blog > overcoming large challenges

Large challenges are difficult. But they don’t need to be.

You have an idea of what direction you’d like to go in. But getting there is complicated and the end doesn’t even seem realistic. 

Most people stop right there and settle for whatever their circumstances are currently. And then go on to endlessly wish for better.

I’ve done that and it wasn’t particularly rewarding. The tasks were too big and seemed out of reach. Until I had no choice. I decided that I would do a little bit every day and see what happens. What happened was…well, magic. The big things I wanted to accomplish started becoming reality.

Here’s the thing: you don’t have to have it all figured out. And you don’t need to know exactly how to get there or what “there” looks like. All you need is the general direction. 

We approach large difficult challenges by starting at the beginning and not worrying about the rest.

Want to get healthier? Start taking a 20 minute walk everyday. Don’t worry about doing more or diets or anything else. Once the 20 minute walk is a regular part of your life, add another exercise. Repeat and repeat. Sure, it will take time to reach your goal, but you’ll reach it.

Want to start a business? Figure out the name. And don’t worry about anything else until that’s done. Once you pick a name, get it registered, get a business license and get a domain name for your future website. One thing at a time, without worrying about the rest.

Sure, it will take time to reach your goal, but you’ll reach it. It’s not about how long it will take to accomplish something. It’s about accomplishing it.

Let’s take a look at an example which is arguably the greatest invention, the wheel. Here are all the things you can consider when inventing the wheel:

• Color
• Shape
• Weight
• Material
• Central axis
• Use-case (wagon/car/train/etc.)
• Number of spokes

What *really* matters here? In order for a wheel to be functional, it must be round and it must have a central axis about which to rotate. That’s it. In some future application we may care about its weight, or material or color but the critical attributes are that it’s round and has a central axis. If you want to invent the wheel, that’s all you care about. The goal is to distill a task to its basics. You don’t need to create a wheel for a high speed train right away – you just need to create a basic wheel. The task ahead of you is now this:

• Shape
• Central axis

The above two attributes of the wheel are your to-do list now. Figure out what shape it needs to be to roll smoothly and where the axis should be located so you can put the wheel on a shaft and have it rotate properly.