Several years ago there was an entrepreneur that I’d meet with regularly. As is custom, I’d ask the standard meeting intro, “How are things going?” Now, with 99% of the people I talk to I get something along the lines of “Good. How are things with you?” Instead, with this entrepreneur, I’d always get the same answer, “I have all the problems I want.”
Hmm, “I have all the problems I want” is an unusual answer and I’ve never heard it from anyone else. At the time, I didn’t think much of it. Yet, here I am, years later, thinking about that answer to the most common of questions.
That answer prompts several questions:
- What problems do I want?
- What problems don’t I want?
- Do I want a life with no problems?
- What’s the value of having problems?
This makes me think the entrepreneur has a strong locus of control and works to manage his life around “good” problems and attempts to eliminate most “bad” problems.
From here, I go to a saying I heard last year:
Humans feel most alive when experiencing, creating, or problem solving.
That resonates with me. If most “bad” problems are removed, more flexible time is available and can be devoted to experiencing, creating, or problem solving.
Do you have all the problems you want?
David Cummings on Startups 
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