Steveer Robbins here. Welcome to the Get It Done Guys quick and dirty tips to work less and do more.

Today's topic is brilliant. Lionel writes, do you think it's possible to actually become brilliant at a really advanced age?

Parentheses, 21?

Ouch, Lionel, that hurts. 21 is a really advanced age.

We won't even think about what that makes me. Methuselah comes to mind. I love your question,

because brilliant people make better dinner conversation, and we need more of that. But why do you

want to become brilliant? Lots of brilliant people spend their lives

feeling cut off from everyone around them who aren't as brilliant. And brilliance isn't a path to riches.

In my experience, they're only loosely related, if at all, unless your brilliance is in finance.

Let's assume you want to be brilliant so we can have dinner together on my book tour in 2009.

Bizarrely, I have a podcast-length answer to your question.

Yes, I believe it's possible to become smarter at an advanced age.

Let's discuss.

Since you want to become more brilliant, let's start with your brain.

When you're young, your brain grows new cells and forms gajillions of connections, twice while you grow up.

Once when you're a young child, and again around age 16, the cells and connections that you don't use much die off.

So by the time you're at a really advanced age, it's true.

Your brain has certain things hardwired in.

These become your strengths that are lifelong and are so easy for you,

you can't believe other people don't think this way.

The book, Now Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham,

talks about these hardwired strengths,

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