The size of your success is directly proportional to the size of the problems you’re willing to solve.
Most people are addicted to small problems because they offer quick wins and immediate gratification. You solve a customer’s minor issue, they thank you, pay you, and you feel accomplished. It’s a dopamine hit that keeps you trapped in a cycle of small thinking.
But here’s what nobody tells you: every minute you spend solving small problems is a minute you’re not developing the capacity to solve big ones.
Research from Harvard Business School shows that companies focusing on incremental improvements typically grow 3-5% annually, while those tackling transformational challenges often see 300-500% growth spurts.
The market doesn’t reward effort—it rewards impact at scale.
The Trap of Small Problems
Most of us spend our days knee-deep in the little stuff. Answering emails. Fixing formatting. Putting out tiny fires. And yes, those things matter… but they don’t change the game.
It’s like rearranging the chairs on a sinking ship instead of fixing the hole in the hull. You look busy, but you’re not really moving forward.
The People Who Break Through
Think about Jeff Bezos. He could have been satisfied selling books online—a neat little business. Instead, he zoomed out and asked: “What if I solved the bigger problem of how the world shops?” The result wasn’t just a company. It was Amazon.
Or think about Elon Musk. Lots of people were tinkering with electric cars. Musk zoomed out to a bigger problem: “How do we accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy?” That bigger lens built Tesla.
The Mindset Shift That Changes Everything
Here’s the paradigm shift that separates the highly successful from everyone else:
Instead of asking “What can I do?” start asking “What needs to be done?”
This single question will redirect your focus from your current capabilities to market needs. And here’s the secret: the market will pay you to develop whatever capabilities are needed to solve its biggest problems.
A Personal Check-In
So, what about you?
- Are you spending your energy on $10 problems, $100 problems, or $10,000 problems?
- Are you stuck polishing details—or zooming out to see what really matters?
- What’s the bigger frustration in your business, team, or industry that you could lean into solving?
Sometimes the leap isn’t about working harder. It’s about choosing bigger problems to wrestle with.
How to Start Small (Ironically)
You don’t have to leap straight into curing cancer or ending world hunger. Start with something a little bigger than what you’re used to:
- Instead of tweaking one report, think about how to fix the reporting system.
- Instead of solving your own bottleneck, think about how to solve it for your whole team.
That shift in thinking is where momentum lives.
The Resistance You’ll Face (And How to Overcome It)
Internal Resistance: “I’m not qualified to solve big problems.” Truth: Qualification comes through doing, not credentials. The market qualifies you when people pay you for solutions.
External Resistance: “You should focus on what you know.” Truth: What you know got you where you are. Where you want to go requires what you don’t yet know.
Market Resistance: “That’s too expensive/complex/ambitious.” Truth: Every breakthrough solution initially faces this response. The early adopters who see the value will pay premium prices.
The Choice That Determines Your Ceiling
You can spend the next five years getting really good at solving small problems, or you can spend them developing the capacity to solve problems that matter.
The market is waiting for someone to solve its biggest challenges. The question isn’t whether those problems will be solved—they will be. The question is: will you be the one solving them?
Identify one problem in your industry that affects thousands of people but has no good solution. Spend one hour this week researching why it hasn’t been solved yet.
What’s the biggest problem you’ve been avoiding because it seemed too complex or ambitious? Sometimes our “impossible” problems are exactly where our biggest opportunities are hiding. Share your thoughts.
P.S.
Transformation doesn’t happen alone, it’s forged in the company of those who push harder, think deeper, and rise higher. I’m building a private community called the Peak Performance Network.
This is a private circle of leaders, entrepreneurs, and professionals who refuse mediocrity and are committed to growth. We share systems, strategies, and accountability to help each other perform at the highest level.