After my “Achoo” email, I realized I need to cover a very important subject.

It’s all about the idea of “The Solvable Problem” which is in fact INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY of Dan Nicholson, author of Rigging the Game.​

After writing the "Achoo" draft, I went back through and re-wrote the terms “solvable problem” in order to not be actually in violation of intellectual property …

But I need to share this idea with you because it’s a foundation of how I approach my work and life.

Essentially, how I think about

Getting What I Want (in Life and Business).

Before I dive in, I highly recommend/advise getting a copy of Dan's book Rigging the Game (don't take my word for it's quality, you can read any of hundreds of amazing reviews)

You can read about The Solvable Problem in the book, but I'll give a brief synopsis.

In a nutshell, “The Solvable Problem” is about figuring out exactly what you want distilled into an equation which you can solve for.

Here’s a simple example.

“I want more money” - this cannot be solved. More is undefined.

“I want $7,000,000” - this CAN be solved. Because you can look at where you are now, your resources, your capability to earn/save, and figure out how to get $7,000,000.

If you dig into Rigging the Game, Dan’s work with Certainty Certified Advisors and Nth Degree CPAs, you’ll discover that it’s about more than money.

It’s about defining precisely what you want in life, and then figuring out the components you can put together to make that happen.

In other words, there’s meaning behind the numbers.

This framework, conceptually, is VERY USEFUL in every domain.

I can’t NOT do my work without thinking about “solvable problem.”

That’s entirely where “What do you really want?” Comes from.

I can’t enter projects with prospects or current clients without first precisely defining, in as much specificity as possible, what we’re trying to do, AND CRITICALLY WHY.

Because only then can you accurately, simply, and reliably backwards engineer the steps to get you closer to what you want.

(Another useful frame, “closer over more,” which helps us understand that what’s most in our power each day is to just move closer to the thing we want - that's talked about in the book)

So.

I’m sharing this with you today, because it’s fundamental to how I view, approach, create, and will ultimately talk about the concept of Mindshare.

(it's a building block of everything I do)

When you finally understand what it is you WANT…

The next appropriate thing to do is to make “the next best step” to get you closer to that thing.

And invariably, when it comes to email, focusing on actions which build Mindshare ALWAYS get you closer to what you want …

(unless what you want involves not running a business or not using email - an important distinction you might want to make before heading down this path)

This is why, for me, it’s the highest leverage point of focus.

You’ll see this woven through everything I write and do …

And now you have the reference of understanding what it’s all about.

(and, I have the resource written to point people towards in the future)

By the way,

If you’re interested in reading an extensive personal story I’ve written with respect to this concept, how it’s influenced my life personally and with respect to business, I wrote this article:

​Find The Keys to Your Infinite Game - Slowing Down Reveals Your True Self ​

(btw, that’s a LONG article … clocks in at 12527 words and estimates at a 46 minute read time)

I’ve set up a little site on Paragraph to explore foundational personal concepts. Some of (perhaps all), influence aspects of the way I do business and think about email (amongst other things).

But it’s not directly about email, marketing, copywriting, etc.

I’ll periodically refer (perhaps casually or subtly) to ideas which I unpack over there. Feel free to read, subscribe, whatever. Or don’t. No biggy.

(Side note, this is part of a larger ‘web’ I’m building out … I’ll show you that concept at a later time as well)