May 19, 2025 • 9 mins
Why do some of the smartest people struggle to succeed?
It turns out that intelligence alone isn’t enough. In this episode of Skipping Stones, we explore two surprising ways smart people sabotage their own potential: overconfidence that blocks learning and a constant craving for novelty that prevents long-term progress.
We’ll unpack why slow, steady focus often beats raw brainpower, and how embracing a little boredom might be the smartest move of all.
Subscribe now to start turning insight into real momentum.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
What in life deserves our time and attention and what
things don't.
I hope that as we consider thatquestion, along with other
topics on this show that we canall learn to live our lives just
a little more intentionally.
This is Seth Roberts.
Thanks for joining me onSkipping Stones.
(00:26):
I've known a lot of smart peoplein my life and I enjoy spending
time with these people.
They often have somethinginteresting to say.
But I've noticed that many ofthese hyper-intelligent people
in my life have kind of failedto meet the expectations that I
had of them.
I always thought these guyswould be richer than me me or at
(00:48):
the very least haveaccomplished something
meaningful.
Don't get me wrong.
Some of these guys do all right, but compared to what I thought
they would accomplish in life,I've been a little surprised.
I still think these people arevery intelligent, but I think
with intelligence comes acertain susceptibility to
boredom and overconfidence.
When a person knows they aresmart, I think it's hard for
(01:11):
them to believe that someoneelse is smarter or, at the very
least, has figured something outthat they haven't.
It isn't so much that they aretoo prideful to learn, it's that
they simply don't believe otherpeople could possibly know more
than them.
So there's almost a kind ofbenefit that comes with doubting
your own intelligence, in thatyou take other people's advice
(01:34):
seriously and are more likely tobelieve that someone else out
there knows more than you do.
Overconfidence seems like theAchilles heel of the smart
people club.
It's really a quality that willleave you completely blind when
someone that knows better thanyou comes along and takes the
opportunity you thought you hadfigured out.
Smart people have some thingsfigured out, but nobody has
(01:58):
everything figured out.
In a world with billions ofpeople, there will always be
someone smarter than you are.
But even somebody that's notthat smart, that simply knows
something that the smart persondoesn't know, has an advantage
over them.
When you're too confident, itis the equivalent to driving
blind.
I talked with a guy that workedin private equity once and he
(02:22):
told me a lot of these guys thatsell their companies think they
know better than the peoplethey're selling to, but end up
doing far worse than they couldhave done, all the while feeling
like they were so clever.
If overconfidence is theAchilles heel of smart people,
then boredom is a secondAchilles heel on the other foot.
The thing that shoots thesesmart people in the foot, so to
(02:45):
say, is their insatiableappetite for stimulation.
It's possibly a bigger weaknessthan overconfidence.
They often have this inabilityto stick to something long
enough for it to bear any fruit.
I've known many brilliantpeople with many brilliant ideas
, but completely unable toaccomplish any of them, simply
(03:07):
because they lack the ability todo boring things.
In the world of tech, it's easyto think that big ideas and
fast growth is the pathway tosuccess, and maybe it is
sometimes, but the vast majorityof people that get wealthy do
it from compounding effects ofdoing very boring things that
(03:27):
people are willing to pay forand doing it for a very long
time.
I can think of one smart personI know that's doing pretty well
in life, but he partnered inhis company with one of the most
patient people I know, and,from an outsider's point of view
, the only reason that person isas successful as he is is
because he has a patientbusiness partner.
(03:51):
I want to see these friends ofmine succeed.
It doesn't make me feel good tosee them doing poorly.
Too often they're justunwilling to play the long game.
The curse they live under issomething akin to a hamster
wheel that they put themselveson.
It's like they can only stayfocused on one project for six
months or so before switching,or sometimes they stick at it,
(04:12):
but they dedicate their energyto five different projects at a
time and never invest deeplyenough in one thing to see it
through.
The path to my own limitedsuccesses have largely come from
the simplest and most boringthings to begin with.
And most boring things to beginwith.
By no means is my companyanything special, but we make an
(04:32):
effort to make sure our clientslike us Really.
My company's growth has beenfueled by a little more than
trying to take care of thecustomer fast and making them
feel like they're dealing withan actual person.
If you do that over a longenough time, it pays you back.
There's an argument to be hadthat it's better for that smart
(04:53):
person to scratch theirintellectual itch than to force
them to do things that areboring, and maybe that's true.
But if they can stick it outjust a little while longer,
their ability to scratch thatitch increases along with their
resources.
A lot of people are trying tofind their thing.
I think there is a belief outthere that if we just look long
(05:15):
enough, we're going to find ourthing that will satisfy our
minds and allow us to thrive.
