10 Tips for Writing a Successful PhD Thesis

Writing up a PhD can often take place in a frenzy of activity in the last few months of your degree study, after years of hard work. But there are some steps that you can take to increase your chances of success.

1.   Do not be daunted by the task of “writing up”. Work on the text as your PhD takes shape, remember that all writers need editing, and help yourself by using these basic tips to make life easier. Read what great writers say about how to write before you start, and take their advice to heart. There is no dark art to clear, concise work; it is mostly a result of editing, and editing again. Above all, keep Elmore Leonard’s advice in mind: “If it reads like writing…rewrite it.”

2.     Plan the structure of your thesis carefully with your supervisor. Create rough drafts as you go so that you can refine them as you become more focused on the write-up. Much of writing comprises rewriting so be prepared to rework each chapter many times. Even Ernest Hemingway said: “The first draft of everything is shit.”

3.   Academic writing does not have to be dry. Inject some flair into your work. Read advice on writing and remember George Orwell’s words in Why I Write: “Never use the passive where you can use the active”; and Mark Twain’s on adjectives: “When you catch an adjective, kill it.” If you prefer, Stephen King said: “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.”

4.     Do not write up in chronological order. Work on each chapter while it is fresh in your mind or pertinent to what you are doing at that moment, but come back to it all later and work it up into a consistent, coherent piece, restructuring sections where necessary.

5.     Think carefully about your writing. Write your first draft, leave it and then come back to it with a critical eye. Look objectively at the writing and read it closely for style and sense. Look out for common errors such as dangling modifiers, subject-verb disagreement and inconsistency. If you are too involved with the text to be able to take a step back and do this, then ask a friend or colleague to read it with a critical eye. Remember Hemingway’s advice: “Prose is architecture, not interior decoration.” Clarity is key.

6.      Most universities use a preferred style of references. Make sure you know what this is and stick to it. One of the most common errors in academic writing is to cite papers in the text that do not then appear in the bibliography. All references in your thesis need to be cross-checked with the bibliography before submission. Using a database during your research can save a great deal of time in the writing-up process. Helpful software includes EndNote or Paperpile. Managing your bibliography from day one may seem obsessive, but it will save you a great deal of time and stress by the end of the PhD process.

7.  Use a house style. Professional publications such as Times Higher Education use a house style guide to ensure consistency in spelling. For example, do not use both -is spellings and -ize spellings, stick to British spelling and be consistent when referring to organizations or bodies. Because dictionaries vary in their use of hyphenation, use one dictionary and stick to it throughout the writing process. If you consult the New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors, you will note the extraordinary number of words with alternative spellings. It can also be a very useful guide to preferred spellings, use of italicisation and foreign phrases.

8.  Take care when quoting from other sources. Ensure you note whether the italic emphasis is in the original and take careful notes when you are collecting quotes for your thesis. Transcribe them accurately to save work later and keep original spellings (even if they differ from your chosen style) to ensure fidelity to your source.

9.    Think about plagiarism. If you are quoting from works, quote from them accurately and paraphrase where necessary for your argument. This is where careful note-taking and use of references is invaluable and will help you to avoid even inadvertently plagiarizing another work.

10. Remember that your thesis is your chance to present your work in the best possible light. Consider your opening paragraphs, entice your reader with your writing and above all be clear about your hypothesis and your conclusion. Append material where it adds value, but not where it merely bulks out your work. Consider your reader at all times. This is your chance to showcase your work.

If you stick to these simple rules, your writing will be clear and jargon-free. Above all, take to heart Orwell’s advice: “Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.”

Source: cbscugcnetforum

Book Care

जलाद्रक्षेत्तैलाद्रक्षेद्रक्षेच्छिथिलबन्धनात् |

मूर्खहस्ते न मां दद्यादिति वदति पुस्तकम् ||

'Save me from water, protect me from oil and from loose binding,

And do not give me into the hands of fools!' says the manuscript."

~Book

Parts of the Book

Should the parts of a book be in a certain order? Yes, and there's a reason: so readers, librarians, teachers, and booksellers can easily turn to the page in the book to find a particular type of information. Understanding the order in which they should appear may help you remember the difference between a preface, a foreword, and an introduction? There is considerable confusion about the difference between the three, and judging from what the Chicago Manual of Style says, I mixed the two up myself in my history of the NIH Clinical Center, where an editor made my Introduction a Foreword, which I then changed to a Preface. It should have remained an Introduction.

Words into Type succinctly characterizes the differences between a preface and intro: "A preface or foreword deals with the genesis, purpose, limitations, and scope of the book and may include acknowledgments of indebtedness; an introduction deals with the subject of the book, supplementing and introducing the text and indicating a point of view to be adopted by the reader. The introduction usually forms a part of the text [and the text numbering system]; the preface does not." Go here for a fuller discussion of how a memoir differs from an autobiography (or memoirs). .

