This Test Reveals if Your IQ Is Going Down

Please take a look at the word "Start" above my head, and follow the rectangle that stretches all the way to the right side of the screen. Imagine it represents the first time you adopted a limiting belief such as "I'm no good at math." That next rectangle, the one that points straight, up is you deciding that you are afraid of, say, snakes. The next one that stretches back across the page is your belief that your boss is an idiot, with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

Obviously, I'm making this stuff up, but feel free to fill in your own limiting beliefs.

Follow one rectangle to the other, going counter-clockwise. You'll see that each new rectangle creates a smaller space in the middle. That smaller space is the End Result of Your Life once you've eliminated all the skills you can't perform, all the people you don't like, and all the things you won't do.

As examples, here are some of the beliefs that lower your potential:

• All liberals are idiots
• All conservatives are idiots
• All moderates are idiots
• I can't {draw... do math... learn languages... get organized...}
• I won't do the things that scare me
• I won't interact with people who think differently than I do

The more limiting beliefs you adopt, the more likely you are to lower your IQ. Some will argue that you can't lower your IQ unless you hit yourself in the head or suffer from dementia. But if you close yourself in a box and only process information that reinforces your own increasingly narrow beliefs, then you are effectively getting dumber.

Here's the rub: it's tempting to think that only other people do this. Not true. We all have a tendency to do it. For example, some have wondered why I've recently started posting my own drawings on LinkedIn. It's because I've long lived with the belief that I can't draw, and I finally decided to challenge that belief. Rather than living with this limitation, I've set a goal of seeing how much better I can get after drawing daily for a year or two.

If you want to test yourself, make a list of all your limiting beliefs. If in doubt, add it to the list. Then keep the list around for the next week or two, and every time you complain about something or someone, add it to the list. If you end up with a long list, you're probably not acting as intelligently as you did a few years back. Then ask yourself:

What are you willing to do to break out of your box?

Bruce Kasanoff is a ghostwriter and advisor for a wide range of accomplished professionals.