Quick Summary
To achieve your dreams, break big problems (or assignments or projects) into much smaller, more manageable tasks, which greatly increases your odds of success.
A Few More Words
In his TEDxTucson talk (see video below), investor, author, and artist Stephen Duneier says
What stands between us and achieving even our most ambitious dreams has far less to do with possessing some magical skill or talent, and far more to do with how we approach problems and make decisions to solve them.
One Gray Square
Take the large, seemingly difficult goal of replicating an image of Brad Pitt using a pencil and a piece of paper. Like many goals in life, replicating Pitt’s image seems complex and overwhelming, and therefore beyond our reach.
Where would we even start?
Duneier says it’s how we approach the problem – and not our actual drawing skills – that determines our odds of success.
Break the large image of Pitt into smaller and smaller boxes or tasks, until our only task is to replicate an image of a single, solid gray square.
We can do that, right?
Then create the remaining squares in the picture, one square at a time, until the entire image of Brad Pitt appears.
It’s how we approach and decide to solve a problem, and not the skills or talent we have, that stand between us and achieving our goals.
Follow this approach in your life and you’ll be successful in accomplishing great things you may have once thought impossible.