Why Do Intelligent People Fail? (And Why the Less Intelligent Often Succeed)

Intelligence alone does not guarantee success. While being smart is undoubtedly an advantage, it’s not the most critical factor in achieving happiness, wealth, or a fulfilling life. Let’s explore why intelligent people often struggle and how building habits like discipline and self-control can lead to a more successful and meaningful existence.

Why Intelligent People Fail? (And The Dumb Succeed?)

Did you know? Highly intelligent and knowledgeable people usually fail in life compared to less intelligent people. Some people have graduated from unknown colleges or dropped out of colleges, and they end up making more money and leading happier lives than intelligent people who graduate from the top Ivy League colleges.

Intelligence will not lead to success. There is something else you need to master.

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Intelligence Is Overrated

Highly intelligent individuals often face unexpected failures in life. Surprisingly, many less intelligent people, including college dropouts and those from unknown institutions, go on to lead happier and more financially successful lives.

The reason is simple: success isn’t about IQ. It’s about delivering value to the world and maintaining discipline to achieve your goals.

Because making money is not about intelligence, there are plenty of opportunities to make money by offering value to the people around us. Making money requires discipline. Discipline has nothing to do with intelligence. Discipline is about impulse control and delayed gratification.

Success Requires Discipline, Not Intelligence

Making money or achieving success isn’t directly tied to intelligence. Instead, success is about consistently making disciplined choices.
Discipline is rooted in:

Impulse control.
Delayed gratification.

These traits are not determined by how smart you are but by how consistent and focused you can be.

None of us want to be slaves to someone else. We often get angry when we hear about how humans enslaved other humans throughout history. The slave masters have inflicted a lot of suffering on the slaves. Today, human slavery has been almost abolished. However, we volunteer to be slaves to social media, drugs, and bad habits.

Modern-Day Slavery: Our Own Bad Habits

While traditional slavery has largely been abolished, many of us voluntarily enslave ourselves to harmful habits like:

Social media addiction.
Smoking and drugs.
Poor time management.

Even highly intelligent individuals often fall into these traps. For example, successful professionals from prestigious institutions like IITs can destroy their health and happiness through smoking or substance abuse.

No matter how much money you earn or save, without discipline, your quality of life will suffer.

I know very intelligent people who have graduated from IITs who destroy their lives because they are chain smokers and drug users. These people made a lot of money in their careers, and they have saved so much and invested that they never have to work anymore. However, their quality of life is bad because of their lack of impulse control. They are destroying their health and have no purpose in life.

Average Intelligence Can Be an Advantage

Feeling insecure about not being as intelligent as others? Don’t be.
In the long run, people with average intelligence who prioritize discipline and healthy habits often lead happier, wealthier lives than their more intelligent counterparts.

You will have achieved more in a single morning than most people achieve in an entire week. After breakfast, you are free to take a nap while the world is still struggling to get on track. Your day makes your week.

If you have a perfect day, you will have a perfect week, a perfect month, a perfect year, a perfect decade, and a perfect life. Always aim to optimize your day, not your life. When making progress, think Micro, not macro. The macro is made of the Micro. An ocean is made of drops. Your life is made of moments.

Build These Habits for a Better Life

If you feel like you are not intelligent enough for some people that you look up to, believe me, having average intelligence will help you in the long run. You will have more money and a better quality of life than those who do not know how to stay disciplined.
If there is one habit that you have to develop to improve your life in 2025, you just need to wake up early every day.
Wake up by 4 AM
Meditate for 30 Minutes
Work out for 1 hour (even a walk is fine)
Read books for 1 hour
Work for 2 hours.

By noon, you’ll have achieved more than most people do in an entire week. Consistently following this structure will lead to:

Better time management.
Higher productivity.
Improved mental and physical health.

Your Day Shapes Your Life

Your daily habits determine the quality of your life. Start by waking up early and optimizing your mornings. Once you develop momentum, protect your routine fiercely. Life will always throw challenges at you, but a solid routine keeps you focused, happy, and growing.

Why Competition Has Never Been Easier

Most people today are stuck in unhealthy habits. They:

Wake up late.
Feel groggy from poor sleep or unhealthy diets.
Start their day with coffee and cigarettes.
Waste time in unproductive meetings or on social media.

The good news? The competition is weak. By adding just one positive habit at a time, you’ll be far ahead of most people.

Most people wake up at 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. with a brain fog. Many of these people are sleep-deprived, have a hangover, or wake up and smoke a cigarette. It is estimated that one billion people out of the 8 billion people on planet Earth are regular smokers. They have coffee to make them energetic.

Then, they have a carb-heavy breakfast that causes a sugar spike. Then they feel sleepy. They drag themselves to work in traffic. By the time they reach the office, they need another cup of coffee and maybe another cigarette. Then they rush to a meeting where most people just play the ping pong of responsibilities. Before they know it, it is lunchtime.

Start Small: Set Your Alarm

It has never been easier to succeed. The competition is extremely weak. Just add one habit at a time. Just start waking up early for the time being. Yes, it is difficult, but start somewhere. Set up an alarm right now for 4 am tomorrow. Even if you are going to hit snooze, it's fine. By just setting an alarm, you are going to be ahead of 99.9% of the population on planet Earth.

If waking up at 4 a.m. seems impossible, start small. Simply set an alarm tonight. Even if you hit snooze tomorrow, you’re already on your way to breaking the cycle. Over time, this small action can turn into a transformative habit.

Once you get on a positive spiral, guard it with your life. Do not let anyone disrupt your routine. Your routine is sacred. When life throws you off balance, your routine will keep you sane, happy, and growing.

Conclusion: Build Strong Habits, Not Intelligence

Success isn’t about being the smartest person in the room. It’s about being humble enough to recognize the importance of discipline, habits, and consistency.

The most successful people in the world are not intelligent. They are humble enough to understand that they are not that smart and to beat the competition; they just need to build strong habits.

“Why Smart People Fail While the Average Succeed”
“Discipline vs. Intelligence: The Real Secret to Success”
“How Building Habits Beats High IQ Every Time”
“Why Waking Up Early Can Transform Your Life”
“The Secret to Success: It’s Not Intelligence, It’s Routine”
“From Chaos to Control: How Discipline Leads to Success”

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