I recently overheard a student saying that so-and-so was so smart, because he was in the top ten. Having had several children in the top ten — including a valedictorian — I can tell you that while they are indeed intelligent, they also worked EXTREMELY hard to achieve their results.

The belief that high grades are tantamount to intelligence is a cop-out on the part of many erstwhile good students. Let me explain…

When a student dismisses a classmate’s good grades by saying, “Well, he’s lucky,” or “She’s just smart,” what is the student really saying? This individual is making an excuse for his not having good grades himself.

It’s kinda like fat people saying everyone who is not fat must be using performance-enhancing drugs. Possible, but not probable. It’s more likely that fit people aren’t eat twinkies every day and mixing in a salad once in a while.

Feigning a lack of intelligence is often done to elicit sympathy from bystanders. Unortunately, it doesn’t work with the individuals from whom this sympathy is sought. Out in the real world, successful people understand that quitting is the only way to fail. Successful people focus on their own problems. (See tending your own storefront.)

In the end, this reductionist approach –grouping people by smart and not smart — will not improve the probability of success of those self-portrayed “non-smart” victims. Success leaves clues. Instead of complaining, find out what that “smart” kids did. You’ll find that the top achievers have put in the blood, sweat, and tears. They view the obstacle as the way, understanding Jim Rohn’s quote, “We all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.”

You can achieve anything you truly desire. It’s just a matter of desire and discipline. Abundance thinking is what we need to see, not victim thinking.