Guts Without Intelligence (Otherwise Known as “Stupidity in Action”)

Motivation. Guts. Chutzpah.

Whatever you call it, when it comes to achieving goals, it all means the same thing:

“The willingness to take action and try something, even if the chance of success is low.”

Great sentiment, and a very useful too. However, gumption on its own is not by any means enough, as I recently saw.

One of my Facebook friends, Megan Reilly Kristel (pay careful attention to her name) posted an interesting status update recently:

I’ve decided to start posting all of the stupid emails I get asking for a job, because I can’t deal with it alone anymore. Here is today’s winner:

“Hi Kristel! I was wondering if you hiring by any chance? If not now, maybe in a nearest future or next year sometime? I am passionate shopper with no experience in retail but I would love to learn from scratch and help people to look amazing.”

How many things do you see wrong with this? 

Wow. Just…wow…

Take a long look my friends, because that’s the future talking to you.

Let’s answer Megan’s question and see how many things we can find wrong with that email. Let’s ignore the big picture ones about “not providing a compelling reason why the recipient should care about you,” and, “not offering any value,” and just go with the basics:

• Messing up your contact’s name. “Kristel” is her last name, not her first. If you don’t bother to pay attention to a minor detail like that, why would a person want to hire you?
• Typos – “I was wondering if you hiring…” Really? “…you hiring…”? I feel that sentence needs to start with a “Yo!” Like, “YO! You hiring??” Then it might work As is, her first two lines start with a) mistaking the contact’s last name for her first and b) a typo that makes her sound stupid
• Grammar – It doesn’t get much better. The next line, “If not now, maybe in a nearest future…” boggles my mind. I can’t think of a scenario where, “maybe in a nearest future,” makes sense. I would think that if the sender had just read over the email once before sending, some of these problems would have been caught. 

Perhaps I am being unfair. Maybe the sender’s first language isn’t English. But if that was the case, shouldn’t she have asked someone to look over her email first??

As sad as that email is, I was even more shocked when someone posted this response:

“I see a desperate person who simply needs a job to eat and put a roof over her head. Like so many millions of others. Who cares how she said it. She has guts to want to try and that’s the real message.”

No. No it’s not.

A truly desperate person would have done whatever it takes to maximize their chance of success. By doing simple things like checking their grammar, reading through their message before hitting “send,” and not confusing the recipient’s first and last name!

No, this is not an example of a desperate person with guts. This is an example of a stupid person who’s too lazy to put forth any real effort.

This is one of the problems with the motivational/self-help industry. It makes success seem easy, like anyone can attain it with little effort.

I’m a pretty motivational guy (really, I am), and I am part of that industry. I am all about setting big goals, reaching for the brass ring, and going for it.

However, all those come with a simple caveat: When you do them, don’t be a dumbass about it!

Should you apply for a job you are not qualified for? Sure, provided:

1. You take the time and effort to put your best foot forward
2. That time and effort doesn’t take you away from doing things that can realistically move you towards your goals

The real message here is that if you have something you really want, take the time to put in some thought and effort to maximize your chance of success.

Guts (or motivation, or gumption, or chutzpah, or whatever you want it to call it), is a great thing that many, many people could use more of. I am thinking specifically of the many smart people who often “intellectualize” themselves out of trying for new opportunities. These are the people who look back on their life and say, “I could’ve,” or “I wish I had.”

On the other hand, applying guts without intelligence is like running east looking for a sunset; You may take a lot of action and feel like you are moving towards something, when in fact all you are doing is spinning your wheels and wasting everyone’s time (including yours).

I absolutely want you to dream big. As big as you can, and then a bit bigger.

At the same time, I want you to be realistic. Realistic not in the goals you set for yourself, but realistic in the plans you put together to achieve those goals. And realistic in your implementation of those plans, so you take the proper steps to actually achieve them.

The next time you consider setting or working on a big goal, consider a simple formula:

1 part guts + 2 parts intelligence + 3 parts action = Maximum chance for success!

***

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About

By Avish Parashar. As the world's only Motivational Improviser, Avish uses techniques from the world of improv comedy to engage, entertain, and educate audiences on ideas around change, creativity, and motivation. Connect with Avish on Google+

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