You're Not Stuck, You're Under-Leveraged

A few years ago, I was doing what most people would call “everything right.”

I had a high-paying job, earning more money than I ever had before, while running and growing a business on the side. I worked nights. I worked weekends. I optimized my calendar, read the right books, and said no to distractions. I was proud of the discipline I’d built.

And yet, when I zoomed out after three years, the results didn’t match the effort. Sure, there was some growth. But it was slow. Incremental. Barely noticeable against the backdrop of how hard I was working.

I felt trapped—like I was constantly pushing, but never truly breaking through.

The scariest part? I knew something needed to change. But I was afraid to make the leap. Afraid to let go of what was working just enough to feel safe. I thought more effort would eventually get me there. It took me a while to realize: it wasn’t more effort I needed. It was leverage.

The Trap of Linear Growth

Let’s do a quick thought experiment.

Imagine you’re adding RM5,000 in revenue each month. That’s progress, right? But over a year, that only gets you to RM60,000 in growth—linear and predictable.

Now, imagine you grow by just 10% every month. It doesn’t sound like much. But by the end of the year, you’ve more than tripled your starting point. That’s the magic of compounding—when each gain builds on the last, creating a curve instead of a line.

The problem is, linear growth feels more satisfying in the short term. You’re in control. You can see the direct cause and effect: work harder, get more. But that feeling is deceptive. Over time, linear effort becomes a ceiling. You either push harder to maintain the same pace—or burn out trying.

The Overlooked Power of 80/20

In the late 1800s, an Italian economist named ​Vilfredo Pareto​ noticed something peculiar in his garden. While tending to his peas, he realized that 20% of the pods produced 80% of the yield. That observation led him to uncover the same pattern in other areas—most famously, in wealth distribution: 20% of Italians owned 80% of the land.

What Pareto uncovered wasn’t just a pattern. It was a principle—a universal imbalance that shows up everywhere.

• In business, a small number of customers drive most of your revenue.
• In marketing, a handful of pieces create the bulk of your traffic.
• In life, a few choices shape most of your outcomes.

But most of us ignore this. We optimize the 80%—the busywork, the routines, the small wins—because they feel productive. It’s safer than betting on the uncertain 20%. The truth is, high growth rarely comes from doing more. It comes from identifying and amplifying what moves the needle.

The Real Engine of Exponential Growth

In his ​reflections on wealth and happiness​, Naval Ravikant put it simply:

Fortunes require leverage.

Leverage is what allows you to achieve 10x results without working 10x harder. It’s the mechanism that turns a one-person effort into something that scales far beyond you. Naval breaks down four main types of leverage:

1. Capital. Money that works even when you’re not.
2. Collaboration. Partnerships and teams that multiply your output.
3. Code. Software and automation that operate infinitely at zero marginal cost.
4. Content. Ideas, media, and audience that compound while you sleep.

The first two require trust. The latter two are permissionless—you can start creating them today without anyone’s approval. Together, these levers turn effort into assets. Without them, you’re stuck trading time for progress. And time will always run out.

4 Ways to Shift From Hustle to Leverage

If you’re anything like me, you don’t need more motivation. You’re already working hard, staying consistent, doing what’s “right.” But deep down, you might be wondering why it still feels like you’re stuck.

Not because you’re doing the wrong things, but because the right things aren’t compounding. That’s where leverage comes in.

Here are four ways to start shifting, gently but deliberately, toward the kind of work that scales with less effort over time.

1. Audit your week for leverage

Look at your last 7 days. What did you spend time on that will still deliver value next week? What disappears the moment you stop doing it?

Use Naval Ravikant’s four levers as a lens:

• Are you building anything that uses capital (money working for you)?
• Are you supported by collaboration (a team, partners, systems)?
• Are you creating code (tools, automations, software)?
• Are you publishing content (ideas, products, media that compound)?

The more your calendar leans toward these, the more leverage you build.

2. Replace hustle with assets

Hustle is trading time for progress. Leverage is building things that keep going when you stop. Start small:

• Turn a service into a product.
• Automate one recurring task.
• Publish something useful that brings people to you.

These are all leverage in action: code that runs without you, content that sells while you sleep, or capital that returns value with zero effort. Even a Notion template or a simple email flow can be a seed.

3. Prioritize asymmetric bets

High-leverage work often feels risky because the upside is big, and the outcome is uncertain.

However, one successful collaboration, one viral piece of content, or one tool or automation that saves hours can create results that dwarf months of manual effort. So place small bets with big upside.

You don’t have to go all-in. You ​just have to start​. One pitch. One launch. One asset. Let the flywheel begin.

4. Apply the 80/20 of the 80/20

Most results come from a few actions. The 80/20 rule is obvious. But the next layer—the 4% that drives 64%—is often ignored because it’s uncomfortable.

Look again at the four levers:

• What's working?
• Which one are you underusing?
• If you doubled down on one of them, what might change?

Don’t optimize everything. Pick the highest-leverage lever and go deeper. You’ll get more by doing less, but doing it where it matters most.

Leverage as the Multiplier of Your Hard Work

You don’t have to abandon hard work. Just stop using it as your only tool.

Because the real unlock isn’t about working more—it’s about building smarter:

Where capital fuels growth, collaboration multiplies output, code runs 24/7, and content keeps opening doors while you focus on what matters.

If you’re afraid to let go of control, I get it. I was, too. But staying stuck in effort-mode isn’t safe—it’s exhausting. You already have the discipline. The question is: Are you ready to direct it toward leverage?