The foreword, says the Chicago Manual of Style, is usually written by someone other than the author or editor, usually someone eminent (to lend credibility to the book), and although the title page may say "Foreword by X," if the foreword is only one or two pages (which is normal), the name of the foreword writer normally appears at the end of the foreword. (The title or affiliation of the author of the foreword may also appear there.) For details on positioning of these elements, and what kind of type to use, refer to one of those two manuals, if your publisher doesn't handle the formatting.

A.      ORDER OF FRONT MATTER

The normal order of parts of the book:

Half title, or "bastard title" (title only, on otherwise blank page)

Book card (or card page, listing previous works by author, or books in same series)

·         Title page

·         Technical Information Page

o   Title

o   Author(s) / Editor(s) / Illustrator(s)

o   Designer

o   Publisher/Distributor

o   Price

o   Copyright notice

·         Dedication

·         Blank

·         Table of contents (labeled "Contents")

·         (List of) illustrations

·         (List of) tables

·         Foreword (by another person)

·         Editor's preface

·         Author's preface

·         Acknowledgments (if not part of preface, or if not at back of book)

·         Introduction

·         Prologue

·         [list of abbreviations, timeline]

·         Second half title (optional)

B.      TEXTUAL PART

       Main textual part of the book

      Page numbers for the front matter, up to the introduction, are small Roman numerals (x, xi, xii, etc.). Some include the introduction in that numbering system, if it is prefatory in nature (about the writing of the book). If it is more like part of the text (essentially Chapter 1), start the regular page numbering with the introduction.

C.      ORDER OF BACK MATTER (not all of these are required!)

·         Epilogue

·         Afterword

·         Conclusion

·         Postscript

·         Appendix(es)or Addendum

·         Notes

·         Glossary

·         Bibliography

·         (List of) Contributors (perhaps with brief biographical sketches)

·         Index(es)

·         Errata

        Colophon (optional, including facts of production, font, etc.--rarely used now)

The epigraph (brief quotation or saying), according to Words into Type, may appear on the title page or on the back of the dedication or may replace the second half-title or be on the back of it, facing the text. To me it makes sense that it be near the text.

       The dedication usually comes right after the copyright page, which is on the back of the title page. Sometimes publishers squeeze it onto the top of the copyright page, when space is tight.

What are the purposes of a preface/​intro? Here are some purposes members mentioned at a meeting of the Washington Biography Group:

• To talk about how you came to write the book, especially if that will help draw the reader into the book. Perhaps best in the preface.

• To sell the book to the potential reader/​buyer (lure them, hook them, make them want to read more). In the case of Ruth Selig writing about the death of her twin, providing the personal details up front would be important, for example).

• To answer the question: why this book? why now? why this person? why by this author?

• To talk about how you got the information — what your main sources were (and how they differ from other books on the subject, if this is book #189 on the Kennedys, for example)

• To provide a framework for what's to follow — the hooks on which to hang the pegs of story details

• To provide, in brief, your main argument or point of view about the subject. The alternative is to not express your position clearly up front but instead to weave it into the fabric of the biography so that the reader has to read the book to find it. Critics may object to this. My impression is that you want to suggest your conclusions or viewpoint clearly up front but express them more fully and strongly in the concluding chapter, if there are conclusions to be made. What you want to draw your reader in with is the story -- tell them just enough to hook them, make them curious, and keep them reading.

       What about prologues? Linda Lear wrote a prologue (a term from dramaturgy) to start her biography of Rachel Carson. A prologue starts the action and is PART of the action, though it could take place in the middle of the action — it often focuses on a pivotal moment. If you have a prologue, you must also have an epilogue, says WBG's guru, Marc Pachter.

     Some people feel nobody reads the introduction; some people believe it's important because it’s the first thing people look at. Obviously it should be done well, if the latter is true even some of the time, but some people do skip it. Personally, I think it's important that everything in the book be interesting, because you never know where the reader will start, and you even want the ending to be good, so they leave feeling satisfied and you get good word of mouth. With ebooks, Google scans the first 500 words or so, and to the extent that that's what captures readers, you want to put material upfront that will help "market" your book and catch reader's attention. I tend to put acknowledgments at the back but try to make them interesting, to give them content. I am sometimes overruled, because others feel the acknowledgments should be up front, where you are making it clear who helped you, and to show your gratitude.

      Forewords, Prefaces, and Introductions: Where to Begin? (Carol Saller, Lingua Franca, Chronicle of Higher Education 4-5-12) offers further insights. Academic writers: check out helpful tips in the comments section!

NOTE ON SPELLING: A lot of people misspell foreword as foreward or even forward! It is a "word" be"fore" the book itself. The foreword is usually written by someone other than the author.

OTHER USEFUL MATERIAL ON HOW TO MAKE A BOOK (AND LABEL THE PARTS CORRECTLY):

• Forewords, Prefaces, and Introductions: Where to Begin? (Carol Saller, Lingua Franca, Chronicle of Higher Education 4-5-12) offers further insights. Academic writers: check out helpful tips in the comments section!

