How big are the challenges you are taking on? Are you dreaming big or chasing the easy things? Do you want to solve big problems or are you sitting in your comfort zone?
Today’s inspiration comes from Tina Seelig What I wish I knew when I was 20 where she quotes Larry Page, the co-founder of Google, telling people “a healthy disregard for the impossible.” Clearly, the most successful entrepreneurs are the ones who solve the biggest problems. If you’re going to spend energy solving problems, think to yourself, “What is the biggest impact I can make with this project.” Why clean up your backyard when you can connect with your local news team and organize a citywide garbage cleanup and be a community hero? This kind of big thinking is what separates heroes from zeros. (Editor’s note: one of our favorite phrases is “Drop that zero and be a hero!”) (This is an instant Under30CEO classic.)
Google has taken on a serious problem and set itself the task of “organize world information and make it public and useful“. If they had taken on a smaller problem, or made it less grandiose, their success would not have been as grandiose. Now you’re probably thinking: this is great, but I could also solve the problem of world hunger while I’m at it, but big problems don’t have to be altruistic.
Big problems are scalable
So you cut down trees to make a living — you solve a problem. People have trees they want to cut down and you take care of them. Now think about how I can create a business system that will solve this problem for everyone in my city. Soon enough your trucks will be everywhere, your name will be written on every stump in the area, and your chainsaws will seem to be singing “Joe’s Tree Service”. Why remove one tree when you can cut down an entire forest?
Even the smallest problems become huge if you understand how to solve them on a large scale. Reach millions of people with a small problem and your impact will be monumental. Take any As Seen on TV product – no one really has a problem using traditional kitchen utensils – but if you spoke to the late Billy Mays, he would convince you that you have a serious problem and need a grater. magic bacon wave or slider station.
Your problem is as big as you say
You need to not only train your mind to look for big problems, but also practice how to look like a Knight in Shining Armor. Nobody likes a guy who grabs everyone’s attention, but self-promotion isn’t that bad. Your problem is as big as you say. The key here is that if you don’t tell people how bad the problem is, no one will care. There is no place for unsung heroes in the big leagues.
Think about the problems you want to solve—on campus, in your community, at a Fortune 500 company, or with a product or service—how you can get the most press, the most exposure, create the most buzz, and establish the most credibility for yourself.
The point here is not that you should try to solve the problem of world hunger, but that you should always try to bite off more than you can chew. It’s rarely pretty, but if you’re not aiming for what you think you can achieve, you’re not growing fast enough. We all grow at the same relative rate; if you want to get ahead of your peers, you need to start feeling uncomfortable. We all have the same 24 hours – what are you going to do with yours?
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