What can I do to become smarter?

  Edna Henderson, former Owner/operator Small Business at Airbnb
 The smarter you get, the less you talk

4 monks decided to meditate silently without speaking for two weeks.

They lit a candle as a symbol of their practice and began. By nightfall on the first day, the candle flickered and then went out.

The first monk said: "Oh, no! The candle is out."

The second monk said: "We’re not supposed to talk!"

The third monk said: "Why must you two break the silence?"

The fourth monk laughed and said: "Ha! I'm the only one who didn't speak."

95% of all talking covers only two topics:

The person whose mouth is open.
Stuff that’s outside our control.
The first monk got distracted by an outside event and felt compelled to point it out. He could’ve just re-lit the candle.

The second monk reminded everyone of a rule that had already been broken.
He could’ve just kept meditating.

The third monk showed his anger.
He could’ve stayed calm.

The fourth monk got carried away with his ego.
He could’ve enjoyed his success in silence.

If there had been a fifth, wiser monk, here’s what he would have done: Remain silent and keep meditating.

In doing so, he would’ve shown each of the other four monks their shortcomings without a single word. The more you talk, the more likely you are to say something stupid.

The less you talk, the more you can listen. Listening leads to learning.

What’s more, whenever you’re maybe not talking, you've got time for you observe the situation unless you place the minute when it’s actually vital that you state something.

The less you talk, the smarter you can get.

And, perhaps not quite coincidentally, the smarter you get, the less you talk