• Joel Friedlander's Unabridged List of the Parts of a Book, one of many great resources on a wonderful page of articles by The Book Designer (he's clearly far more than that).

• Every non-fiction book needs an index: Here’s why (Alan Rinzler's blog, The Book Deal: An Inside View of Publishing)

• Editors, How Much Is an Index Worth to You? (American Society of Indexers)

• Authors, How Much Is an Index Worth to You? (American Society of Indexers)

• How to number the pages of the front matter (SPAN's answers to self-publishers' frequently asked questions (FAQ)

• How to Make a Book: The Interior and Body of a Book (Creative Minds Press)

• Linchpindex: The missing index for Seth Godin's "Linchpin" (a quirky online index for Seth Godin's book Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?

• On Wikipedia see preface, foreword, and introduction.

The importance of good introductions and conclusions

"Even when they have found the right story, some writers simply fail to make its relevance clear from the beginning. Unused to writing introductory chapters, journalists often neglect them, plunging into the narrative in a hurry to get on with it or out of a fear of being boring. But a good introduction whets readers’ appetites partly by showing us both why this story is going to entertain us, and why it’s meaningful. Likewise, I sometimes receive manuscripts that end abruptly without a proper conclusion. A dramatic climax, even an epilogue, is not the same as a conclusion that helps the reader look back at how far he has come and reminds him of the importance of that journey. It’s not obligatory, but it’s a terrific tool for sending your reader off charged with excitement about your book – and eager to tell other readers about it."

Source: patmcnees

Flipped Classroom for Education

Flipped classroom is an instructional strategy and a type of blended learning that reverses the traditional learning environment by delivering instructional content, often online, outside of the classroom. It moves activities, including those that may have traditionally been considered homework, into the classroom. In a flipped classroom, students watch online lectures, collaborate in online discussions, or carry out research at home and engage in concepts in the classroom with the guidance of a mentor.

source: slu.edu

Traditional vs flipped teaching

In the traditional model of classroom instruction, the teacher is typically the central focus of a lesson and the primary disseminator of information during the class period. The teacher responds to questions while students defer directly to the teacher for guidance and feedback. In a classroom with a traditional style of instruction, individual lessons may be focused on an explanation of content utilizing a lecture-style. Student engagement in the traditional model may be limited to activities in which students work independently or in small groups on an application task designed by the teacher. Class discussions are typically centered on the teacher, who controls the flow of the conversation. Typically, this pattern of teaching also involves giving students the task of reading from a textbook or practicing a concept by working on a problem set, for example, outside school.

The flipped classroom intentionally shifts instruction to a learner-centered model in which class time explores topics in greater depth and creates meaningful learning opportunities, while educational technologies such as online videos are used to deliver content outside of the classroom. In a flipped classroom, content delivery may take a variety of forms. Often, video lessons prepared by the teacher or third parties are used to deliver content, although online collaborative discussions, digital research, and text readings may be used.

Flipped classrooms also redefine in-class activities. In-class lessons accompanying flipped classroom may include activity learning or more traditional homework problems, among other practices, to engage students in the content. Class activities vary but may include: using math manipulatives and emerging mathematical technologies, in-depth laboratory experiments, original document analysis, debate or speech presentation, current event discussions, peer reviewing, project-based learning, and skill development or concept practice. Because these types of active learning allow for highly differentiated instruction, more time can be spent in class on higher-order thinking skills such as problem-finding, collaboration, design and problem solving as students tackle difficult problems, work in groups, research, and construct knowledge with the help of their teacher and peers. Flipped classrooms have been implemented in both schools and colleges and been found to have varying differences in the method of implementation.

A teacher's interaction with students in a flipped classroom can be more personalized and less didactic, and students are actively involved in knowledge acquisition and construction as they participate in and evaluate their learning.

Educational Technologies

1.       Social Technologies

• Diigo - better reading and research with annotation, knowledge sharing community
• Edmodo - global education network, helps connect all learners with the people and resources needed to reach to reach their full potential
• Edublogs - largest education blogging platform on the web
• Facebook - connect with friends, family and other peoples you know
• Google+ - is a place to connect with friends and family, and explore
• Grockit - continually learns as you learn, and targets you with the material you need to work on most
• Instagram - sign up to see photos and videos from your friends
• Linkedin - networking tool to find connections to recommended job candidates, industry experts and business partners
• Ning - an online service to create, customize, and share a social network
• Openstudy.com/Openstudy.org - ask, answer and understand, get real-time study help
• Pinterest - content sharing service, it allows members to 'pin' images, videos and other objects to their pinboard
• Quora - the best answer to any question
• Scoop.it - build your online presence by publishing content
• Skype - free calls, collaboration, expert interviews, enable participation, tutoring, virtual career and group projects with extracurricular activities 
• Slideshare - discover, share and present, the future of work, cultivating the next generation of leaders
• Twitter - connect with your friends and other fascinating people. get in the moment updates on the things that interest you and watch events unfold, in real time from every angle
• Wikispaces - a free wiki host providing community wiki spaces, visual page editing and discussion areas

