The Idea That Fixing Anything is Easy

With the Right Leverage

In a world increasingly defined by complexity, division, and inertia, it can feel disarmingly naive to suggest that fixing anything—whether personal, professional, or societal—might be simple. But that simplicity isn't rooted in ignorance or idealism. It comes from a clear-eyed understanding of leverage.

Fixing anything is indeed easy—when the right leverage is applied.

This idea, though bold, isn’t new. Archimedes declared, "Give me a place to stand and a lever long enough, and I will move the world." What he was talking about was not force, but leverage as a principle: the strategic application of effort in the right place to achieve outsized outcomes.

In our current global situation, leverage has never been more important, more misunderstood, or more underutilised.

The Three Arenas of Change

Let’s start with the basic domains of human ambition:

>>> Personal: This includes health, relationships, education, wellbeing, career paths.

>>> Professional: Teams, companies, innovation, industry progress, ethics, impact.

>>> Societal: Politics, governance, education systems, economic structures, justice.

Each of these areas functions at different levels of scale, but all share a common truth: change requires leverage.

You can want to lose weight or switch careers (personal); you can want to shift your company’s culture or improve performance (professional); or you can want to reform education or tackle climate change (societal).

Each requires awareness, support, direction, structure, and follow-through. But above all, they require leverage.

Stage 1: List and Prioritise What Needs to Be Done

The first step is not change itself. It is recognition.

That means:

>>> Defining what is broken

>>> Understanding what is missing

>>> Clarifying what could be better

This is deceptively difficult. We live in a noisy world with conflicting narratives. From misinformation to media bias to political spin, clarity is rare. Most people are overwhelmed, or worse—apathetic.

So to reach the first stage means making a conscious decision to face the truth:

"This isn’t working."

From here, issues can be listed. Then they must be prioritised.

In the personal realm, that might mean deciding that mental health comes before career moves. In business, it might mean fixing trust issues before launching a new product. In society, it could mean prioritising housing over military spending.

Prioritisation is power. And it’s where leverage starts.

The Option to Do Nothing

Of course, people can choose not to act. To keep the status quo.

And many do.

There are advantages to inaction:

>>> Comfort

>>> Predictability

>>> Short-term safety

But it comes with heavy costs:

>>> Stagnation

>>> Escalation of problems

>>> Missed opportunities

>>> A future dictated by others

The problem with inaction isn’t that it's lazy. It’s that it cancels agency.

When you opt out, you don’t just preserve the present. You abdicate your influence over the future.

And when enough people do that, the wrong people shape what comes next.

So the option to do nothing must always be made consciously, not through resignation.

When Priorities Meet Resistance

Here’s the truth: when you list what needs to change and start to act on it, you’ll hit resistance.

Why?

Because much of the fabric of society is not designed to support human flourishing.

Instead, it's built to:

>>> Consolidate power

>>> Protect incumbents

>>> Drive consumption

>>> Suppress dissent

This isn’t conspiracy. It’s design.

For example:

>>> Want to improve your health? The food industry thrives on addiction.

>>> Want better work-life balance? The economy rewards burnout.

>>> Want political reform? The electoral system is locked by money and influence.

So when people try to act on their values, they discover the truth:

The system is not broken. It was built this way.

Which means real progress will often require not just effort—but structural change.

And for that, leverage is critical.

Building Leverage: The Foundations

What does leverage look like in real life?

>>> People-power: The more aligned individuals contributing effort, the stronger the movement.

>>> Tools: Systems that enable coordination, tracking, feedback, and iteration.

>>> Visibility: Public ambition invites accountability and support.

>>> Structure: Without a clear pathway, even inspired people flounder.

Leverage is built. It is not magic.

And when built properly, it makes the heavy lifts feel light.

Suddenly, fixing things feels possible.

Business as Usual, Reimagined

Once priorities are clear and leverage begins to form, life changes.

No longer chaotic, reactive, or hopeless. Instead:

>>> People work on what matters

>>> Systems support progress

>>> Dialogue replaces division

>>> Structure replaces spinning wheels

Imagine if every town, company, and government had a shared delivery framework.

Imagine if ambition wasn’t a lonely pursuit, but a collective pathway.

Imagine if listing, prioritising, and aligning action became a normal habit of life.

That’s not utopia. That’s what happens when enough people show up.

The Simplicity On the Far Side of Complexity

Make no mistake: life is complex.

We are billions of people, thousands of cultures, infinite aspirations, and urgent challenges. And yet, beneath that:

>>> We all want safety.

>>> We all want meaning.

>>> We all want progress.

And when we strip away ego, ideology, and profit motives, we begin to see:

>>> Most people want the same outcomes. We’re just taught to fight over the means.

That means the path forward isn’t about perfection. It’s about willingness.

To speak. To try. To align.

How Long Must We Wait?

The truth is: we don’t have to wait at all.

Everything needed to begin is already here:

>>> Tools like Ideas-Shared

>>> Frameworks for shared delivery

>>> Global connectivity

>>> A planet full of capable, caring people

So why aren’t things changing faster?

Because we’re stuck in old mental models:

>>> Someone else will fix it

>>> It’s too big for me

>>> It’s always been this way

These aren’t facts. They’re stories.

And stories can change.

The Decisive Question

So we arrive at the pivotal question:

>>> Should we wait and watch, or should we act decisively?

That’s not a theoretical question. It’s daily, local, personal.

And it’s universal.

Because every time someone chooses to:

>>> Post a meaningful ambition

>>> Start a local initiative

>>> Offer help, or ask for support

>>> Align with others instead of arguing online

They are changing the future.

No one person can fix the world. But no one has to.

That’s the promise of shared leverage.

That’s the power of a system designed not just to talk, but to build.

In Closing: Life Can Be Easy

Yes, the world is broken in many ways. Yes, it feels exhausting.

But it can also be simple.

List what matters. Prioritise the work. Align with others. Apply leverage. Deliver outcomes.

This is how humanity moves forward.

Not through magic. Not through elite leadership. Not through one heroic moment.

But through millions of ordinary people choosing to act differently.

To those reading this:

>>> The moment is now.

>>> The leverage is real.

>>> The future is yours to influence.

So let us not be remembered for our passivity. Let us be known as the generation that got to work.

Fixing anything is easy — with the right leverage.