“You don’t have to know everything. You just have to know where to
find it.”

Albert Einstein is considered one of
the smartest people in history. So smart that after his death, the
pathologist who inspected his body stole his brain.

Thomas Harvey took Einstein’s brain
even though the genius clearly stated that he didn’t want his brain
or body to be studied after his death.

And even though it turned out that
Einstein’s brain was really different from the majority, his genius
wasn’t always obvious.

When he was young, Einstein’s parents
even thought that he was disabled because he was slow to learn and
didn’t talk until he was four years old.

Yet he became obsessed with science at
the age of five when his father showed him a compass for the first
time. In the following decades, he didn’t only develop the theory
of relativity and several other inventions that changed
the way we see and experience the world but also left us with
wisdom on how to live better lives.

“It is not that I’m so smart. But I
stay with the questions much longer.”

There are many paths to success, but
one of the few similarities of successful people
is persistence.

Einstein didn’t come across his
inventions by coincidence. His work was the result of decades of
research and experimentation.

Whenever you give up too early, you’re
giving up on the opportunity to win.

Quite often, the most successful
people are not the smartest or most talented but the most
persistent and curious ones. If you’re interested and open to
growth, you’ll come across incredible opportunities and likely find
answers to your questions.

If you, however, think that you’re
smarter than anyone else, you might not only end up being alone but
also lack variety and small wins in life.

How to apply it:

Whenever you feel like giving up on a
project or dream, take a few minutes and ask yourself why you
started in the first place.

If something is essential, you’ll find
a way to stick to it and make it work. And if you give up too
easily, the odds are that it wasn’t that important anyway.

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To
keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

This quote by Einstein was found in a
letter he sent to his son in 1930.

Quite often, we stop moving forward
once we face difficulties. But the truth is that these are the
moments we need to be in motion and keep going on, even if life
sucks.

Everything you want in life is on the
other side of consistency and moving on is always going to pay off, no matter how hard the
situation might seem.

How to apply it:

Whatever you do, always stay in
motion.

Great things never come from comfort
zones and they definitely don’t come if you’re lazy.

Being curious and in motion will help
you keep your balance and enrich your life in many ways.

As Oprah once said:

“When you get the choice to sit it out
or dance, I hope you dance.”

“You Don’t Have to Know Everything.
You Just Have to Know Where to Find It.”

This is one of my favorite quotes by
Einstein because it sums up how we should learn in the 21st century.

In 1921, Einstein was asked about the
speed of sound and replied that he didn’t know because he didn’t
carry such information in his mind if it was readily available in
textbooks.

Today, we have access to more
information than ever before. We can find answers to most questions
through our smartphones within just a few minutes, if not
seconds.

Yet, the education system is still
forcing students to memorize information for tests.

That’s not only ineffective but also
worthless as information itself isn’t of value anymore. What
matters is how you use that
information and whether you can recall it when needed.

How to apply it:

Never waste
your brainpower to memorize information which you can easily store
somewhere else and find in just a few seconds.

Every single day, we have thousands of
mini decisions to make. With each of these decisions, our energy
levels fall, and being mindful and productive becomes harder.

Memorizing lots of knowledge just
makes it even worse.

What you should do instead is setting
up digital information management systems. You can use tools like
Notion, Evernote, Trello, or Google Drive to document and store
important information.

Once you’ve arranged these tools,
you’ll be able to find all the data you need easily. This will
allow you to use your precious brainpower for more critical tasks,
such as making important decisions.

“Imagination is more important than
knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the
world.”

This is one of Einstein’s most popular
quotes, first used in an interview in 1929.

In that interview, Einstein explained
how he often knew that he was right without knowing why. He shared that it’s his intuition telling him that he must be right with an
assumption.

In his book “Cosmic Religion and Other Opinions and
Aphorisms”, Einstein refers to his statement as
followed:

“At times I feel certain I am right
while not knowing the reason. When the eclipse of 1919 confirmed my
intuition, I was not in the least surprised. In fact, I would have
been astonished had it turned out otherwise. Imagination is more
important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas
imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving
birth to evolution. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in
scientific research.”