2.       Online Learning Technologies

• Animoto - make great videos, easily
• BDPA - education: from the classroom to the boardroom
• Coursera - take the world's best courses, online
• Eduvee - learn and practice (science)
• edX - best courses, top institutions. learn anytime from anywhere
• Kerpoof - learning works for kid
• Khanacademy - you can learn anything for free, for everyone and forever
• Knewton - a path for every student
• Mooc - massive open online courses; educational institutions, businesses and teachers easily build and host courses for the world to take
• SchoolTube - the best videos from student and teachers everywhere
• Skills Genius - collection of song lyrics and crowdsourced musical knowledge  
• Socrative - your classroom app for fun and effective classroom engagement
• StudySync - cross-curricular, core literacy solution with video and multimedia lessions.
• Udacity - free online courses, make a career change, or get a new job by completing a Nanodegree program
• Udemy - online learning and teaching marketplace

3.       Multimedia Technologies

• Bitstrips - your own personal emoji; wherever you go, your avatar is now just a click away! Easily insert bitmojis into gmail, messenger, slack, virtually anywhere you communicate on the web.
• eduCanon - unleash interactive video, deeply engage learners and accountably measure understanding
• Evernote - capture what's on your mind; collect, nurture, and share ideas across desktop and mobile platforms
• Pixlr - A free online image editor. Enables to fix, adjust, and filter images in a browser.
• Planboard - online lesson planner, add curriculum sets and organize your schedule
• Prezi - presentation software, uses motion, zoom and spatial relationships to bring your ideas to life and make your a great presenter
• Quizlet - makes simple learning tools that let you study anything; flashcards, games and learning tools
• Rubistar - tool to help the teacher who wants to use rubrics; rubric means "a scoring guide used to evaluate the quality of students' 
• Screencast-O-Matic - tool to create and share screen recordings
• TED-Ed - build a lesson around any TED-Ed original, TED Talk or youtube video
• Thinglink - annotate image and videos
• Padlet - digital canvas to create beautiful projects and easiest way to share and collaborate in the world
• Wordle - toy for generating 'word clouds' from text that you provide
• Youtube - enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with with friends, family, and the world on youtube
• Vimeo - high quality tool for hosting, sharing and streaming videos in gorgeous HD and 4K with no ads

4.       Coding Technologies

• Code Avengers - code games, apps and websites with fun and effective interactive games. html, css and javascript tutorials for beginners 
• Code.org - student creations, anybody can learn code/programming languages
• Hour of Code - one hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify "code" learn the basics and to broden
• Kodable - basics of computer programming
• Minecraft - free games online
• Raspberry pi - learn computer programming through fun and practical projects
• Scratch - programming language and online community, where you can create your own interactive stories, games and animations
• W3Schools - the languages for building web pages

5.       Classroom Technologies

• Book Creator - create beautiful books on your tablet
• Camtasia - screen recorder and video editor
• Canva - amazingly simple graphic design software
• Class messenger - teacher, students, and parents notes about field trips, homework assignments or a dance chaperone 
• ClassDojo - build wonderful classroom communities with parents and students 
• Doceri - authoring and controlling presentation 
• Doodle - scheduling tool you'll actually use. find a date for a meeting 2x faster!
• Dropbox - get to all your files from anywhere, on any device, and share them with anyone
• edShelf - a socially-curated discovery enging of websites, mobile apps, desktop programs, and electronic products for teaching and learning 
• ePals - connect, communicate and collaborate
• Explain Everything - collaborative and interactive whiteboard
• Google Apps - google apps for work is a suite of cloud computing productivity and collaboration software tools and software tools offered on a subscription basis by google
• Groupboard - free online whiteboard and chat app that can be easily embedded into your website
• iBeacons - dedicated source for news, analysis, and commentary on proximity and hyperlocal technology
• iKeepSafe - learn how to keep safe online, so everybody can take full advantage of all the wonderful collaborative learning opportuties 
• iRubric - comprehensive rubric development, assessment and sharing tool 
• Jing - free screenshot and screen cast software
• Kidblog - provides teachers with tools to help students publish writing safely online. students exercise digital citizenship within a secure classroom blogging space. teachers can monitor all activity within their blogging community 
• LiveBinders - organize your resources in an online digital binders
• Mastery Connect - it acquires socrative to bring you integrated student response fo for free. it is a smart student response system that empowers teachers
• iMovie - video editing software
• Office 365 - your office alternatives
• OneNote - digital note taking apps for your device
• Osmo - osmo is an award-wining game system that will change the way your child interacts with the iPad by opening it up to hands-on play 
• Pikochart - web-based infographic application which allows users without intensive experience as graphic designers to easily create professional grade infographics using themed templates
• Pinkmonkey - study resource for junior high, high school, college students, teachers and home schoolers 
• Popplet - popplet is a tool for the iPad and web to capture and organize your ideas
• QR Codes - QR codes for teaching and learning
• Remind - latest news, media reports and announcements
• Rubister - free tool to help teachers create quality rubrics 
• Schoology - learning management system
• Showme - create beautiful tutorials with the tip of your finger
• Skitch - get your point across with fewer words using annotation, shapes and sketches, so that your ideas become really faster  
• Slack - a messaging app for teams who put robots on mars
• Storify - make the web tell a story: the tools to create the best evergreen and live blog the stories uniting traditional storytelling with engaged audience 
• Stumbleupon - easiest way to discover new and interesting web pages, photos and videos across the web 
• Videonot.es - all the notes you type are automatically synchronized with the video. later, just click on a line for the video to jump to the relevant part 
• Wordpress - web software you can use to create a beautiful website, blog or app with priceless effort 

