You Can’t Work Smart Until You Work Hard (2427)

The shortcut mindset has a cost. In today’s episode, Kevin and Alan challenge the idea that you can “work smart, not hard” your way into real success. After thousands of episodes, years of coaching, and repeated client patterns, they break down why smart work usually comes after hard work.

This episode gets into leverage, effort, work ethic, better tools, and the reps required to build real awareness. If you want stronger results, you cannot skip the part that builds the skill. Press play before you optimize your way into average.

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For more information, check out our website and socials using the links below. 👇

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Show notes:
(3:29) Innovation comes from real friction
(9:13) Why shortcuts appeal to human nature
(13:06) Use tools to multiply effort
(14:06) Why smart tools stop being enough
(16:19) High performers do both
(20:12) Outro

🎙️ Hosted by Kevin Palmieri and Alan Lazaros

Next Level University is a top-ranked daily podcast for dream chasers and self-improvement lovers. With over 2,100 episodes, we help you level up in life, love, health, and wealth one day at a time. Subscribe for real, honest, no-fluff growth every single day.

Transcript

Kevin Palmieri

(0:00) This is a lie, and I think it's one of those convenient lies that people like to say and even more so like to hear. (0:09) You hear a lot of people out there talking about how you have to work smart, not hard. (0:14) In reality, you can't really work smart until you work hard to figure out what sucks and what's challenging and what you want to try to make easier.(0:22) And this is kind of a companion episode to the one we did yesterday about minimum versus maximum.

Alan Lazaros

(0:28) Yeah, working smart is often on the other side of beating your head against the wall repeatedly for an extended period of time, and then you go, oh, I should be doing it this way. (0:38) Welcome to Next Level University.

Kevin Palmieri

(0:41) I'm your host, Kevin Palmieri. (0:43) And I'm your co-host, Alan Lazarus. (0:46) At NLU, we believe in a heart-driven but no BS approach to holistic self-improvement for dream chasers.

Alan Lazaros

(0:52) Our goal with every episode is to help you level up your life, love, health, and wealth.

Kevin Palmieri

(0:59) We bring you a new episode every single day on topics like confidence, self-belief, self-worth, self-awareness, relationships, boundaries, consistency, habits, and defining your own unique version of success.

Alan Lazaros

(1:15) Self-improvement, in your pocket, every day, from anywhere, completely free.

Kevin Palmieri

(1:21) Welcome to Next Level University. (1:27) Next Level Nation today for episode number 2427, You Can't Work Smart Until You Work Hard. (1:32) There was a gentleman back in the day, old days, back in the day, long time ago, before televisions, internet, even cell phones, Vilfredo Pareto, I believe his name was.(1:43) And he discovered something. (1:47) And you've heard us talk about this before. (1:51) Big pea farmer.(1:52) Didn't even know that was a thing. (1:54) Farmed for peas. (1:56) Yep.(1:57) And he realized that 20% of the peas, or the crops, produce 80% of the peas. (2:04) How would he know that if he didn't do all the pain in the ass work of digging the holes, and watering them, and getting the seeds, and tilling the soil, and doing all that stuff? (2:15) He had to do the hard work first in order to realize, ah, interesting, 20% of these things produce 80% of the output.(2:23) What if I just figure out how to make the 20% better? (2:26) Now, again, I don't know how to do that because I'm not a farmer, but that is essentially what we're talking about today. (2:31) You can't really, you asked me about leverage in yesterday's episode.(2:36) And obviously, I didn't have a good answer because I don't know fully what it is. (2:40) I do, but not well enough to explain it. (2:42) You said fulcrum.(2:43) Fulcrum. (2:44) Everybody knows what a fulcrum is. (2:45) The center point, and you got to use leverage.(2:48) The longer the lever, the more weight you can lift, ultimately, depending on where the fulcrum is.

Alan Lazaros

(2:52) True or false, you picture in physics class, physics class, a boulder. (2:57) Yeah, nice. (2:59) Boulder in a hole with, see?(3:03) Of course. (3:03) That's the standard textbook picture. (3:06) Of course.(3:06) There's a two by four, or some sort of long iron bar that you lift a boulder out of a hole.

Kevin Palmieri

(3:14) That's fulcrum. (3:15) Even that? (3:15) Torque.(3:17) Imagine back in the day before there was wheels. (3:21) You didn't know, you worked hard until you found a parallel to make hard work easier, and then you work smarter. (3:28) You can't, you can't skip.

