The way that we all think about our problems, is a problem. This is mostly an issue because we are lazy with how we want the challenges of our lives to be solved. Most everyone is longing for one single thing that is going to solve all of their myriad of problems. On the other side of that panacea is happiness. On the other side of this new boyfriend is the fairytale life you’ve always been dreaming about. On the other side of this pizza is the good feelings that you lost when your boss yelled at you earlier.

But life doesn’t work that way.

No one thing will catapult you into an everlasting orgasmic existence. Your new car will make you marginally happier. Your new dog will be a pain in the butt to take out at 3:30am when he has a bladder infection. Your new boyfriend snores.

There is no cure all for the issues you face in life. Some days will be better than others. Some days will suck. The key is to be able to look at the string of days and push each day to be marginally better. To move past the panacea and into the domain of simple solutions.

Alas, most problems you face in life have been dealt with by many other people who were able to overcome them and likely wrote about their tribulations. The key is finding better advice. Today’s society makes it so easy to get good advice and yet we are all stuck with the same garden variety issues.

“If more information was the answer, then we’d all be billionaires with perfect abs.” – Derek Sivers

The problem with solving problems is that the good advice is drowned out by the charlatan advice. We mistake noise for signal, and we repeat the same old habits that got us into our mess in the first place. We buy programs we saw advertised on Youtube to start businesses because we want to be our own boss, not realizing that self-employed people are always on the clock. We sign up at the gym for a new class and never go because it’s at an inconvenient time (The Bachelor was on).

Don’t look for one single solution to solve your life. Look for small tweaks, five percent shifts in behavior that will adjust your trajectory and push you to do slightly better over time. That is all you need to change your life, no grand plan, no new drug experience. Just small adjustments to the path you’re already on.

“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Discharge your duties faithfully and well. Systematically you get ahead, but not necessarily in fast spurts. Nevertheless, you build discipline by preparing for fast spurts. Slug it out one inch at a time, day by day. At the end of the day – if you live long enough – most people get what they deserve.” – Charlie Munger