A Big Problem Is The Sum of Many Little Problems

Any problem is a big problem when you feel like you can’t solve it.

My dad used to tell me that any big problem is the sum of many little problems.

I can still see him, legs crossed on the couch, teaching me how to deal with tween drama.

I often think about it these days but in a totally different context.

Let’s break down a big problem together.

I’m in a few freelancers & writers’ groups on Facebook, and I see questions like:

How do I get (my first/more) clients?

How do I get motivated to write every day?

How do I find the time/energy to write?

Those may sound like common problems; ones to which you can find a lot of advice online, but any problem is a big problem when you feel like you can’t solve it. And some of the pieces of advice you can read online are actually harmful, not helpful.

So, let’s look at one of these questions from a different perspective. Let’s break it down.

Big problem: I can’t find the clients I need.

Smaller problems:

• I don’t know where my clients go to look for the services I offer.
• I know where my clients look for services, but I don’t know how to master those platforms.
• I don’t know what my clients are looking for when they’re choosing someone to work with.
• I don’t know what successful people in my field do to get clients.
• It’s taking me more time than I thought to get the number of clients I want, which lowers my confidence & motivation.

“If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.”― Albert Einstein

Isn’t this easier?

If not, you can break down each of those problems further. For example, if you find out that different groups of clients hang out in different places (online), you can analyze your target market and choose to focus on one or two of those places. Then you can learn how those platforms work and increase your chances of reaching your people faster and making a good impression.

For example, when I first started writing on Medium, I had no idea how to get traction. I broke down the problem into smaller problems, and I learned what to write about, how to write it, where to post it when to post it, and how the platform works.

I’ve started and stopped writing on the platform a few times, and it always takes me 5–6 months to get back to 4 figures.

Why? Because this method lets you build a strategy. When you have a good strategy, nothing can stop you.

So. Break it down. Solve one little problem. Then another, then another.

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