversity Quotient.

Privilege is a summation of advantages someone is exposed to from a young age often due to their parents’ social status. People who come from wealthy (and strong) families have the greatest chance of succeeding in life. Their family coffers and connections allow them to access the best schools, pursue any career without care of tuition costs, never have to worry about basic needs like food, shelter, or medical, and interact with accomplished individuals within their circles and in exclusive membership clubs who are also key decision makers in their organizations thus can extend profitable opportunities their less-fortunate peers would never have a sniff of.

Having incredibly successful parents, siblings, relatives, or mentors nearby offers kids a chance to learn vital skills like work ethic, goal setting, delayed gratification, healthy relationships, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, etc. Such kids gain bucketloads of confidence in life which is often confused with competence thus they easily soar in most spheres.

For someone born in privilege, all they need to do well in life is to build self-discipline. Stay off alcohol, substance abuse, and risky behavior, then spend your parent's unlimited resources and connections on your wildest business ideas until one works.

For pre-teens and teens, the criteria used to identify brilliance is Intelligence Quotient (IQ), which is a measure of a person’s reasoning ability, accentuated by their aptitude to grasp and recall concepts including numerical and theories. What IQ proves is that one can easily acquire knowledge and replicate the same when prompted.

Inadvertently, this teaches academically gifted kids that they are special. Invincible stars for whom life owes success. As they grow up, fear of failure and anxiety start to creep up on them. School is a controlled experiment with set rules and predictable outcomes. If you attend classes, work on your assignments, and study a few hours each day then scoring A's is relatively easy.

On the other hand, life out of school is akin to that of an antelope living in the African savannah, faced with numerous vicious predators who don't care about fairness. Every single day the antelope has to endeavor to run faster, improve their instincts, jump higher and stretch their acrobatic skills just to stay alive.

What disadvantages men and women who were star kids is their inexperience with the crippling pain of failure and disappointment in life. If you were such a kid then you probably have a cupboard full of trophies, received pats on the back from teachers, and kisses on the forehead from parents who constantly reminded you and the world of how proud they were. Basking in adoration, a taste of winning, and academic success is what you were used to.

On the other hand, people who weren't outstanding as kids know too well the pain of failing to meet their parent’s expectations. The disappointed look on their faces every so often despite trying their best. Being a laughing stock. Sadly, for most kids, this vanquishes their dreams and hopes in life. For a few kids, they turn these feelings into a catalyst fueling pursuit of their life goals.

Having disappointed virtually everyone and failed at more things than you care to count, taking risks comes easily to you, with the knowledge that failure is perfectly normal so you pick lessons learned and try again each time. This is what builds a person’s Adversity Quotient (AQ).

AQ is simply the ability to think, manage and endure challenges or adversities in life. Dr. Paul Stoltz, who conceptualized AQ categorized people into three types depending on their levels of adversity quotient.

Quitters – People who are easily broken by life challenges, choosing the easiest way out, quitting. They give up on a whim, choosing to blame everyone else for their misfortunes, constantly whine and lead miserable lives.

Campers – Not wanting to take up huge risks, this type is comfortable with low to moderate adversity. They are not persistent in their efforts and thus give up when it gets uncomfortable. Their cynicism balloons with age.

Climbers – They are true champions who embrace life challenges, fighting till they emerge victorious. Their persistence, tenacity, and internal locus of control enable them to remain optimistic despite prevailing circumstances, viewing adversity as an opportunity to learn. Regardless of the curveballs life throws at them, they soldier on until they achieve whatever they set out to.

AQ is an acquired adaptation that is built as one goes through the hard knocks of life, debilitating failure, sorrows, and challenges. Like a muscle, the more you face adversities and surmount them the higher your AQ levels grow.

Picture this, two kids who were raised by a violent and alcoholic father. One grows up to become an alcoholic and wife-beater because their father was one. The other son becomes a teetotaler, a loving husband, and a father to give his family all the things his old man never did.

Low AQ levels coupled with Dunning-Krugger Effect is the main reason smart people don't always do better than the rest of the population.

Smart people often overestimate their limitations and over-analyze opportunities choosing not to pursue them as the chance of success is slim. Where else, incompetent people lack the skill to recognize their limitations and often overestimate their capabilities because they cannot accurately introspect and ultimately attempt to go after things that are clearly out of their reach. Since life favors the bold, they end up succeeding in areas clearly out of their depth as the smart ones already eliminated themselves from the competition.

Case in point, technocrats who have brilliant ideas on policies that could revitalize economies shy away from politics while those in the executive refrain from implementing such policies for fear of political risks whilst men and women with limited knowledge often go for big executive positions and win.

Does this mean smart people are destined to lead lives less stellar than they could? Not at all. There are two approaches to building your adversity quotient, which can be approached from an age perspective.

A young person can build their AQ by seeking opportunities out of their comfort zone. Say a graduate engineer passionate about the creative industry can volunteer or take up a job as a photographer or graphic designer. Being in a field one is not formally trained in means you will need to start learning from the basics, which is a humbling yet fulfilling opportunity. In the process you will make numerous mistakes, delivering work that's pedestrian at best. Disappointment and humility are things you will acquire in tons as everyone will seem to know more than you do. A few months down the line, your skills will be improved and work of better quality. Venturing into a field you are completely green at, learning and ultimately becoming great at it builds endurance and the ability to take on bigger risks in life. If you surmounted an obstacle that seemed impossible at first then taking on new challenges feels less scary.

As we grow older and take on more responsibilities, our ability to take on risks blindly is severely diminished. You can't just take a sabbatical leave when you have dependents. For this age group sandboxing is the best alternative.

Say you are an accountant looking to venture into the events business. The easiest way is to buy a stake in an already existing firm, however, if your resources are limited or want to explore events in a niche that is yet to be exploited, which means higher risks, you can seek to offer your services pro-bono to a charitable organization that regularly organizes events. This will allow you to meet and deal with suppliers and other stakeholders involved in events, understand the risks involved, the intricacies of landing sponsors, ticket sales, publicity, and the ever-changing customer wants.

In 1-2 years, you can start charging for your services. To keep costs down, you assemble a team on a subcontract basis, only paying when working on a project. This will enable you to test affordably test run your ideas and restructure your business since often than not what entrepreneurs think is a brilliant idea and what the market wants are totally different.

By the third year, your business idea will be distilled, have a full understanding of the sector, have a team that is tried & tested, and a few clients who would be happy to send new leads your way. Should you choose to invest a huge chunk of your savings, the chance of recouping your investment is higher since you have a deeper understanding of the business environment and measures in place to mitigate challenges on your path.

Sandboxing is the best way to address risk aversiveness as you get to dip your toes into the treacherous river of risks without putting a lot on the line. You can also test all the different scenarios your over-analysis points to. Should the idea fail to take off recovering would be easy. Time and effort spent are rewarded with experience.

Being highly intelligent is definitely a blessing, however, how you respond to adversity, your willingness to move out of your comfort zone and take life blows to the chin determines whether you end up a bitter person or someone who explores their full potential, leading a life others can only dream of.

I wish you a rewarding year.

#MarkMaish #AdversityQuotient #IntelligenceQuotient #privilege #success #successmindset #theultimategentleman