Alan Lazaros

(3:29) Perfect opportunity. (3:30) We were driving home. (3:32) It's spring here.(3:33) It's gorgeous. (3:34) We live in a beautiful condo complex, and they are redoing the roofs of many of the condos. (3:40) Fortunately, not ours yet, because you'd be hearing hammering every day.(3:44) But they have a ladder on the side of the house that brings up all the shingles. (3:53) And when I saw that, I was like, that's brilliant. (3:56) And imagine, however many years ago before that was invented, every guy would be down, or girl, would carry those up.(4:04) Well, over the shoulder. (4:06) You know her. (4:07) Yeah, yeah.

Kevin Palmieri

(4:07) You ever carry shingles? (4:08) Heavy as, 100 pounds a piece, I think. (4:11) That's what I'm saying.

Alan Lazaros

(4:13) So, you can't start there, though. (4:18) You imagine, 300 years ago. (4:21) No, first you've got to invent the ladder.(4:26) And then you've got to carry shingles up a ladder long enough to go, well, this is a giant pain in the ass. (4:32) Let's think about how we could do this differently. (4:35) And then there's police systems and all kinds of things.

Kevin Palmieri

(4:36) Convenience is a result of lack of convenience.

Alan Lazaros

(4:39) Exactly.

Kevin Palmieri

(4:39) That's why it's convenient. (4:41) Because at one point, it was extremely inconvenient. (4:43) I have a question for you.(4:44) Never asked you this, ever, especially on air. (4:46) How do you think they built the fucking pyramids?

Alan Lazaros

(4:49) Dude, I don't mean this to be funny, but I also think it is probably funny, but also not. (4:58) Slave labor is the answer. (5:00) Yeah, but I know that.

Kevin Palmieri

(5:02) But was it a lot, I watched a video on it. (5:04) Yeah, police systems, leverage. (5:07) Inside or outside?

Alan Lazaros

(5:10) I don't know enough about it to talk intelligently about it. (5:16) However, you know, I think about a lot of things. (5:19) I have thought about that quite a bit without actually going and researching.(5:23) Because it is un-fucking-believable. (5:26) It is. (5:27) And I also researched how they built the Great Wall of China as well.(5:31) And how many people it took. (5:33) And it's a whole fucking thing. (5:35) But the point is, yeah, everything gets better over time.(5:43) Because we find new, more innovative, more effective solutions to problems that we identify. (5:51) But that never stops. (5:52) It never stops.(5:54) And I always mention old movies. (5:56) They're garbage. (5:57) It's garbage in comparison.(6:03) Now, there are some movies that last the test of time. (6:07) The Sound of Music. (6:09) You Want Me to See...(6:10) It's a Wonderful Life. (6:11) It's a Wonderful Life. (6:14) And I think that's kind of...(6:19) They had the fundamentals down really well. (6:23) But the camera wasn't as good. (6:26) The color wasn't as good.(6:29) That was before everything was digital. (6:31) When was that made? (6:33) It's a Wonderful Life?(6:34) Yeah. (6:35) Isn't that like from the 40s or 30s or something? (6:37) Maybe.(6:38) I don't even know. (6:39) We watched Harriet and we did some research. (6:44) Because in the film Harriet, it's a 2019 film.(6:51) And there's an actual picture of Harriet Tubman in the film. (6:57) Not in the film, at the end. (6:59) And I was like, they had cameras in 1840s?(7:05) In the 1840s? (7:06) And I looked it up and they did. (7:08) I know.(7:09) See? (7:09) You didn't know that.

Kevin Palmieri

(7:10) No.

Alan Lazaros

(7:10) I was like, what? (7:13) Not video cameras.

Kevin Palmieri

(7:14) But they had actual cameras. (7:16) I still don't understand. (7:19) To this day, I don't understand how you take a picture of something and it shows up on your phone.(7:24) I don't fucking get it. (7:25) How? (7:26) Can I explain it real quick?(7:27) Real quick. (7:27) Please, please. (7:28) All right.(7:29) So... (7:29) Just pixels? (7:30) Yes.(7:31) Just ones and zeros and colors?

Alan Lazaros

(7:32) Yeah. (7:32) I do, but like... (7:34) There's a code.(7:36) That's what digitizing means. (7:37) So remember when you used to have to like flappy flap to get the picture? (7:41) You'd take a Polaroid.(7:43) Shake it like a salt shaker. (7:44) Yeah, you know it. (7:45) Now it's digital.(7:47) So the reason why I can send a picture to your phone right now is because I'm sending a code and your phone picks up the code and the code just indicates what LEDs should be lit up in what color. (7:57) No, I don't think so. (7:58) RGB?(7:59) Red, green?

