Many people are intelligent because of their genetics. 

While you can be “born smart,” you can’t often be born wise. 

Wisdom is something you gain through life experiences, both good and bad. 

And if you’ve gained genuine wisdom, you instantly become a real asset in life. 

You’ll be able to navigate life, relationships, interactions, and so on with tactfulness, efficiency, and well, wisdom. 

Yet genuine wisdom is far rarer than you think. 

In this article, I’ll talk about some life experiences that will typically build wisdom. 

So if these items sound familiar, chances are, you’re wiser than most. Let’s get to it! 

1) You’ve overcome adversity 

The truth is that there is no better teacher in life than failure. 

You can have the most prestigious MBA in the world and still lack the wisdom of someone who has experienced adversity firsthand.

It hurts to have to go through obstacles and overcome them; it stresses you out mind, body, and soul and thus will often leave a permanent mark on you… 

One which builds resilience, grit, insight, persistence, etc. 

Remember, genius is 99 percent, 1 percent perspiration. 

When I opened my business a decade ago, I initially enjoyed a healthy amount of success. 

Despite my inexperience, I had a solid concept and therefore the customers kept coming, and the cash kept flowing. 

But then we hit a roadblock: the pandemic. 

Covid exposed our weaknesses as a business, and more specifically, my weaknesses as a first-time business owner. 

I didn’t have emergency savings to keep things afloat, I was crippled by debt, and I was lambasted by angry suppliers demanding to be paid, by subpoenas. 

It was by far the most difficult period of my professional life. 

Thankfully, somehow I survived the ordeal… and though it was painful and sometimes heartbreaking, I don’t regret a thing. 

Why? Because I’ve grown. I’m far wiser, in business and life, than I have ever been. 

In a sense, I hit rock bottom, and now everything, every stumbling block, feels just a little bit easier. 

2) You’ve traveled and experienced different cultures 

Travel changes you. 

When I say travel, I mean truly immersing yourself in a foreign, faraway culture; I mean taking the road less traveled. 

I don’t mean being a tourist, incessantly clinging to the tour group. 

When you’re exposed to diverse cultures and “exotic” ways of life, this organically broadens your worldview; it humbles you and gives you perspective, understanding, and empathy. 

Suddenly, you realize how small you are; and how big the world is, outside of your own. 

Travel allows you to connect with people who may look or sound different, who may eat or drink different things, or worship different gods (or lack thereof.) 

If you have the right approach, travel will give you a heightened awareness of humanity. 

Now that’s wisdom. 

Take it from the late great travel-writer legend Anthony Bourdain: 

“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.”

Well said, Tony. 

3) You’ve maintained long-term relationships

When you’re going through relationship heartache, who are the best people to go to for advice? 

The friends or relatives who have considerable experience with relationships… the ones who have intimately been through the many ups and heartbreaking downs of love and loss. 

So if you’ve had (or still have) meaningful connections in your life that have spanned years, then you’re wiser than most people. 

Navigating the complexities of long-term friendships or romantic relationships takes discipline and effort. 

If you make it that far, you learn things like patience, compromise, emotional and social intelligence, and so on. 

4) You’ve come face to face with mortality 

There aren’t many things in life as emotionally charged as dealing with the prospect of death. 

If you’ve experienced up-close contact with death, this can completely transform your outlook on things. 

Maybe you lived through an illness or situation where you had to accept that death was a distinct, even probable, possibility, yet survived to tell the story. 

Or maybe you’ve lost someone close to you and had to deal with the complex, prolonged emotions that followed. 

These are the kind of experiences that can rock you to the core; that can alter you fundamentally, deepening your appreciation for life and its transient and fragile nature.

5) You’ve done volunteer work 

I grew up fairly self-entitled. 

As a youngster, I was used to getting what I wanted, and when I wouldn’t have my way, I’d complain and moan. 

My life was, objectively speaking, easy; but still, I’d find a way to act self-absorbed and unsatisfied. 

I remember at sixteen, my dad suggested I do volunteer work for the summer. 

Although I initially met his suggestion with resistance, I eventually gave in, deciding to give it a try. 

I spent that summer building houses for the indigent of our community; people I got to know and bond with over two months.  

The experience gave me the meaning and perspective I needed to improve and be a better, wiser citizen. 

You see, volunteer work or helping others in different circumstances to your own takes you out of your comfort zone; it makes you confront the struggles of others head-on. 

This naturally builds empathy, compassion, and a sense of interconnectedness… all facets of true wisdom. 

6) You’ve navigated uncertainty

Going back to my ordeal during the pandemic, the entire period was so emotionally and mentally demanding on me in large part due to lengthy bouts of uncertainty. 

Constantly not knowing what’s coming next, and allowing the mind to ruminate indefinitely, were forms of hardship. 

As established, I was constantly being served papers by unsympathetic, unpaid suppliers. 

We had no sales, so I had no way of paying them, and no realistic plan to do so. 

So on a near-daily basis, I would contend with the prospect of losing everything: not only my hard-earned business but also my home, my car, and the contents of my bank account. 

In addition, the possibility of going to prison for a bounced postdated check terrified me.  

But all that’s behind me now–and I’m better off for it. 

Successfully dealing with uncertainty and change, whether in your career, personal life, or global events, builds flexibility and resilience.

The silver lining to misfortune, to the inevitable trials and tribulations of life is that they will almost always build a degree of wisdom in you. 

So if you’ve been through tough circumstances and lived to talk about it, you’ve become a wiser person, with a far better understanding of the world. 

It’s simple: The more you live, the wiser you become. Keep going.