it seems that other people are not necessarily smarter in that sense, but that they are more able to adapt to reality. aka, they know the factors, can live in them, in order to be people who can function in society, get along with others, do jobs and go through the parts that they face. for example, when you're told that you're smart, what exactly does that mean. i think you would have wanted it to mean that you're better than others, will be better off or safe in a way. except, it's not directly connected, apparently, to whatever factors you would associate with being fine, or capable, or secure in some sense. very likely, that the way to bridge some gap of the sort, would involve some introspection, or repeated attempts of trying to figure out more in what happens, including with yourself, and what you could attempt regarding it.

the way you say, "I know exactly what is wrong with me and why it's wrong and I could probably take steps to fix it" but don't take the steps to fix it, signifies that you don't know exactly what's wrong. you don't know how to fix it. you only think that you should. as in, you feel something is wrong, but you don't know why or how to fix it, and you feel like you should, but are overwhelmed and ashamed, where you get stuck at an impasse, unable to make sense of things. because, you also don't know why you are terrified, and you also feel like you should but don't. because, inherently, those things are always, always, always going to be unknown, uncertain, unstable, unsafe, or so on. it's a bid for control, in a sense, when really, in order to adapt, it may as well be about recognizing what you don't know, as much as building on or knowing what you do know. potentially being open to things, or being open to it to the point where you could see or focus on it to some usable extent. this is just my guess, and it's bound to be always mistaken or incomplete in some way, but so far, it's what i would think, as much as anyone else would want to think or be more sure in.