But to many of us, everythingis interesting to an extent, and
once we know a good amountabout something, we get bored
again to an extent.
And once we know a good amountabout something, we get bored
again.
You may find that your thing isto learn about everything, in
(05:37):
which case it makes more senseto make it your hobby instead of
expecting to become an expertat everything.
If you take five cups and youfill each of them a quarter of
the way and then you go back andrepeat this until they're all
the way full, you'll find thatsomeone else that just filled
each cup all the way to the topwill have gotten the job done
sooner by far.
When I have to hire someone formy company, I've learned to look
(05:59):
at how many jobs a person hashad and for how long they've had
them.
In fact, it's probably the mostimportant thing to me.
If somebody has worked for 10different companies over 10
years, how can you expect themto stick around for you?
The cost of losing an employeeis substantial, especially when
you factor in the time andinvestment that you put into
(06:22):
that person.
The cost to yourself from notsticking with something for a
long time adds up as well.
The cost to yourself from notsticking with something for a
long time adds up as well.
I recently interviewed a guyfor a job that had had
incredible experience in adifferent industry, but he
decided it made sense for him totry and get out.
He had committed decades tothat other industry and his
(06:45):
wages were fantastic, but theonly job I could offer to him
couldn't come close to what hisprevious wages were.
Now I understand his reasoningfor trying to get out of that
particular industry, but it wasreally remarkable to me how much
of a hit he was going to takebecause of it.
In the other industry he hadall the right relationships and
all of the right experience, butthey were ultimately useless to
(07:08):
him when he switched.
Boredom can be your friend.
We fight it like it's our worstenemy, but boredom provides you
the time when you cancontemplate things.
When you're bored is usuallywhen good ideas like to strike.
It's in those moments ofnothing that you have an
opportunity to let those ideasstart rolling in.
(07:30):
There are a lot of shiny thingsout there, but if you're too
busy getting distracted by thenext thing, you will never make
progress with the first one.
Maybe, if you're really smart,you might have realized that it
isn't just smart people thatsuffer from overconfidence and
boredom.
The winner in life has neverreally been the smartest person
(07:53):
in the world.
It has always been the wisest.
Be wise enough to be curious tofind out what you don't know.
Be wise enough to think aheadyears, not days.
Be wise enough to know whereyour nature wants to betray your
best interest.
I've watched good ideas riseand fall more than I can count,
(08:30):
but the tortoise in someinstances truly does outpace the
hare.
If you enjoyed the show, pleaselike or subscribe.
If there is a topic you wouldlike me to speak on, please feel
free to email me at info atskippingstonessrcom.
New episodes will be releasedweekly, every Monday.
What in life deserves our time and attention and what
things don't.
I hope that as we consider thatquestion, along with other
topics on this show that we canall learn to live our lives just
a little more intentionally.
This is Seth Roberts.
Thanks for joining me onSkipping Stones.
(00:26):
I've known a lot of smart peoplein my life and I enjoy spending
time with these people.
They often have somethinginteresting to say.
But I've noticed that many ofthese hyper-intelligent people
in my life have kind of failedto meet the expectations that I
had of them.
I always thought these guyswould be richer than me me or at
(00:48):
the very least haveaccomplished something
meaningful.
Don't get me wrong.
Some of these guys do all right, but compared to what I thought
they would accomplish in life,I've been a little surprised.
I still think these people arevery intelligent, but I think
with intelligence comes acertain susceptibility to
boredom and overconfidence.
When a person knows they aresmart, I think it's hard for
(01:11):
them to believe that someoneelse is smarter or, at the very
least, has figured something outthat they haven't.
It isn't so much that they aretoo prideful to learn, it's that
they simply don't believe otherpeople could possibly know more
than them.
So there's almost a kind ofbenefit that comes with doubting
your own intelligence, in thatyou take other people's advice
(01:34):
seriously and are more likely tobelieve that someone else out
there knows more than you do.
Overconfidence seems like theAchilles heel of the smart
people club.
It's really a quality that willleave you completely blind when
someone that knows better thanyou comes along and takes the
opportunity you thought you hadfigured out.
Smart people have some thingsfigured out, but nobody has
(01:58):
everything figured out.
In a world with billions ofpeople, there will always be
someone smarter than you are.
But even somebody that's notthat smart, that simply knows
something that the smart persondoesn't know, has an advantage
over them.
When you're too confident, itis the equivalent to driving
blind.
I talked with a guy that workedin private equity once and he
(02:22):
told me a lot of these guys thatsell their companies think they
know better than the peoplethey're selling to, but end up
doing far worse than they couldhave done, all the while feeling
like they were so clever.
If overconfidence is theAchilles heel of smart people,
then boredom is a secondAchilles heel on the other foot.
