What do Beyonce, Amy Poehler, and Gwyneth Paltrow all have in common? Not only are they all uber successful, intelligent, and at the top of their respective careers, but they’re also all September babies, and it turns out their triumphs are not entirely random.
According to a new study coming out of University of Toronto, the University of Florida, and Northwestern University, people born in September are bound to be smarter than the rest of their peers, and there’s a very logical reason for it.
It turns out, kindergarten admissions usually cut off acceptance for kids in September, so those little ones would be the oldest in their grades, and it’s a very beneficial thing because starting school at a “later” age can help them process information easier and learn quicker. And when they perform better at school, they’re praised more by teachers and parents, and their self-esteem grows as they amass more success. And that success continues their entire lives.
On the flip-side that also means they have almost a full year advantage over kids born in August—looks like Virgos have the Leos beat!
But don’t worry about your birth month too much. Granted, we didn’t have much control over which month we were born in, so there are some hacks you can do to improve your own brain power. Brain training has been shown to make you smarter, managing your time will make you more productive, and drinking more water can actually improve your ability to think critically and problem solve.
So for those of us who were not-so-lucky to share a birthday month with Queen Bey, there’s still a way to improve that IQ.