Underachiever in need of advice!

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So my parents and teachers have always told me that I'm smart. I don't believe it, and quite frankly, it seems like my classmates know more about literature/history/music/art/any other subject than I do. I thought myself pretty knowledgeable but I often find myself stating misinformation, usually because I can't control my mouth, and people think I'm stupid. A lot of people say I only look or act intelligent (despite not actually having real knowledge/intelligence), and tbh I share those thoughts with regards to myself.
I really need help controlling the impulse to state misinformation, when I myself know that it's untrue.
When this doesn't happen, I simply keep my mouth shut when I hear people talking about subjects I thought I knew a lot about, often out of fear that I'm not as knowledgeable as I think.
Not only that, but all of my few talents (such as writing) are relatively hidden: The only exception is that I've acted in a few school plays and been really good at it.
I've also often made promises I haven't kept, and that too has gotten me a wee bit upset. I said I was going to run for school VP, and then passed up my one opportunity to run. I said I was going to write lyrics for a band, and then I backed out without a word. The worst example of this was when I stood a guy up on a date, which is yet another of my main regrets from this past school year.

So with all this taken into consideration what I can I do for myself to help myself become active, motivated, and above all, smart enough not to act like an ignoramus?

I often find it hard to say no. I end up "volunteering" for all sorts of things I really don't want to do. Is this some of your problem?

Be more assertive (there are courses) and say no.

Some advice I always liked (joke) "shoot straight and ride a fast horse"

I've had to learn the hard way not to make promises that I can't keep. Over time I've had to learn how important it is to be true to your word. In my case it means either you do everything possible to follow thru on promises or have the cajones to go back, hat in hand, and fess up to the person you've promised to that you can't deliver. (very hard to do!) For some of us the facade we construct to live in the NT world starts to make us have doubts about who we really are, where the real self starts and the facade begins.

Good luck, and keep writing, it can help you sort things out.