Kevin Palmieri

(8:00) I don't think so. (8:00) Nope. (8:01) That doesn't track for me.(8:02) Yes, it does. (8:03) You're fucking around. (8:04) We have a client who...(8:05) What do you think a 4K TV is? (8:06) 4,000 LEDs. (8:08) We have a client who is a plumber and they have this snake with a camera on it that can run down your pipes.(8:19) Down your drains, down your pipes. (8:21) He said, you want me to airdrop it to you? (8:22) I was like, excuse me?(8:24) Yeah, I can airdrop it straight from the... (8:27) No, you can't. (8:28) Boop!(8:28) There it is. (8:29) What the fuck are we doing here? (8:31) Your plumbing equipment has Wi-Fi and airdrop capabilities?(8:35) What a time to be alive. (8:37) Boop! (8:37) Right to my phone.(8:38) Beautiful. (8:38) And by the way, it's an electronic snake? (8:44) No, by hand.(8:46) Oh, okay. (8:46) So they just feed it in? (8:48) Yeah, you got to feed it in.(8:49) Yeah. (8:50) Cool. (8:51) Wild.(8:53) All right. (8:53) The reason I want to do this... (8:54) How did they do it before that?(8:56) Before they had the camera? (8:58) Sell the whole house. (8:59) Doesn't work anymore.

Alan Lazaros

(8:59) No, they wouldn't sell the whole house. (9:02) Take it all apart, probably. (9:04) This is work smart, not hard.(9:06) Or no, work hard comes first. (9:08) Before you can work smart, go. (9:11) I wanted to go to the root of this for a second.(9:13) I know I asked you to go and then I didn't let you. (9:15) What is the main reason why people... (9:18) Let's go to the root of why people like that saying.(9:21) I think people who like that saying tend to be a little bit lazy. (9:26) That's my truth. (9:28) Human beings are naturally lazy.(9:31) We're always looking for the path of least resistance. (9:33) That's why Amazon grew so fast. (9:35) Quickest, simplest solution.(9:37) We're all certainty driven. (9:39) Your walk is designed to burn the least amount of calories. (9:44) We are evolved as human beings to find the path of least resistance to the resources.(9:51) That is how we have survived so long. (9:52) One of the reasons. (9:54) Now, I think people who really love the saying, work smart, not hard, I think that they tend to be lazy.(10:02) I think people who don't believe in that saying are probably overriding their natural tendency of laziness. (10:12) So my thesis, and then I want to let you talk, is human beings are naturally lazy. (10:17) The human species is naturally lazy by design from evolution.(10:22) And if you like work smart, not hard, you most likely are not overcoming that natural laziness.

Kevin Palmieri

(10:28) I think it makes, what is my saying? (10:34) When your desire becomes your expectation, you're in a lot of trouble with that. (10:38) Your desire, I can work less and make more.(10:43) When that becomes your expectation, I think you've just been convinced by the snake oil salesman that you can be successful with less effort. (10:49) And it's a convenient lie that makes you feel good. (10:53) That, 100%.(10:55) You know what I mean? (10:56) You go deeper? (10:58) There's no deeper?(10:59) Yeah, it literally, you are taking somebody's lack of awareness, then weaponizing it against them as in, no, no, no, no, no, no. (11:13) You just missed it. (11:14) No, no, you can do it that way.(11:16) You just don't know how yet. (11:17) That's the problem. (11:18) Of course you can work less and make more.(11:20) You just don't know the secret. (11:22) You don't know the secret to it. (11:24) That's it.(11:24) I think that's all it is. (11:27) But, okay. (11:30) Dishwasher, yeah, means you can work less and accomplish more.(11:37) Yeah, but that's, yeah, but so isn't like delegation. (11:40) Like, yeah, you can order food and they bring it to you, but it's not you.

Alan Lazaros

(11:43) That's my point is, the reason why the snake oil salesman gets away with that is because with some things it's true.

Kevin Palmieri

(11:51) Yeah, but not effort. (11:53) All you're doing is paying for some, you're paying for a different level of effort. (11:56) You have to pay for the dishwasher.(11:58) You have to pay for the electricity. (11:58) You have to pay for the water.

Alan Lazaros

(12:00) Yeah, but what used to take, yeah, right? (12:05) What used to take, what's a good example of this? (12:08) We need a good example of this.(12:11) Back in the day when we were kids, what did you, I used clothes drying. (12:15) Okay, my grandma would dry her clothes on a clothesline. (12:18) Now you throw it in a dryer and it's good and 20.(12:23) So work smart, not hard. (12:24) Great for your clothes. (12:26) But you're supposed to take that effort and put it towards something else of use.

