Axiom 53: Success in Numbers

Our universe is filled with numbers. They impact our lives and our very existence. Below are a few of my favorite "numbers" based observations that relate to success.

1. The 10,000 Hour Rule - I have written about this rule previously. It takes 10,000 hours of study to truly master a skill.
2. The 80/20 Principle (Pareto Principle) - 80% of effects come from 20% of the causes. For Example: 80% of sales come from 20% of your product offerings.
3. Your IQ will determine your future - A person with an IQ of 116 or more can do almost any job. See Table 1 here. 
4. Your education will determine your future salary - $31,539/year for high school graduates, $56,078/year for college graduates, $100,000/year for professional degrees. See the full chart here.
5. Edison's 10,000 Failures - Edison went through many failures while trying to invent the light bulb. Sometimes you have to endure multiple failures in the pursuit of success.
6. The average millionaire goes bankrupt 3.5 times - read more here.
7. 52% of Americans believe that rich people gained their wealth through hard work - read more here.
8. 86% of millionaires are self-made - read more here.

Who's Got the Best Philly Cheese Steak? Pat's, Geno's, Tony Luke's, or Jim's?

For years I've wanted to go to Philadelphia and put their famous cheese steak places to the test. Finally I was able to fly in for a few days and settle my curiosities once and for all.

  
My first stop was Pat's King of Steaks. I ordered the cheesesteak with cheese whiz and onions (whiz wit). The sandwich was amazingly good. The bread and onions were especially good.

After Pat's I walked across the street to the flashy Geno's Steaks for a whiz wit. The steak was thinly sliced, instead of chopped like Pat's. I did not care for that as much. The bread and onions were not as good as Pat's, but the cheese whiz was better than Pat's.

The next day I ate a whiz wit at Tony Luke's. The meat and cheese whiz were better than Pat's and Geno's. Pat's bread and onions were better than Tony Luke's.

My last stop was Jim's Steaks for another whiz wit. The line was incredibly long and it took about 45 minutes to finally sit down and eat. I had the highest hope for Jim's since the locals highly praised it.

And they were right. Jim's had everyone else beat in every category (bread, steak, whiz, onions). The steak at Jim's was truly crave worthy. If I could only have one cheese steak in Philly I would choose Jim's.

So here is how I would rate everyone:
1. Jim's Steaks - 9.5 / 10
2. Pat's / Tony Luke's (tie) - 8.5 / 10
3. Geno's - 7.5 / 10

On a side note: I did cheese whiz on all of my sandwiches but from what I gathered from the locals provolone and ketchup seems to be the more "local" way to have a cheese steak.

Enjoy!

Axiom 52: Your IQ is Your Destiny

"Common sense is not so common." -Voltaire

"A smart man makes a mistake, learns from it, and never makes that mistake again. But a wise man finds a smart man and learns from him how to avoid the mistake all together." -Roy H. Williams

Have you ever taken an IQ test? 

Have you ever wondered how your intelligence stacks up against the average person?

What you might not know is that an IQ test is a highly accurate account of how smart (or dumb) you are. Most people do not know that this test is so important it could indicate if you're more likely to drop out of high school or get a PhD.

The average score is 100. Genius is considered as a score higher than 130 (Albert Einstein scored a 160). According to the University of Delaware if someone scores at least 115 they are mentally capable to doing any job.

An IQ test measures both your crystallized intelligence (book smarts) and your fluid intelligence (common sense). Crystallized intelligence is the knowledge you have learned through life experiences. This knowledge increases and builds throughout your life. Fluid intelligence is being able to problem solve independent of acquired knowledge. It is thought that fluid intelligence peaks in adulthood and slowly drops as people age.

If you score low on an IQ test don't worry. You can work on increasing your crystallized and fluid intelligence to increase your IQ score. 

To work on your crystallized intelligence:

• Learn everyday (Reading, Hobbies, Take Online Courses, Learn New Tasks at Work, Watch Documentaries)

To work on your fluid intelligence:

• Play mind games (N-Back)
• Listen to classical music, or take music lessons.

The brain is like many other muscles in the body. The more your work it out the stronger and more efficient it will become. Once you work on improving your crystallized and fluid intelligence for a month you can go back and take the IQ test again to see if it has improved. You may see dramatic improvements if you are a young adult and slight improvements if you are older.

You can take a free IQ test here.