I'm sorry, but this is one of the most link-baitish titles to a blog post I've seen in a while. It's a nice little chunk of wisdom about problem-solving and motivation, but it's certainly not showing me how to do 'anything'. The problem of me not being the starting quarterback for the Patriots is not going to be solved by following this advice, sadly.
It does teach you how to do anything. Just break down the problem. One stepping stone leads to another, which leads to another, which leads to another and so on. A journey (anywhere, metaphorically speaking) is just a collection of individual stepping stones and accomplishments.
This may be too simplistic, but lets take your quarterback problem. Let's assume you are able bodied, in shape, in high school (gotta start then if you want to make it to the pros) and made the football team.
1. You made the team
2. You become back up quarter back
3. Work your ass off at training to become starting QB or at least when he goes down you get a chance to show why you should be starting.
4. You become starting QB
5. You work your ass off to make plays, win games, and become recognized not only as a great QB but also as a great leader, because the QB is the leader of the team.
6. Get accepted into a recognized college and repeat the above.
All you have to do is follow the guidelines set by yourself, fill in the blanks, and repeat. I do not mean to go on a tangent, but the point I am trying to convey is everything you want to accomplish in life can be done if you bust your ass once someone somewhere gives you a chance to do so.
It's not too simplistic, you hit the nail on the head. My knee-jerk reaction to this post was to roll my eyes (mainly because of the title), because it seems like the OP is just stating the obvious - you have a lofty goal, and you reach that goal by breaking it down into bite size problems that you know how to solve.
It's easy to forget, though, that my job as a software developer is to solve small problems all day in order to tackle a larger problem, and that not everyone has this day-to-day experience. So outside of our tribe, this article may not be as 'common sensical' as I first presumed.
> The problem of me not being the starting quarterback for the Patriots is not going to be solved by following this advice, sadly
i think the point is to apply it to things you know you can accomplish but don't know how or feel overwhelmed by.
flying to pluto is also impossible, let's not use this as a counterexample as to why you shouldn't start a company or change your car's alternator or build a bookshelf.
You don't think Tom Brady broke his task of becoming the current starting QB for the Patriots down into smaller, more manageable tasks? Given enough time and dedication, even something as seemingly ridiculous as wanting to become a starting QB for an NFL team is possible (read "not probable").
