I once turned down the opportunity to meet John F. Kennedy Jr.
You might not know who he is, son of a president, magazine founder, one of the most famous people in the world in the late 90’s. He was hosting an intimate dinner, and I was invited.
I didn’t go.
Not because I was busy. Not because I had other plans.
I didn’t go because I carried a story about myself for close to 2 decades that I wasn’t smart.
The Story I Carried
Throughout high school and much of college I didn’t believe I was smart.
School taught me that intelligence had one face: logical, analytical, test-taking intelligence. You were either good at math and memorization, or you weren’t. You scored high on your SAT’s or you didn’t. Intelligence was measured by a grade or score and I did not fit that mold.
I watched opportunities pass me by because I didn’t believe I deserved them. I stayed quiet in rooms where I had something to say. I second-guessed every decision. I played small because I thought that’s all I was capable of.
The JFK invitation should have been a dream come true. Instead, it became proof of my unworthiness. What would I even talk about? He’d see right through me. Everyone would know I don’t belong.
So I stayed home.
Rock Bottom on a Shower Floor
That night, I sat on the floor of my shower and sobbed.
Not the kind of crying that releases, the kind that breaks you open. I was done. Done pretending. Done performing. Done living under the weight of a story that said I wasn’t enough.
In that moment, I knew something had to change. I decided right there: I am not going to live like this anymore.
That’s when everything began.
What I Discovered Changed My Life & What Can Support Yours.
Shortly after, I found the work of Howard Gardner, Harvard Professor and psychologist who shattered everything I’d been taught about intelligence. He proved that intelligence isn’t one thing, it’s multiple. Logical intelligence is just one form of many.
It evolves. Daniel Goleman took Gardner’s ideas about interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence and developed what we now call Emotional Intelligence (EQ), your ability to understand and navigate emotions, yours and others’.
And then I kept going. I studied somatic practices, movement, the nervous system. I discovered two more forms of intelligence that school never mentioned:
Somatic Intelligence – Your body’s ability to sense, process, and respond to information before your conscious mind catches up. It’s your gut knowing. The knot in your stomach that says “something’s off.” The expansion in your chest when something feels right.
Kinesthetic Intelligence – Your ability to learn, communicate, and problem-solve through physical movement and body awareness. Athletes have it. Dancers. Surgeons. Anyone who knows something in their bones that their brain hasn’t articulated yet.
Suddenly, I wasn’t “not smart.” I was brilliantly intelligent in ways school had never valued, never taught, never even acknowledged.
Intelligence To Highlight For You
1. IQ: Logical Intelligence – The one society emphasizes. Analysis, problem-solving, memorization.
2. Mathematical Intelligence – Another society focuses on.
3. EQ: Emotional Intelligence – Understanding your feelings and reading others. Empathy. Self-awareness. The thing that helps you navigate relationships and understand what’s actually happening beneath the surface.
4. Somatic Intelligence – Your body’s wisdom. The intelligence that lives in your nervous system, your gut, the instinct. It’s the voice that whispers “yes” or “no” before you can explain why.
5. Kinesthetic Intelligence – Your body’s ability to process, create, and communicate.
Why I’m Sharing This With You
I’m sharing this story because I don’t want you to hit your rock bottom the way I did.
I don’t want you to turn down opportunities because you’re carrying something that isn’t true about yourself.
I don’t want you sitting on a shower floor ten years from now, realizing you’ve been abandoning yourself because the world told you there’s only one way to be intelligent.
Your body knows things your brain hasn’t figured out yet. Your gut has been trying to tell you something. That restlessness, that pull toward something different, that sense of “this isn’t right”, that’s not confusion. That’s intelligence.
What Becomes Possible
When I stopped trying to force myself into the one narrow definition of “smart” and started honoring all my intelligence, everything shifted.
I stopped second-guessing. I started trusting my gut. I made decisions faster and with more clarity. I showed up in rooms and not only belonged, I led.
I built a career helping others do the same. I wrote a book. I speak on stages. I guide people back to the intelligence they’ve always had but were never taught to trust.
Your Invitation
The anxiety you feel before presenting? That’s somatic intelligence giving you data.
The way your body tightens when someone’s energy feels off? That’s intelligence.
The ideas that come to you when you’re moving, walking, dancing? That’s kinesthetic intelligence at work.
The feeling in your gut that says “this opportunity is for me” or “this path isn’t mine”? That’s your body speaking truth your logical mind might try to talk you out of.
You don’t need to fix yourself. You need to listen to yourself.
You don’t need more credentials. You need to trust the intelligence you already have.
Start Here
This week, try this:
Before your next big decision, presentation, or hard conversation, pause. Feel your feet on the ground. Place your hand on your heart. Take three deep breaths.
Then ask your body: What do you know about this?
Not what you think. What you feel. What you sense.
That’s your somatic intelligence. It’s been waiting for you to listen.
You are brilliant in ways school never measured. Trust that. Honor that. Let that guide you.
The world doesn’t need another version of you trying to fit into someone else’s definition of smart.
The world needs you, fully intelligent, in all the ways you already are.
Jen Aks is a TEDx speaker, author of Your Body Is Speaking, and embodied leadership expert who helps students trust their body’s intelligence to navigate stress, make authentic decisions, and lead with clarity. Through CAMPUSPEAK, she brings somatic practices to universities so students graduate knowing who they are. Learn more at jenaks.com.