
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
Several students are competing in a series of four races. A student earns $6$ points for winning a race, $4$ points for finishing second, and $2$ points for finishing third. There are no ties. What is the smallest number of points that a student must earn in the four races to be guaranteed of earning more points than any other student?

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
user