The Coffee Problem
April 10, 2026There are some problems, decisions, and actions in life where you need to do something at the exact moment you are least equipped to do it. Not all problems fall into this category and plenty don't.
I call this a Coffee Problem.
The Coffee Problem
In the morning, when you're groggy and not yet awake, you could really use a cup of coffee. And that's when you have to make the cup of coffee. The thing you need is the thing you have to do, at the moment you're least capable of doing it.
Similarly, when you're very young, you have to pick a college major. That decision calls for knowledge about yourself and a sense of how the world operates now and will in the future. You're making that decision when you're still young with almost none of that in place.
The takeaway isn't to wait until you're better equipped. You still need to do the thing in front of you. It shouldn't stop you from making the decision or taking the action since it still needs to happen. You have to accept things might go wrong. The coffee won't make itself.
The Flip Side
There's an opposite version of this pattern, and it's probably more frustrating.
The last time you ever have to do something is often when you're the best you'll ever be at it.
Take painting a room or hanging drywall. The first time, you just barely figure it out. Eventually you build up some competence at it and then you're done. You never have to do it again.
The same thing happens with a lot of hard things you work through over time. By the time you've really figured it out, the need for it is gone.
I can't really take credit for this one as it was brought up when hanging drywall with a former partner's father and it was something he mentioned. The last sheet of sheet rock we hung was smooth and efficient and perfect and we never did another together.