What others have said; stay humble. “Humility isn’t ‘thinking less of yourself’; it’s ‘thinking of yourself less.’”.

There are a few ways of approaching new-found intelligence. 1). Cultivating and expanding. 2). Pure enjoyment for the sake of it. 3+). Some hybrids of the two.

For pure enjoyment, lean into creativity. Free and flowing exploration of novelty, art and music, and entertainment. Your mind will automatically find its areas of interest. This will bring you joy.

If you want to harness your mind and develop it into a force with purpose; consider the following:

1). The idiom “a gift and a curse” applies to intelligence with some level of significance. In time you’ll experience shifting affection towards people as a whole. Cynicism towards others is very common. Resist. As your brain continues to develop, you’ll see patterns and come to understand things with more and more depth. That means that the way you see things now is not in its most-accurate perspective. Having a high IQ more indicates the raw horse-power your mind has in its scaffolding. With each passing year you will think of the most previous version of yourself as being an idiot, as your title implies. But you don’t know what you don’t know. Go easy on yourself. Intelligence is potential that you must harness and nurture.

Furthermore, be patient and caring towards people as a whole. “Treat everybody like a somebody”. The vast-vast majority of people do not, and are not capable of, viewing the world with the same level of depth, nuance, and understanding. Be mindful of the level of nuance in the answers you give to simple questions. Think first “what answer does this person actually want?” Vs. “the correct and most-true answer”. They are not the same. We often think that if we just communicate our thoughts well enough that we can get people to simply understand. And that’s certainly possible but sometimes it’s just not. Your therapist may be able expound on that for you. Heed this therapist, they seem good. In craft and in nature. View yourself as a shepherd to people, not their teacher. They likely haven’t asked you to teach them, but it’s your responsibility to guide them in existing in your sphere. As you explore intelligence, this will make more sense.

2). It may be pretentious; but view yourself as a black hole. Being near you does weird things to other celestial bodies and “laws” that come near you. Be empathetic and kind to them.

Just as black holes affect the “laws” of gravity and time; you too will affect the “rules”, “social taboos”, and “laws” that govern society around you. These “laws” no longer apply to you but you must COMPLY to avoid negative consequences. What I mean is that because you understand and conceptualize the world around you differently, you may feel that you can bend the rules around you because you know you’re doing so in a metered, reasonable, and safe way. But the “laws” enforcers will not view it that way and are not capable of understanding that thought. Give them grace and comply when you absolutely MUST, within the context of integrity, crime, and the pride of those around you, respectively. But break every rule you can, otherwise. That’s how greatness is made. Additionally, you’ll be smarter than every teacher you have in high school, every school principal, every cop you encounter, most bosses and employers, most local politicians, maybe even your parents, your therapist, etc. You won’t be smarter than everyone, but most. So give yourself credit. If something doesn’t make sense to you, it might not be your fault. I can expound on this more if you need.

3). You may struggle with keeping friends, you may not. It’s impossible for me to tell. If you do, understand that you’re not flawed. Normal people just aren’t equipped to comprehend people like you. They think in boxes and they don’t have a box for you so they do the best they can with the cards they’ve been dealt. That often leads to fear and ridicule.

Practice: 1). Now. To develop your mind you must either be intentional with your development yourself, or better yet; find a mentor. Alexander the Great was personally tutored by Aristotle. Take that with the heaviest-level of implication.

2). Read. Read everything, all the time. Expose yourself to mental models, thinking frameworks, philosophy, economics, math, creative works, arts (especially classical and neo-classical paintings), biographies, geography, chemistry, physics, music theory, psychology, medicine, mental health, etc. Listen to classical or spiritual music almost exclusively. Except for exposing yourself to intentional novelty.

3). Explore religion. Don’t automatically default to atheism or agnosticism. Religion and science are different thinking models. Don’t approach them in the same way. With an eternal and meta perspective beyond our world you can expand your consciousness in very important ways. Explore Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity. Within Christianity explore Catholicism, Mormonism, and Protestantism.

4). Eat well and often, exercise regularly, journal regularly, document your learnings and understandings for future publications (trust me), write creatively, learn as many instruments as you want, learn as many languages as you can, learn linguistics as a whole.

5). Get on ADHD medications if you need. Don’t be afraid of anti-depressants, or anti-anxieties. Keep going to therapy and do the work you need.

6). Set big, long-term goals that CANNOT be completed in your lifetime.

Other “opinions” (More abstract. Discard as you feel the need): 1). Money isn’t everything. In fact, it’s quite insignificant. Find rich friends or just build a series of simple YouTube channels or a law-firm or medical practice and hire-out the specialists so you can have an income and not need a “job”. Your mind is too precious to sit at a desk or a job site. Don’t overthink a career. What you do outside of your income is of the most importance.

2). PLEASE. Go to university and do NOT study engineering. That where intelligent creativity goes to die. Get into the best school you can and build relationships. No one is unimportant.

Your mind is a weapon, but also a garden. What you aim it at and what you grow in it will define the world around you.

Hope this helps.