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THE BOOK · BY ROBERT NIKIC

Problems Pay

What no one taught men about handling problems, and how to make every one of them pay. Four parts. Thirteen chapters. One idea each.

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Problems Pay by Robert Nikic, hardcover

WHO IT'S FOR

You have a problem right now that nobody knows about.

Maybe it's money, the job, the business that stalled or a conversation at home you've avoided so long that avoiding it has become the routine. This book is for the man hiding something, and for the man who already tried. The one who restarted the business, read the books, had the conversation more than once, and is reading this tired.

That man isn't stuck. He's in deficit. Problems charge in every currency a man has: money, his mind, his mood, his body and his sense of who he is. This book teaches you to stop paying and start collecting, one problem at a time.

THE DEBT
THE PAYMENT
Hide it: paint a picture and live inside it
Collect on it: acknowledge, own, find the root, price, move, make it stick
Carry it: it feels like strength. It's sand
The problem pays you, and the next one is easier
Patch it: the patch holds, then falls off
Rebuild it once, and it stays fixed

NOBODY GETS TO NOT PAY. YOU ONLY GET TO CHOOSE THE COLUMN.

WHAT YOU'LL WALK AWAY WITH

Things most men never learn.

  1. 01Say one word in the two seconds after bad news that keeps you in control of it.
  2. 02Say a problem out loud, to the right person, so it stops growing in the dark.
  3. 03Stop waiting for the promotion, the check or the person who's going to fix it, because nobody is coming, and that's good news.
  4. 04Spot the kind of calm that's actually a warning.
  5. 05Read a problem for what it's telling you, find its root, put a real price on it, and know when the right move is to walk away from it before it starts charging you.
  6. 06Stand where the information is instead of where the report is.
  7. 07Make the smallest move into uncertainty, and fix things so they stay fixed.
  8. 08Bring hidden problems into the light on your schedule, before they burn the house down on theirs.
  9. 09Let a lesson hurt enough to stick, so you don't pay for it five times.
  10. 10Use the exact same skill at home, at work and on problems far bigger than your own.

CONTENTS

Four parts. Thirteen rules.

Every chapter ends the same way: the ledger, one line to say out loud, and one thing to do today. Not a worksheet. Not a thirty-day program. One thing.

PART 1

The Reaction

  1. 01Good.RULE: SAY "GOOD."
  2. 02Say It Out LoudRULE: SAY IT OUT LOUD.
  3. 03Nobody Is ComingRULE: NOBODY IS COMING.
  4. 04Terrified of CalmRULE: DON'T TRUST THE CALM.

PART 2

The Reading

  1. 05What This Is Telling YouRULE: ASK WHY UNTIL YOU'RE BACK AT THE BEGINNING.
  2. 06Every Problem Has a PriceRULE: PRICE IT. THEN FIX IT OR WALK AWAY. NEVER CARRY IT.
  3. 07Stand Where the Information IsRULE: STAND WHERE THE INFORMATION IS.

PART 3

The Response

  1. 08The Smallest MoveRULE: MAKE THE SMALLEST MOVE INTO UNCERTAINTY.
  2. 09Band-Aids Fall OffRULE: REBUILD. DON'T PATCH.
  3. 10Lift the Fire BlanketRULE: LIFT THE FIRE BLANKET.

PART 4

The Transfer

  1. 11A Lesson Isn't Learned Until It HurtsRULE: LET IT HURT. MAKE IT STICK.
  2. 12The Same Muscle EverywhereRULE: SAME MUSCLE, EVERY ROOM.
  3. 13The Bigger the Problem, the Bigger the PayRULE: THE BIGGER THE PROBLEM, THE BIGGER THE PAY.

PLUS: INTRODUCTION · THE PROBLEMS PAY RULES · CLOSING: THE BIRD'S-EYE VIEW · 45 FULL-COLOR INK ILLUSTRATIONS

Illustration from Problems Pay: three bottles filling with red sand

INSIDE EVERY CHAPTER

The ledger. One line. One thing.

Each chapter opens with the six moves, the one you're working on drawn in full ink and the rest faded, so you always know where you are. It closes with the ledger for that chapter's problem: the debt in one column, the payment in the other.

Then one line to say out loud, and one thing to do today. When a new problem lands next month, you don't start the book over. You find the rule you're breaking and go to that chapter.

See all thirteen rules

FORMATS

Choose your format.

Kindle for tonight. Audiobook for the drive. Hardcover for the shelf, or for the man who needs it.

Problems Pay by Robert Nikic in hardcover, paperback, Kindle and audiobook

Hardcover

The edition for the shelf and the gift.

COMING SOON

Paperback

Carry it. Mark it up. Lend it out.

COMING SOON

Kindle

Start tonight, on any device.

COMING SOON

Audiobook

For the drive, the gym and the walk.

COMING SOON
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If what you're carrying is depression, anxiety or anything medical, get professional help. That isn't weakness. In the US, call or text 988.