Solving only easy problems makes you a commodity with limited earnings. The speaker describes how his preference for comfort held him back, and contrasts a friend who chooses Netflix over complexity with the effort required to start a movement versus tweeting.
If you only solve easy problems, you're a commodity in your career. Those who solve harder problems earn more. It's just a preference. I don't have the preference of solving hard problems. I had to build it. My innate— I'm like, give me a piña colada and a beach and I'm good for life. That's my preference. But that preference was stunting my progress. I had to say, I need to start to learn to like harder things. I need to start to honor the struggle. I need to learn to take on bigger projects. I'm never going to get paid more if I don't take on harder projects. Think about that. I'm never going to get paid more if I don't take on harder projects. That wasn't my preference. That was reality smacking me in my bank account. I have a friend and he's broke because he doesn't want any complexity in his life. He just doesn't want it. Anytime there's a frustration or an inconvenience, He's like, "Ah, go on the couch, turn on Netflix." He's not fearful of hard work. The dude just prefers— Netflix is nicer than a hard problem. It is. That's a preference. That is not a fear. If you want to get paid more, you want to help more people, you're going to have to take on harder problems. To start a movement in the world is a lot harder to do than to send a tweet. Two different people, two different outcomes, two different ripple effects.