Too often, we try to
be logical and live our lives based
on what should be done instead of
listening to our inner voice.

Yet the truth is that your intuition
and imagination can take you to places your logic could never dare
to enter.

How to apply it:

Whenever you feel stuck in life,
chances are that you are overcomplicating a situation.

Your intuition and imagination can
often take you to beautiful places, while knowledge and logic might
let you feel stuck once you face a difficulty.

“A clever
person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it.”

Most people feel overwhelmed once they
face challenges. As soon as they find a mistake, they start to look
for a solution.

Yet what we should do instead is
looking for the root, the cause of the
problem, and avoiding it altogether instead of just solving it.

If you’re open to change, you’ll be
able to eliminate so many of your daily struggles just by changing
the way you think and live.

Every time you feel stuck in life and
don’t know how to keep going, look for the little insecurities and
problems you face and figure out how to avoid those.

How to apply it:

Next time you face a problem, no
matter how big or small, ask yourself how you could’ve avoided
it.

Maybe you can ask someone for
help?

Maybe you can purchase higher quality
products?

Quite often, we face the same daily
problems over and over again. Looking for the cause of them can save you a lot of time and energy
in the long run.

“If A is a success in life, then A
equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your
mouth shut.”

Even though Einstein had a great work
ethic and contributed to society and modern science in many ways,
he didn’t forget to have fun and relax. His idea of fun might have been different than most people’s
preferences, yet he was aware that relaxation is at least as
important as focused work.

But the most surprising part of
Einstein’s formula for success is keeping your
mouth shut. Contrary to most people, Einstein didn’t feel
the urge to be a constant talker.

Instead, he preferred to be quiet and
didn’t feel the urge to prove himself and demonstrate his
ideas.

Everyone loves talking, but only few
people enjoy listening. Einstein, however, made use of that power
and preferred to listen in order to influence others.

Even though he had more unique ideas
to share than most people, he chose to be quiet and let others
talk.

How to apply it:

There’s a beautiful saying by
Epictetus that goes:

“We have two ears and one mouth so
that we can listen twice as much as we speak.”

Great leaders are not known for what
they say but for what they do.

If you want to be remembered
and respected, make sure to listen more than you talk.

And whatever you do, don’t forget to
find a balance between work and play. The combination of both will
lead to proper satisfaction.

“A happy man is too satisfied with the
present to dwell too much on the future.”

Even though bad things will always
happen, it’s up to us to choose whether we focus on the good or
bad.

Most of the time, life isn’t a bowl of
cherries, but it’s certainly easier if you accept that you’re the
creator of your reality.

You don’t need to be cheerful all the
time, but no matter how hard things are, you can always choose to
focus on the bright side of life.

How to apply it:

Whenever we’re unhappy, it’s either
because we worry about the past or we’re uncertain about happenings
in the future.

But the truth is that we can’t
influence any of these. The past is gone and the future is always
uncertain.

The only thing you can do is focusing
on the present moment and making the very most out of each of your
days.

Final thoughts

Even though you don’t need to be the
next genius Einstein, you can start to think like him and become
the best version of yourself by applying some of his lessons.

• Stay with the questions longer: Curiosity
  will take you to much more exciting places than intelligence.
• To stay in balance, always keep
  moving: Quite often, being in motion is more
  important than anything else. The moment you stand still, you’ll
  lose opportunities.
• Don’t load your brain with unnecessary
  information: Instead, set up digital information
  management tools and save your brainpower for important
  decisions.
• Imagination is more important than
  knowledge: Whatever you do, don’t forget to let
  your imagination be part of the game.
• Learn to avoid problems: Solving problems
  is nice, but eliminating the root is much more effective.
• Working, playing, and keeping your mouth shout will take you
  to great places: Learn to balance these three
  and you’ll be ahead of the majority.
• Be so present that you forget about the past and the
  future: Right now is the only time that
  counts.