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The world used to be hyper local. Just over 100 years ago 75% of Americans had neither telephones nor regular mail service. That make competition hyper local. A worker with just average intelligence much be the best in their town and they got treated like the best because they did not have to compete with the smarter worker in another town.
That is now changed.
A hyper connected world means the talent pool you compete in has gone from hundreds or thousands spanning your town to millions or billions spanning the globe. This is especially true for jobs that rely on working with your head versus your muscles, teaching, marketing, analysis, consulting, accounting, programming, journalism and even medicine increasingly compete in global talent pools. More fields will fall into their category as digitization erases global boundaries as software cats the world as venture capitalist.
A question you should ask as the range of your competition expands is, how do I stand out?
I am smart is increasingly a bad answer to that question, because there are a lot of smart people is in the world. Almost 600 people are the SATs each year. Another 1000 come within a handful of points. In a winner take all and globalized world these kinds of people are increasingly your direct competitors.
Intelligence is not a reliable advantage in a world that is become a connected as ours has. But flexibility is.
In a world where intelligence is hyper competitive and many pervious technical skills have become automated, competitive advent=ge tit e=toear nauanced and soft skills, like communication, empathy and perhaps most of all, flexibility.
If you have flexibility you can wait for good opportunity, both in your career and for your investments. You will have better chance of being able to learn a new skill when it is necessary. You will feel less urgency to chase competitors who can do things you cannot and have more leeway to find your passion and your niche at hy9or own pace. You can find a new routine, a slower pace and think about life with a different set of assumption. The ability to do those things when most others cannot is one of the few things that will set you apart in a world where intelligence is no longer a sustainable advantage.
Having more control over your time and options in becoming one of the most valuable currencies in the world.
That is why more people can and more people should, save money.
You know what else they should do? Stop trying to be so rational.
