About a decade ago, I read a study on fasting and wanted to try it.

Then my smartest friend—the type who graduated college at 15 and got his PhD at 21—hit me with a hammer.

“What problem are you trying to solve?”

I was healthy. My weight and fitness were fine. I had no answer.

That question has guided a lot of my decision making ever since.

It’s easy to get captured by shiny new things and practices in all domains: health, business, productivity, etc.

And then … nothing happens. The “results” mean nothing. They waste time, money, and effort that could be used more effectively elsewhere.

The problem is that the intervention doesn’t actually solve a problem.

That question—”what problem am I trying to solve”—has helped me a lot ever since.

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