The formula for success isn't intelligence alone. It's intelligence + determination + leverage.
Most people optimize for one:
The brilliant strategist who never executes
The relentless grinder who works without direction
The person chasing shortcuts without understanding why they work
I used to believe intelligence was supreme (that being smart enough would get you everything you wanted)
I was wrong. Here's how I figured that out, and why the real answer is more nuanced than I expected.
The 100/100 Thought Experiment
I heard someone pose this question in an interview: "What's more important, intelligence or determination?"
Their answer rewired how I think about success.
They framed it as a thought experiment with two variables, each starting at 100/100:
Scenario 1: Someone with 100/100 intelligence and 100/100 determination becomes successful quickly. Obviously.
Now start removing determination: 80/100 determination, 100/100 intelligence.
Still progressing, but slower. Drop to 60/100 determination. Then 40/100. Then 20/100.
Eventually, you have an intelligent person who accomplishes nothing.
Full of insights, spotting opportunities others miss, completely stagnant.
They're the person at the dinner party with brilliant ideas who's been "about to start" for three years.
Scenario 2: Keep determination at 100/100, but drop intelligence to 80/100.
This person still wins. Maybe they build a $3M/year landscaping company instead of a tech unicorn.
Maybe they own seven garbage trucks clearing $50K/month in profit.
They're winning because they show up every single day and refuse to quit.
Here's the math that matters: I'd rather compete against someone with 120 IQ who shows up once a month than someone with 100 IQ who improves 0.5% every single day.
After one year, the consistent person has compounded to 6.3x their starting capability.
The sporadic genius is maybe 10% better than where they started.
Consistency multiplied by time destroys sporadic brilliance every time.
Determination Needs a Partner
But here's where most people get it wrong: they conclude that determination alone is enough. It's not.
I watched this play out with two people I knew who started businesses around the same time.
Person A: Incredibly determined. Worked 80-hour weeks. Posted on social media daily.
Tried every growth tactic they read about.
Three years later, they'd burned through $40K in savings and were exactly where they started.
Person B: Also determined, but strategically so. Worked 50-hour weeks but spent 10 of those hours analyzing what was actually working.
Dropped tactics with poor ROI within 30 days.
Doubled down on what showed traction. After three years, they were doing $500K/year.
Same determination. Wildly different outcomes.
The difference? Person B paired determination with intelligence—the ability to recognize patterns, spot opportunities, and course-correct quickly.
They didn't just work hard; they worked on the right things.
The Leverage Multiplier
Intelligence and determination still aren't enough in today's economy. You need leverage.
I learned this working construction.
A man with a shovel, no matter how determined or intelligent, will always be outcompeted by someone operating an excavator.
Let's put numbers to it: A skilled laborer can dig roughly 1 cubic yard of soil per hour.
An excavator operator can move 100-150 cubic yards per hour. That's not a 10% advantage or even a 2x advantage. It's 100-150x.
No amount of determination closes that gap. No brilliant digging strategy makes the shovel competitive.
The modern economy works the same way.
Writing individual cold emails vs. building an automated funnel that nurtures 10,000 leads simultaneously.
Trading hours for dollars vs. building systems that generate revenue while you sleep.
One person with leverage beats ten people without it.
Technology, capital, systems, automation, teams—these are the excavators of business.
The people who win aren't necessarily the smartest or the hardest working.
They're the ones who figure out how to multiply their efforts.
The Real Formula
So can you succeed without being the most intelligent person in the room? Absolutely.
Intelligence makes the path faster and helps you spot better opportunities, but it's not the determining factor.
Can you succeed through determination alone? Yes, but you'll hit a ceiling quickly without strategic thinking and leverage.
Can you succeed with leverage but no determination? No. Leverage is inert without someone consistently applying it.
The winners combine all three:
- Intelligence to identify the right opportunities and make strategic decisions
- Determination to show up consistently and push through inevitable obstacles
- Leverage to multiply efforts beyond what any individual could achieve alone
Intelligence tells you where to dig. Determination keeps you digging when it gets hard. Leverage determines whether you're using a shovel or an excavator.
That's the formula.
-Anthony
P.S. If this resonated, hit reply. I read every response and genuinely appreciate hearing how these principles land with you.
