Here’s a question for you:
What is intelligence? What does it mean to be “smart”?
Is it a high IQ? Mensa membership? Acing all your exams? Is the smartest guy in the room the one who “made it” by 29 and got his face on the front cover of Forbes?
Imo, no.
Take an extreme example:
Nobel Prize winners.
So we’ve been told, they’re the smartest people on the planet. But did you know 6 committed suicide? With all the respect in the world, if they’re so smart, why were they so miserable?
And that brings me to Naval, who gave what I think is the best definition of smarts:
“The only real test of intelligence is if you get
what you want out of life.”
🤔 Was Will Hunting really that smart?
It’s like in Good Will Hunting, where Will’s this mathematical genius, who’s read everything under the sun and can answer any question you throw at him.
But inside?
He’s miserable.
As his therapist says,
"If I asked you about women I'm sure you could give me a syllabus of your personal favorites, and maybe you've been laid a few times too. But you couldn't tell me how it feels to wake up next to a woman and be truly happy."
As Naval puts it…
🤓 “If you’re so smart, why aren’t you happy?”
I’ve met loads of people who’ve sacrificed their lives on the altar of “success”, working 70-hour weeks, so they can earn a million bucks and drive a Porsche.
But are they actually “winning”?
Some are.
(or certainly seem to be).
But others are just as miserable and empty as they were when they started. Of course, you might say being miserable and rich is better than being miserable and poor. (I’d probably agree.) But that’s neither here nor there.
My point is this:
We look up to the rich and “successful” and think, “gosh, aren’t they smart?”… but if they’ve got no fulfillment, haven’t they been pretty stupid spending decades chasing the wrong goal?
🧐 The Real Intelligence Test
This is exactly why I'm writing this – because most of us never pause to question if we're being "smart" about our own lives. We just keep pushing forward on paths we started years ago without checking if they're still taking us where we actually want to go.
If we're defining intelligence as "getting what you want out of life," then real intelligence requires knowing what actually matters to you.
NOT what should matter.
NOT what matters to others.
What genuinely matters to YOU.
The smartest thing you can do right now is a simple sense check with these two questions:
🫵 1) What do I actually want?
It’s a tough question, so here’s a few shortcuts:
- Who do I admire and why? Usually, the people we admire reflect a quality we have buried inside ourselves.
- What would I regret NOT doing when I'm 80 looking back?
- Here are my 9 favorite ‘framebreaker’ questions I’d recommend spending an evening mulling over
👣 2) What am I doing to get myself closer to that?
This is where most people fail the intelligence test. They say they want one thing but their daily actions move them toward something entirely different.
If you want to write a book but never make time to write, are you really being smart about getting what you want? Real intelligence demands alignment between your desires and your actions.
🔎 Am I actually winning? My key indicators…
But what does "winning at life" actually look like? If we reject the conventional markers of success, what should we aim for instead?
Based on my conversations with people, my research and observation, there are four key components of a genuinely fulfilled life. Basically, if you optimize for these, you’ll be good!
👥 1) Interesting-people density
The saying, "no man is an island" is true.
Look at the careers of people who've achieved what they want, in any field, and you'll see a network of interesting people who gave them great ideas and wisdom when they needed it.
N.B: These don't need to be people IRL. Podcasts and books can serve as interesting "people" too.
The quality of your connections is one of the strongest predictors of both happiness and success. Are you surrounded by people who challenge and inspire you? Or by those who reinforce your limitations?
📚 2) Learning velocity
No matter what your goal is, you're going to have to learn, meaning the faster you learn, the faster you get to where you want to be.
Continuous growth is fundamental to human fulfillment. We're wired to find satisfaction in mastery and progress, not in stagnation – regardless of how comfortable that stagnation might be.
When we stop learning, we start dying inside – even if everything else in our lives looks successful on paper.
🔋 3) Energy audit
Pay attention to what energizes you versus what drains you. It's the simplest way to check if you're on the right path.
If you consistently feel drained by activities that are supposed to move you toward your "goal," that's a red flag that you might be chasing something that isn't actually important to you.
Try tracking your energy levels for a week. What patterns emerge? The activities that consistently energize you are signposts pointing toward what you actually want.
⚡ 4) Growth vs. maintenance
Most people spend 90% of their time maintaining their current life and maybe 10% growing toward a better one.
Truly intelligent living flips this ratio.
Look at your calendar from last week. How much time was spent just maintaining the status quo versus actively building something better?
Even small shifts here – like dedicating just one hour each morning to working on something that actually excites you – can create massive changes over time.
🌱 Small adjustments, big results
You don't need a complete life overhaul to get smarter about your happiness. Small recalibrations often yield the biggest returns:
- Time blocking - Protect just 30 minutes daily for what genuinely interests you. Guard this time like your most important meeting.
- Weekly reflection - Every Sunday, ask: "Did this week bring me closer to what matters?" If not, what one thing can you adjust next week?
- Permission to experiment - Give yourself space to try new approaches within your current role or life. Small tests reveal big truths.
The truly intelligent approach isn't about dramatic gestures or complete reinvention. It's about making consistent, deliberate choices that align with what actually matters to you.
Your move. Are you smart enough to be happy?