I have been seeing lately few ridiculous trending posts on social media that can teach us how to look smarter and richer even if we are not. And yes, you’ve read it right: these posts are ridiculous. I’ve always said that intelligence is a skill but I never thought that we would reach a day in which we have to even pretend to be intelligent while we can be idiots. As for pretending to be rich, Lebanese have always found a way to do that through buying high end brands (sometimes fake but pretending to have the genuine one), making historical fairy-tale weddings, buying the most expensive cars, phones etc. even if all that was done through a bank loan; and all that just to try to fit in the society. Just a quick note: I have nothing against high end brands or expensive cars. On the opposite, I appreciate the arts behind every genuine piece but if I can’t afford it along with my priorities, I simply don’t buy it and if I can afford it and I really like it, I’ll buy it.
The funny sad thing is that all these posts are featured on business blogs/websites that are supposed to be reliable and provide us with deep strategies that can lead towards success. They are posting strategies to be a hypocrite, a fraud. They are teaching people how to look richer, smarter and better than anyone else instead of actually pushing people towards learning how to earn money and how to improve their intelligence and reach higher ranks.
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hese posts are leading us towards a fake society, pretentious lifestyles and a trending hypocrisy. Standards are changing and if you are used to a legitimate lifestyle, you might be feeling isolated.
And now I will be sharing 5 ways to actually be smarter and richer although please note that I am neither smarter than you nor am I richer (I am not even rich); but since everyone is writing about how to be something important and everyone is becoming Aristotle or Socrates, I’m giving it a shot to be a guru at 30:
- Stop reading posts written by bloggers teaching you how to be richer. People who became richer have no time to write posts. Look at me; I’m writing this blog post and trust me: I’m relying on credit cards in my daily life.
- Stop reading posts teaching you to be smarter: be smarter! Read books, watch movies, improve your culture, improve your communication skills, try different perspectives and approaches, challenge yourself with things that do not fall within your comfort zone, analyze things and be realistic. Seriously, be realistic; if you don’t know anything about it, don’t say a word; just go and search. With the internet available in our times (even if it is incredibly slow in our country), we can get information about almost anything (except how Saturn’s aliens make their special lasagna filled with deep fried helium).
- Work your ass off and stop reading that bullshit teaching you how to be a fraud. If you want to make more money, you have to work for that to earn it. If you want to be smarter, you have to work on your skills to improve. You can’t play basketball by reading a manual or instructions on how to play. Experience and time can lead you towards life lessons which can never be standard; they are always related to the context of each one and each case. Remember, not everything can be applied for everything. If you are facing a medical issue like a headache, reading the symptoms on the internet will definitely mislead you towards overthinking about a serious medical case while all your problem is due to some lack of sleep.
- Body language can tell a lot about you and the people around but seriously, do not force it. It’s like fart, if you force it, it will come out as shit. Fake attitudes can also be perceived by smart people who can directly recognize that the person is pretending and is not consistent and trustworthy. And the same applies for reverse psychology. Yes it does work but I find it barely working on kids nowadays. Most of the people have used it and are able to identify its tricks. When someone tells you: “I don’t want you to thank me because I’ve supported you in your worst times, and I’ve been there for you even when I needed someone to be there for me and I’ve been and and and.”, do you really believe that they don’t want you to thank them?
- Be genuine because there are actual smart people out there who can easily uncover your lies/pretentious acts. There is no harm if you don’t know something. It is not wrong if you do not have the money to buy a Bugatti or a Devel Sixteen. But there is definitely something wrong if you pretend to know something that you don’t and that you pretend that you are something that you are not. Lies will always be uncovered. Time can be your friend as much as it can be your enemy. Learn how to use it wisely.
Dina Hajjar 