6.       Hardware Technologies

• iPad - IPad is an iOS based line of tablet computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc 
• Chromobook - a laptop running chrome OS as its operating system 
• MacBook - a brand of notebook computer mfg by Apple Inc
• Android - a mobile operating system developed by google, based on the linux kernel and designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices 
• Iso - international organization for standardization
• IWBs - interactive whiteboard; a large interactive display that connects to a computer. a projector projects the computer's desktop onto the board's surface 
• Apple TV - a digital media player and a microconsole developed and sold by Apple Inc. it is a small network appliance and entertainment device that can receive digital data from a number of sources and stream it to a capable television 

7.       Education Conference

• All Conference Alert - academic conferences worldwide
• AIEA - Association for International Education Administrators
• ASCD - a global community of educators dedicated to excellence in learning, teaching and leading 
• ASUGSV - revolution in corporate learning
• BETT - the world's leading education technology event 
• BIE - project based learning
• CUE Conf - ed tech professional development begins with CUE and our conferences, workshops and symposiums 
• DML - digital media and learning research hub is to advance research in the service of a more equitable, participatory, and effective ecosystem of learning keyed to the digital and networked era 
• Excel in Ed - to build an american education system that equips every child to achieve his or her god-given potential 
• Edcamp - an organic, participant-driven professional learning experience. a community created by educators, for educators. the leading edge of professional development in educationEdNET
• EdTech Europe - is the leading thought leader summit bringing together executive level investors, innovators and industry influencers from European and international education companies
• EdTech Teacher - digital storytelling in classroom 
• Education Innovation Summit - WISE is an international, multi-sectoral platform for creative thinking, debate and purposeful action
• Educon - global engineering education conference
• FETC - future of educational technology conference
• GESF - global education and skill forum
• Global Educational Conferences - connecting educators and organizations worldwide
• Inacol - is an international nonprofit transforming education to student-centered learning
• Integrated - IEEE integrated stem education conference
• ISTE - international society for technology in education
• Learn Launch/Learnlunch - driving innovation to transform learning
• Learning and Brain - educational psychologist
• Miami Device - mobile learning events
• New Schools - nonprofit venture philanthropy working to transform public education
• OEB - cross sector conference on technology supported learning and training
• PBL world - project based learning
• ST4T - audio resources for cross cultural communication
• Summit - summit professional education
• SXSWedu - conference & festival fosters innovation in learning by hosting a passionate and diverse community of education stakeholders 
• WISE - 

Libraries in developed countries are using most of these technologies and are visible on their websites. But in developing and underdeveloped countries many library professionals are not aware and trained about using these technologies. we should use ourselves and prefer to use others to provide global education with quality for all.

source: wikipedia, ijaers

20 Things Smart People Don’t Do

The first question that merits an answer is what makes an individual smart. Is it the abundance of facts that one can memorize? Is it the above average, or exceptional, IQ?  Perhaps, it is the wisdom to make a sound decision at the crucial moment, or knowing how to make the best out of the bad situation.

source:mztech

Maybe it is the ability to take as many aspects as possible into consideration before deciding on the future course of action. It is probably a good combination of all the previously mentioned traits.

Of course, if someone is smart and successful, it is hard to pinpoint what exactly is responsible for that person’s success and wellbeing. Truth be told, it is far easier to notice what these smart people don’t do, and arrive to a conclusion as to what is to be avoided. As long as we circumvent these negative things, the rest will come naturally.

1.       They don’t overlook the possibility to save money

Prudence is a virtue, not to be mistaken with greed or stinginess. Being able to handle your finances and save, by avoiding unnecessary expenses, is an admirable quality. In fact, it is surprising how many small details there are, warranting closer scrutiny.

These seemingly meaningless expenses can be easily avoided, and the amount of money you can save can amount to something rather significant.