The thing that shoots thesesmart people in the foot, so to
(02:45):
say, is their insatiableappetite for stimulation.
It's possibly a bigger weaknessthan overconfidence.
They often have this inabilityto stick to something long
enough for it to bear any fruit.
I've known many brilliantpeople with many brilliant ideas
, but completely unable toaccomplish any of them, simply
(03:07):
because they lack the ability todo boring things.
In the world of tech, it's easyto think that big ideas and
fast growth is the pathway tosuccess, and maybe it is
sometimes, but the vast majorityof people that get wealthy do
it from compounding effects ofdoing very boring things that
(03:27):
people are willing to pay forand doing it for a very long
time.
I can think of one smart personI know that's doing pretty well
in life, but he partnered inhis company with one of the most
patient people I know, and,from an outsider's point of view
, the only reason that person isas successful as he is is
because he has a patientbusiness partner.
(03:51):
I want to see these friends ofmine succeed.
It doesn't make me feel good tosee them doing poorly.
Too often they're justunwilling to play the long game.
The curse they live under issomething akin to a hamster
wheel that they put themselveson.
It's like they can only stayfocused on one project for six
months or so before switching,or sometimes they stick at it,
(04:12):
but they dedicate their energyto five different projects at a
time and never invest deeplyenough in one thing to see it
through.
The path to my own limitedsuccesses have largely come from
the simplest and most boringthings to begin with.
And most boring things to beginwith.
By no means is my companyanything special, but we make an
(04:32):
effort to make sure our clientslike us Really.
My company's growth has beenfueled by a little more than
trying to take care of thecustomer fast and making them
feel like they're dealing withan actual person.
If you do that over a longenough time, it pays you back.
There's an argument to be hadthat it's better for that smart
(04:53):
person to scratch theirintellectual itch than to force
them to do things that areboring, and maybe that's true.
But if they can stick it outjust a little while longer,
their ability to scratch thatitch increases along with their
resources.
A lot of people are trying tofind their thing.
I think there is a belief outthere that if we just look long
(05:15):
enough, we're going to find ourthing that will satisfy our
minds and allow us to thrive.
But to many of us, everythingis interesting to an extent, and
once we know a good amountabout something, we get bored
again to an extent.
And once we know a good amountabout something, we get bored
again.
You may find that your thing isto learn about everything, in
(05:37):
which case it makes more senseto make it your hobby instead of
expecting to become an expertat everything.
If you take five cups and youfill each of them a quarter of
the way and then you go back andrepeat this until they're all
the way full, you'll find thatsomeone else that just filled
each cup all the way to the topwill have gotten the job done
sooner by far.
When I have to hire someone formy company, I've learned to look
(05:59):
at how many jobs a person hashad and for how long they've had
them.
In fact, it's probably the mostimportant thing to me.
If somebody has worked for 10different companies over 10
years, how can you expect themto stick around for you?
The cost of losing an employeeis substantial, especially when
you factor in the time andinvestment that you put into
(06:22):
that person.
The cost to yourself from notsticking with something for a
long time adds up as well.
The cost to yourself from notsticking with something for a
long time adds up as well.
I recently interviewed a guyfor a job that had had
incredible experience in adifferent industry, but he
decided it made sense for him totry and get out.
He had committed decades tothat other industry and his
(06:45):
wages were fantastic, but theonly job I could offer to him
couldn't come close to what hisprevious wages were.
Now I understand his reasoningfor trying to get out of that
particular industry, but it wasreally remarkable to me how much
of a hit he was going to takebecause of it.
In the other industry he hadall the right relationships and
all of the right experience, butthey were ultimately useless to
(07:08):
him when he switched.
Boredom can be your friend.
We fight it like it's our worstenemy, but boredom provides you
the time when you cancontemplate things.
When you're bored is usuallywhen good ideas like to strike.
It's in those moments ofnothing that you have an
opportunity to let those ideasstart rolling in.
(07:30):
There are a lot of shiny thingsout there, but if you're too
busy getting distracted by thenext thing, you will never make
progress with the first one.
Maybe, if you're really smart,you might have realized that it
isn't just smart people thatsuffer from overconfidence and
boredom.
The winner in life has neverreally been the smartest person
(07:53):
in the world.
It has always been the wisest.
Be wise enough to be curious tofind out what you don't know.
Be wise enough to think aheadyears, not days.
Be wise enough to know whereyour nature wants to betray your
best interest.
I've watched good ideas riseand fall more than I can count,
(08:30):
but the tortoise in someinstances truly does outpace the
hare.
If you enjoyed the show, pleaselike or subscribe.
If there is a topic you wouldlike me to speak on, please feel
free to email me at info atskippingstonessrcom.
New episodes will be releasedweekly, every Monday.
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