Kevin Palmieri

(12:31) But it's not, it's still not, but you're paying for, I don't know, it's technology versus like human effort. (12:39) I know technology makes human effort easier. (12:41) That's my point.(12:42) Ever since the first tools. (12:43) But there are certain things that like, yeah, okay, cool. (12:47) A hammer makes it way easier.(12:48) You ever try to like chop a concrete block with a hammer? (12:52) It's really hard. (12:52) Oh yeah, no, they make sledgehammers.(12:54) Awesome, hop on that thing. (12:55) Take that thing for a ride. (12:56) Knock your teeth right out.(12:58) That doesn't, yeah, it makes it easier, but it's still hard. (13:02) It's just less hard than it used to be. (13:05) Right, that.

Alan Lazaros

(13:06) And it doesn't mean that you should put less effort.

Kevin Palmieri

(13:12) You should reallocate that effort to other things. (13:14) If anything, you can put the same amount of effort in and get more results, which means if you put more effort in, you'd get exponentially more results. (13:22) But I think that's what happens to people.(13:24) It's like, yeah, it's so easy. (13:26) I'm just gonna, I'm gonna work smart, not hard. (13:28) So I'll just work smart at a level five.(13:31) And if I work smart at a level 10, I'd actually work really hard too. (13:34) I just think it's a convenient lie.

Alan Lazaros

(13:36) I have a client who was talking about finance back in the 80s and 90s, particularly the 90s. (13:42) And they were talking about how when you and I were kids, Kev, you could put money in a CD and it would pay you 15%.

Kevin Palmieri

(13:48) That's insane.

Alan Lazaros

(13:50) Exactly. (13:51) It's insane.

Kevin Palmieri

(13:52) That's insane.

Alan Lazaros

(13:53) You can't do that now. (13:55) Where you get like- So it was easy for a time. (14:00) Everything, here's what it is.(14:06) If you wanna be great at anything, it's hard by definition because everybody eventually has the same tools, right? (14:15) So do you remember watching The Last Dance with Michael Jordan? (14:20) And he went back to his old shoes just for one of the games and his feet were all blistered up and destroyed.(14:27) Back then, everyone had shitty shoes. (14:30) The beginning of his career, everybody had those terrible shoes. (14:32) As a matter of fact, those were the best on the market shoes for playing.(14:35) When he tried to go back, his feet were all mangled. (14:40) It's not a competitive advantage when everybody has it. (14:43) And everybody has AI very quickly.(14:45) Everybody has an A-L-E-X-A very quickly. (14:48) Everybody has a computer very quickly. (14:51) Having a computer when computers first came out was probably a huge advantage, what's known as a competitive advantage.(14:58) That competitive advantage goes away very quickly when other people get the same tools. (15:03) And so work smart, not hard is, I think, dangerous because if that's your mantra, you're never gonna reach the top of any industry because what happens when the other people that are working smart are also working hard? (15:21) Which they are.(15:22) Which they are.

Kevin Palmieri

(15:23) Of course they are. (15:24) Which they are. (15:26) My thesis and my wrap up for this, all I'm, my perspective on this is work smart just means make sure you're pushing the right buttons.(15:36) But push those buttons feverishly. (15:38) Doesn't mean like, ah, I know I should, all I have to do is push the button one time a day and I'll get decent results. (15:43) Yeah, but imagine if you just hammered that thing all day.(15:45) You'd get really good results. (15:47) That. (15:48) It's a strategy.(15:49) It allows you to strategize where to put your, the hard effort that you're gonna put in. (15:53) You're not gonna succeed at anything with no effort. (15:56) No matter how smart you are.(15:57) It doesn't really work that way. (15:59) It's not gonna work that way. (16:00) And yes, there are some people that are incredibly intelligent that, I'm sure the chess masters, it comes easier to them than it would come to me.(16:06) But still, like that gets you to a point. (16:08) They still have to play for 15 hours a day. (16:10) Yep.(16:11) Right? (16:11) Everybody does. (16:12) What's your wrap up?