For starters, buying a tap filter can reduce the money spent on bottled water. Opting to refill a printer cartridge, rather than buying a new one is another judicious investment. Replacing light bulbs inside your home with those that conserve energy, is yet another wise choice. Utilizing apps to reduce credit card processing fees, or choosing a big bank as your provider, instead of your local town bank, is also a good decision.

The internet has an unfathomable amount of quality content, both educational and entertaining. Paying for a cable or magazine subscription is undeniably meaningless. Almost anything you are after can be found online, at cheaper price, either as a streaming service, or as an online news article.

The point is, learn how to fully realize the things you are already paying for or have at your disposal – that’s what being smart is all about.

2. They don’t heavily rely on others

There is nothing wrong with having friends, family members or coworkers you can trust and rely on. Everyone should have someone they can count on when things go south. Heavily relying on someone, however, only portrays you as powerless. As a smart individual, you should never indulge such a commodity.

You can have a brilliant mind, outstanding intelligence, etc. but if you do not put those traits to good use, then you will only come off as incompetent. When you are in need of assistance, pay close attention, see if your problem was truly difficult. In a great number of cases, it is our fear and insecurity that prevent us from acting.

There is always a thought “What if I only make things worse?” The thought is perfectly justified. The unwillingness to overcome such a fear on the other hand, isn’t.

3. They don’t act irresponsibly

Do not mistake this statement as “Smart people don’t have fun” or “Smart people are boring.” You can have fun, you can have a drink, or have a good laugh. Irresponsibility does not equal uninteresting, it only means you like to have an organized lifestyle.

Superior organization leads to greater efficiency, whether you are a student, an employee, a business owner, an artist, or a celebrity.

We all have certain responsibilities, and they are not always imposed by someone else. Putting them off for no valid reason is simply packing to travel into a more stressful future. Almost everyone experiences how being irresponsible tends to backfire, but smart people simply practice what they learn from such inconveniences.

4. They don’t feel defeated just because they need to reevaluate their convictions

Our environment, our parents, our education and our past are all responsible for forging our convictions and our perception of the world. It leads to a creation of what is referred to as “umwelt” which roughly translates as “self-centered world”. Umwelt is more connected to how we create the image of the world surrounding us by using our sense, but it can be extended to our point of view on philosophical matters.

The convictions we acquire throughout life are not wrong per se, but are very likely to be proven incompatible when exposed to an entirely new experience or more difficult questions that need answering. Also, if you move out and change the environment you are likely to witness different patterns of behavior, simply because education, or lack of education in some areas, resulted in the blooming of other other human qualities.

Sooner or later, our convictions are challenged and sometimes they will triumph, sometimes they will be trumped. Smart people constantly challenge their convictions; they do not discard them. They reshape them, and they allow them to grow proportionally with their new experience. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to broaden your mind-set, you are not defeated if you gained something valuable.

5. They don’t dwell on their errors

To clarify, this refers to companies that manufactured a bad product, or movie directors who made bad movies, etc. It is not uncommon to come up with an idea for something that appears like a true masterwork for us, but once it’s realized, the general public may not be that impressed. It can feel humiliating and really unpleasant, however it happens, whether we like it or not.

When you are making something intended to be appealing to the masses, and in the end fail, start over again from scratch. If you want to impress, listen to your audience, don’t try to patch up the product, or make sequels, in an attempt to prove your vision was brilliant.

This kind of behavior will only cost you your credibility, and even when you manage to come up with something good, people might not even bother to give it a try. It won’t make you neither weak nor foolish, if you know when to give up. It will only give you more time to work on your comeback.

6. They don’t permit their past to hold them back

The past cannot be erased, and it does not come back to haunt us, it simply never leaves. We need to learn how to cope with it, and not allow it to interfere with our future achievements. If there is nothing useful to be recovered from the past experience, simply close those doors and let it go.

Past experiences shape who we are today, and our previous struggles can build a strong character, but people tend to use their past to justify their mistakes or behaviour. Perhaps we use these excuses to gain understanding from others, or to make it easier to forgive ourselves.

Still, if you acknowledge your flaws but refuse to do something about them just because you have an excuse, then you have chosen an easy way out, and that’s not what smart people do.

7. They don’t rely on good luck to solve their problems

“Hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.” A good quote to be guided by when you invest your time and efforts into something. Hope for the best possible scenario is what motivates us, whereas preparing for the worst prevents us from falling apart. On the other hand, simply hoping for the things to work themselves out is no different from being lazy.

Luck should only take credit for a fragment of your success, considering that relying on it too frequently will only suffocate your ambition.

Besides, smart people would never permit luck to take glory for all their hard work. When you pour your heart and soul into achieving your goal, it would be disappointing to give good fortune the title of “major contributor”.

8. They don’t neglect important aspects of their business

One of the key factors responsible for success is attention to details or just paying good attention in general. When one is trying to be a smart business owner, he or she is generally governed by the idea that with a quality product, success is guaranteed.

The logic is not entirely flawless, since even if you can offer a top quality product at a better price than your competition, you are still a far cry from a lucrative business.

