↻ The Problem Solution Cycle
The Sunday Night Review
Hey everyone,
This week I wanted to share something that struck me whilst watching a video on YouTube from Alex Hormozi.
He was talking about the problem solution cycle. The idea is that in business whenever you solve a problem, a new problem appears in it’s place. If you figure out how to get people to buy your product, suddenly you have the new problem of dealing with customers.
It immediately struck me that this was a perfect analogy for life.
Once you solve the problem of getting a new job, then you have the new problem of doing the job well. When you solve the problem of finding a partner, you have the new problem of maintaining the relationship. This is true even if the problem is as small as answering emails. New problems always arise.
So given that we’ll always have problems, I’ve found it helpful to categorise problems as either ‘good problems to have’ or ‘bad problems to have’.
It’s relatively vague and hard to define, but each of us can likely intuit what a good or bad problem means to us. These are some for me.
Figuring out what to do with my life = good problem to have.
Being stressed about my job = good problem to have.
Worrying about the health of a family member = bad problem to have.
Having a headache = bad problem to have.
Thinking like this led me to some realisations.
99% of my problems are good problems, and the ones that are bad are mostly about my health or the health of friends and family.
On a slightly random but related note, I just watched this entire 52 minute conversation about AI between Rishi Sunak (the UK Prime Minister) and Elon Musk. At one point, Elon said:
“One of the challenges in the future will be how do we find meaning in life, if you have a magic genie (AI) that can do everything you want.”
Even in the world when we have absolutely everything that we want, we will still have the problem of finding meaning and being happy.
So I’m trying to remind myself that I will literally always have problems, but most of them are the good type.
Do you feel the same?
Have an epic week!
Tintin 👨💻
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