Alan Lazaros

(16:19) If you like the saying, work smart, not hard, check in with your level of work ethic. (16:26) Because what I've found is the people who brag about work smart, not hard, there's a saying, talent beats hard work. (16:32) And it does.(16:33) But what happens when talent works hard? (16:35) Because the truth is at the top of any game or industry, everybody works hard. (16:40) That's not it.(16:42) Everybody works smart and hard. (16:44) You have to do both. (16:49) That's it.(16:49) You have to do both. (16:51) And working hard is what leads to working smart. (16:54) That.(16:55) I do things manually for a long time. (16:58) And then eventually it's like, maybe we should do it this way. (17:04) And then sometimes I go back because manually was actually even better.(17:07) And I think you need to be constantly experimenting with this in every area. (17:11) I do in every area. (17:12) We did a 0.1 a while back and I realized that I'm a little bit nuts with this. (17:17) But everything. (17:17) I brush my teeth different than I used to. (17:19) There's electric toothbrushes.(17:20) Don't care. (17:21) Don't care. (17:22) Not as effective.(17:23) Don't care. (17:24) There's a little floss. (17:27) I used to floss regularly.(17:29) Terrible compared to the ones with the pecs. (17:31) Unbelievable. (17:32) So just experiment constantly.(17:34) Don't waste time and effort. (17:36) But also don't be lazy.

Kevin Palmieri

(17:40) What's the quote? (17:42) Necessity is the mother of all invention or whatever. (17:45) They probably said something.(17:46) The mother of all invention. (17:47) But yeah, necessity. (17:49) You need a record.(17:49) You don't just make something to make it. (17:51) It has to have a purpose.

Alan Lazaros

(17:52) Which is why I think goals are so important. (17:55) Because if you don't have a goal, you don't have any necessity. (17:57) 100%.

Kevin Palmieri

(17:57) I agree. (17:58) What about wrap-up for you? (18:01) That is the wrap-up, baby.(18:04) That is the wrap-up. (18:05) Now you got it in my head.

Alan Lazaros

(18:07) Tell the listeners what you really think.

Kevin Palmieri

(18:08) Tell them what you think they should do differently. (18:13) I think any time somebody is trying to convince you that they can help you make it easier, I would just... (18:20) I don't...(18:20) I question that always. (18:23) Always. (18:24) Always.(18:25) Always, always, always, always, always. (18:26) Yes, some people can. (18:28) But you just...(18:29) It isn't really easier if you've never done it the hard way because you don't know how much easier it actually is. (18:34) And if it works for you. (18:35) Like you have to do it yourself.(18:36) Go dig a hole. (18:38) And then if you fucking hate it and you're like, that was terrible. (18:40) That was the biggest waste of my time.(18:42) Okay, you can hire somebody with a front-end loader to come dig your hole for you. (18:45) But like you have to know what hard actually is in order to figure out whether or not it's easy. (18:50) And this is a conversation of leverage.(18:51) And this is a conversation of putting effort into the thing that brings the best results. (18:56) But you don't know that until you try everything. (18:58) You kind of got to try everything to figure out what works best.(19:01) And what is smart. (19:03) That. (19:03) I think everybody knows this deep down.(19:05) It's just a matter of... (19:06) It sounds sexy. (19:07) Yeah, if you're looking for quick fixes, you are kind of fucked.

Alan Lazaros

(19:10) Yeah, because there's a bunch of people out there trying to sell you. (19:12) There's a bunch of people selling them. (19:13) Of course.(19:14) You're going to pay someone to get worse, essentially. (19:18) That's what quick fixes are. (19:19) I'm going to pay you to make me even worse.(19:22) Three-minute abs, six-minute abs. (19:24) It's like...

Kevin Palmieri

(19:26) You ever heard of seven-minute abs? (19:28) What if we just made six-minute abs, man? (19:33) What's that from?(19:36) Something about Mary. (19:38) There's something about Mary. (19:40) All right, cool.(19:41) If you're trying to get better in the real world and you're trying to work both smart and hard, but you're really into putting in the effort, you got to put the effort in. (19:49) You got to be consistent. (19:50) You got to be disciplined.(19:51) Alan is your guy if you're looking for a coach. (19:52) So reach out to him directly. (19:54) If you're looking for accountability when it comes to fitness, Alan and I are in the Next Level Fitness Accountability Group every single day.(20:00) Alan works out every day. (20:01) I don't, but usually six times a week. (20:03) So I can't say every day.(20:04) But it's a great group of humans who are trying to get to the next level in fitness. (20:08) And one of the best ways to get to the next level is accountability. (20:10) So reach out to Alan and or myself and we will let you in.(20:13) As always, we love you. (20:14) We appreciate you. (20:14) Grateful for each and every one of you.(20:16) And if you are as committed as you say you are to getting to the next level, make sure you tune in tomorrow because we will be here every single day to help you get there. (20:23) Keep leveling up to reach your full potential. (20:25) Next Level Nation.