The absolute necessity for a successful selling period is credibility, meaning you will need to have a good advertising tactic. This implies striving towards omnipresence and professional appearance, which brings us to the most efficient tool for spreading this kind of brand awareness, and that is your website.

The impact of the website should never be underestimated; people will judge you as a professional based on your website design, its responsiveness, authority and its content. There are numerous people who offer an amazing type of service or products, in person, but simply look like amateurs online.

Start off by finding a good web hosting service, to ensure your sites responsiveness, proceed with quality design, and finally, eloquently describe your product or service.

Clearly, this is a single example of an important aspect, there are others as well. like providing a good customer service and creating efficient incentive plans etc. But the point is never to push in one direction. Always work on numerous fronts.

9. They don’t hesitate to learn from their mistakes

Mistakes are inevitable. Sooner or later something goes wrong, and an unaccounted for variable emerges, and places a grave dent in our previously well-laid schemes. You can’t always have everything under your control, and we do not have the degree of awareness necessary to view every possible angle.

Mistakes are there to remind us of our flaws, and force us to mitigate the impact they have on our lives. Honestly, mistakes can teach us a lot about our lives, and ourselves, but only if we let them.

Learning from your mistakes means finding what is worth salvaging from your unfortunate experience, realizing what went wrong and finding a way to avert it in the future. Smart people use this input to work on themselves, and change the things they have the power to change.

Arrogant people look for excuses, and choose to blindly believe in their judgement without any retrospect. Not only does this kind of behaviour hinder your future success, it also drives people, and allies, away from you.

10. They don’t give up on their ideas just because other people don’t agree with them

I know that it was stated how knowing when to give up and start anew is a good thing, and how being too stubborn or pushy will ultimately yield bad results. Well, a wise person knows when he or she should push the envelope and stand firm when the situation takes a turn for the worst.

There is a difference between when someone gives your idea a chance and did not like it in the end and someone not giving your idea a chance at all. We are all entitled to constructive feedback on why our ideas or products are not satisfactory.

If someone wants to discard our efforts based on a hunch, do not let them. Fight for your chance to shine, or try finding someone else who will hear you out and appreciate your idea.

There is always a possibility that someone is intimidated by your expertise; thus that person wants to hinder your development. If you want to publish or launch something, look for more than one opinion. Even if the first one is flattering, look for more.

Constructive criticism can be used as a precious insight for the future.

11. They don’t make strong remarks that can make them look weak in the future

Actions speak louder than words. Don’t feel overconfident and use words of grandeur to describe your future actions. It only makes you look like an attention seeker, who will inevitably lose his or her credibility.

Credibility is of the utmost importance for one’s future and well being, and we all know how in “Boy who cried wolf” the loss of credibility had a strong impact on the outcome of the situation. If you want to be taken seriously and to be respected, don’t talk big without a means to back it up. Simply let your hard work tell your tale.

12. They don’t lose the opportunity to broaden their experience

This is closely connected to the previously mentioned convictions, like Friedrich Nietzsche said, “There are no eternal facts, as there are no absolute truths.” You can never become a complete being, and you should never set such goals for yourself. However, making ongoing endeavors towards progression in various areas is indeed what a smart person would do.

Science constantly expands our understanding of the world; it constantly tests theories and comes up with new ones. Even old or proven findings are never left alone, they are re-examined, redefined, and updated. They are constantly after progress, investigating what is most likely the truth, not what they want to believe the truth is.

It is a good way to expand your database. After all, scientist are usually those who have the qualities, or are perceived to have qualities, of smart people. The majority of smart celebrities were and are scientists.

13. They don’t know how to back off from a good cause

Much like with the good idea, wise people do not back off from a cause worth fighting for. Revolutions were led and achieved thanks to these individuals, and luckily, our society is still flawed and can provide us with many causes worth fighting for.

We are often criticized by our parents, superiors, or teachers about our tastes, our interests and our hobbies. Honestly, they can be right from time to time, but throughout the course history, a fix has emerged. Older generations tend to scold things they do not fully understand, and are too self-absorbed to even give them a chance.

Imagine just how many art forms, in terms of music, books, and film genres would not be here today if people didn’t regard them as good ideas. Today, video games are struggling with the same issue. They are held responsible for violent and troublesome behavior in youth, and people do not consider them a medium capable of delivering deeper moral values.

14. They don’t waste the potentials of their gadgets

Lacking knowledge related to a certain field, or lacking the necessary skill to accomplish a particular task, does not automatically make someone incompetent. Smart people have a good way of overcoming these obstacles; they can find solutions to compensate for their shortcomings.

Using your gadgets to their full extent can prove to be rather beneficial in a variety of scenarios.

Obviously, smartphones and tablets have internet connection and access to Google, thus all you need to do is know how to utilize these browsers efficiently. Almost anything you want to know has a recorded or a written tutorial online, meaning as long as you are connected to the World Wide Web, you will have the means to solve tricky problems.

