Marty and I have been watching Back to the Future. (He bought all three of them the other day.)

When I was growing up, I wanted that almanac—with all the sports scores for the next fifty years. The Perfect Solution. Fast, reliable, easy money. Solve all my problems. Exactly what I needed. And I wouldn’t even have to work for it!

But what do you get, exactly, when you get the Perfect Solution? You don’t get new skills. You don’t get new knowledge about yourself. In fact, if that Perfect Solution gets screwed up, you’re right back where you started and not particularly better off. (I’ll bet you’re pissed, though.)

If I had ever gotten that almanac (by some strange theatrical twist of fate), I could have made a lot of money really fast. But I wouldn’t have learned anything new. And if I suddenly found myself back at square one, I wouldn’t have any way to change it. Except maybe to wait for another Perfect Solution.

That’s why “winning the lottery” isn’t going to help. Getting a quick fix isn’t like changing what you can do. Changing what you can do means you can change your fate at any time. Not just once.

You don’t need an almanac from the future, or a lottery win. You can find another way. And then, no matter what happens, you’ll know that you can change your fortune. You can make $20, and then $50, and then $500, and then $10,000. You can connect with one person, and then a thousand. You can do anything. But you don’t gain those skills by having someone or something save your ass. You gain those skills by saving your own ass.

The real “Perfect Solution” is to learn, grow and act.

So stop waiting and get DOing!