Some problems are hard because they ask for foresight, restraint or creativity rather than effort, and the video argues that solving them is what separates smart people from everyone else. There is a time and a place when only certain people can solve a particular problem. That is when you call in the big guns.
Here are ten of those problems, from deciding what to cut to working out where something fits, plus a bonus about money.
Watch the full video here, or skip to the breakdown below.
The 10 problems at a glance
- What and when to cut (0:13)
- Setting the correct priorities (1:09)
- Small changes that result in totally different outcomes (2:04)
- Work once, get paid multiple times (3:14)
- +1 systems (4:02)
- Where something fits (5:22)
- Novelty (6:19)
- Inventing option C, when A and B suck (7:12)
- Distribution (7:52)
- Other people (8:30)
- Bonus: Money
1. What and when to cut
Just like a bow, sometimes you need to pull back in order to shoot far. That holds in business and in life.
People spread themselves too thin. They take on too many projects, get overly ambitious or underestimate the difficulty, and they start to crumble under their own weight. That is the moment to find things to cut so you can keep moving.
The hard part is emotional. Most people get attached to things and experiences, so they hesitate to step back. It takes emotional intelligence and maturity to see when a situation calls for pulling back, and only a few people feel confident making that call.
Sometimes you need to lose some battles in order to win the war.
2. Setting the correct priorities
Smart people know there are only two kinds of priority worth caring about.
- The immediate danger: anything that threatens your business or your environment. It demands swift action, and nothing else matters until it is solved. It does not matter how pretty the boat is if it is about to hit an iceberg.
- The long-term payout: an educated bet that only someone who can see ahead will make, meaning someone who can predict how things play out if everything goes to plan.
Everything else is admin work, the things you do to stay on track. Sticking to these two priorities takes a decent amount of discipline.
3. Small changes that result in totally different outcomes
Picture a plane leaving LA and flying in a straight line to London. If the course is nudged early on, it may not land in Europe at all.
Life works the same way, and the catch is that you do not know which deviations you are making or where they will land you. You can believe you are doing the right thing day to day while being far off the mark over decades. That is how people end up asking how it got to this, or saying they never saw it coming. Other people saw it coming.
So ask what small thing you are doing or not doing. Waking up an hour early for a walk can change your life within a couple of years.
To make the change, you first have to see how small changes affect the future, and that is a smart person’s skill.
4. Work once, get paid multiple times
Why build one house when you can draw up a house plan and sell it again and again? In a crystal-clear example like that it sounds obvious. Life is not that clear, and situations rarely show up that neatly in the wild.
It comes down to scalability. Everybody knows any Porsche is a better car than any Volkswagen, but guess who owns Porsche?
Scalability is difficult because it has a lot of moving pieces. It also carries one of the biggest payoffs.
5. +1 systems
Everything in the world works on a +1 system: a series of things done in a particular order that ends in a +1 somewhere. For a basic business, making and selling has to add up to at least +1, which means profit.
Here is the catch. Every system starts at -10, because you cannot make something out of nothing. Even going to the gym starts in the red: the time, the trip, the clothes, the membership, the supplements, the meal plan and the changes to your calendar all cost you for a few months before you get anything back. The gym is an easy one, since all you need to reach +1 is time.
Most people live in 0 systems. They go to work, pay the bills, sleep and repeat, and then complain about it online. They have not figured out how to reach +1.
Building a system that ends above zero is a problem most people never solve.
6. Where something fits
In business it is called market fit. In life it may be called purpose. The idea is the same: find where something fits best, or whether there is a spot to fill at all.
Some people stumble onto the answer by luck. Most try to squeeze squares into round holes. Smart managers work out which environment lets someone do their best work. Smart business people know which market gives their product the best chance. Smart salespeople know which pain fits their pitch best.
No guidebook exists, so it is trial and error across a massive set of data, which makes it a hard skill to get. The skill can also make you very rich.
7. Novelty
Most people cannot create. They can only copy or corrupt what someone else already made, and the reason is not a lack of ability but a lack of the bandwidth needed to get into a creative space.
Some believe that after thousands of years everything has been thought of. Not so. New things are created every day, but they drown in a sea of copies and imitations. As soon as something fresh and exciting appears, it is copied and redistributed in under 24 hours.
So the internet is full of low-effort content. Repurposing is easier than creating, because creating takes a lot of brainpower.
We need a lot more creators.
8. Inventing option C, when A and B suck
Faced with two bad options, most people pick the less bad one. Few bother with a workaround, because a workaround takes extra effort and a lot more brainpower.
Smart people struggle to accept that nothing can be done. They believe it is a matter of know-how or execution, that something is lacking somewhere, and that it can therefore be improved.
Thinking outside the box is hard to teach, because you have to understand what your box looks like in the first place.
9. Distribution
A saying the script keeps coming back to: the future is already here, it is just not evenly distributed. It is hard to believe that doctors wearing Apple Vision Pro headsets and people dying from basic illnesses exist in the same timeline, but they do.
One of the biggest problems the world faces is not a lack of resources or technology. The shortfall is distribution.
So really smart people look at problems on a global scale. Solving something for a tiny niche, they understand, does not amount to much in the grand scheme of things.
10. Other people
We have yet to see a championship-winning team with no coach. Figuring out and managing other people takes finesse and understanding.
Anyone can shout orders and keep people in line. Extremely few can shape others, help them define their style and find their strengths.
Bonus: Money
There are almost 8 billion people out there, and most are trying to figure out money one way or another. Very few succeed, and most of those who do are considered smart.
The real IQ test, according to the video, is whether you get what you want from life. Smart people know what they want, and they go out and get it.
What the list has in common
Look back over the ten and a pattern shows up. Almost none of these problems are solved by working harder. They are solved by seeing further ahead, choosing what to drop, building systems that pay, and bothering to find option C.
That also means they are skills, not talents. Pick the one that stings most and start there.
FAQ
What problems can only smart people solve?
The list covers ten: knowing what and when to cut, setting priorities, seeing how small changes compound, getting paid more than once for the same work, building +1 systems, finding where something fits, creating something novel, inventing option C, solving distribution and managing other people.
What are the only two priorities that matter?
The immediate danger, which threatens your business or environment and needs swift action, and the long-term payout, which is an educated bet on how things will play out. Everything else is admin work.
What is a +1 system?
A series of things done in a particular order that results in a +1 somewhere, such as profit in a business. Every system starts at -10, because you always need something to start with, and most people live in 0 systems.
What does work once, get paid multiple times mean?
It means scalability, such as drawing up a house plan once and selling it repeatedly instead of building one house. It is a hard problem with one of the biggest payoffs.
How do you think outside the box?
Smart people refuse to accept that nothing can be done and look for an option C when A and B are both bad. You first have to understand what your own box looks like.
What is the real IQ test according to the video?
Whether you get what you want from life. Smart people know what they want and go out and get it.
Keep reading
- 15 Things Poor People Don’t Know About Making Money
- 15 Problems to Solve If You Want to be a Billionaire
- 15 Ways to Master the Art of Decision-Making