App stores have an applications galore, and a great number of them are really remarkable. Sure, there are those which are utter nonsense, but every smartphone and tablet device should have a few useful apps installed. For example, you should have apps that help you with your data management, making your job significantly easier, in terms of organization.

Apps that can help you navigate when you are on unfamiliar terrain, thus boosting your level of security. Apps that can help you find good restaurants while in a foreign country, like Yelp. Additionally, language boundaries are significantly mitigated by use of translating apps, and even though they are not one hundred percent accurate, they can still aid you a great deal.

15. They don’t overestimate their abilities

Shelly’s Frankenstein and Goethe’s Faust tell a wonderful cautionary tale about how even the brightest among us can suffer a tragic downfall, simply because they overreached past their limitations. Ambition and hard work are healthy and nothing to be ashamed of, but without moderation, these qualities can be dangerous.

Primarily, you are likely to exhaust yourself continually, which can be indeed stressful and it can have a negative impact on your health. The insatiable desire for advancement in a particular field can cloud your perspective, and make you lose grip on other important aspects of life. Ultimately, we can end up being alienated from our peers, and it can be sad to have no one you can share your success with.

Secondly, our mind has its limits too, and very often actively thinking about the problem doesn’t get us anywhere. We need to know when we are stuck and to take a break. In other words, we need to allow our subconscious processes to grab the reins, and see what happens.

You’d be surprised just how frequently certain answers simply dawn on you. Moreover, even when the answers appear obvious, it is better to examine them again in the morning, perhaps they won’t seem as ideal as they did the day before.

16. They don’t make redundant enemies

Regardless of your status, whether you are a rising star entrepreneur, or an employee in a small firm, you are likely to encounter enemies, nemeses, competition, whatever you want to label particular individuals.

These people are not malefic in nature. Your convictions, ideologies or points of view are only incompatible. The problem is that you can never know what they may do if they feel provoked, and they are probably perceiving you in the same manner, which results in unnerving animosity.

It is important to define a difference between enemies created by circumstances, and enemies created by our actions. We have already established how our competition can induce minor paranoia, so it is better not to incite any redundant conflicts. When you socialize with stubborn and hot headed individuals, rest assured that you are not the only one who notices their traits.

Trying to prove a point and creating an argument with these people will get you nowhere. A smart thing to do is just nod, or say you do not agree, and end the discussion.

When entering partnerships, do a thorough check on your potential allies, see if they are not prone to deceive you, but also make sure you don’t accidentally do something that can be viewed as treacherous. Furthermore, if you are going through a divorce, see to it that you do not separate on completely bad terms, since creating a relationship based on acts of spite won’t do anyone any good.

17. They don’t allow their pride to get in the way

Time to quote one of my favorite manga artists, Tite Kubo: “If it rusts, it can never be trusted. If its owner fails to control it, it will cut him. Yes, pride is like a blade.” Spiritual teachings usually label pride as a bad characteristic, but reality tends to tell a different story. Having pride is completely acceptable, but being consumed by it is quite inconvenient.

It is not rare that once you become so brilliant, you tend to automatically castigate the opinion of everyone around you. Not only that, but you may often find yourself rejecting a good proposal or initiative simply because you are not the one who thought of it. Smart people rely on their reasoning and if too much pride interferes with it, then it is a feature not worth nurturing.

18. They don’t put all the eggs in one basket

This one is a no brainer. Never fully invest yourself for the sake of realizing a single idea. Always have backup plans, alternatives, contingencies etc. It was already established that people may not be impressed with your design, or that something can go wrong if we don’t account for all the variables.

This doesn’t imply that you should be discouraged and back off when things don’t go as planned, but this matter will be addressed later on.

19. They don’t lie to themselves that everything will be easy

Finally, don’t live in the illusion that life will be easy. Your efforts may be thwarted on more than one occasion. Bright and intelligent people know how to pick themselves up and make a comeback. They work on their confidence, and don’t expect things to get easier. Even when things appear to be easy, don’t drop your guard – it’s always quiet before the storm.

Smart people love challenges and the thrill that comes from overcoming an obstacle. Having some downtime is refreshing, but confronting and tackling new problems is what they live for.

20. They don’t take unnecessary risks

 We all found ourselves, at some point in life, when we could have taken a risk in exchange for a greater gain. In the event you are an adrenalin junkie, a motto like “high risk, high reward” is not a bad thing to live by.

Being smart and calculated very often contradicts with this approach, since it is not implied that you won’t face risks, but it limits you to only those that are necessary.

Even small risks with significant gain, like lottery, are a poor choice; if you have some extra cash, save it and wait for it to accumulate. Do not depend on people who are more or less strangers, or wildcards, and stay away from the fluctuating stock markets. Work hard to achieve success – don’t be tantalized by the possibility to change your life overnight.

Compiled by: Djrdje Todorovic