---
title: "Make the Smallest Move Into Uncertainty | Robert Nikic"
description: "Rule 8 of Problems Pay by Robert Nikic: three steps, not fifty. One change, kept. Every day spent planning is a day the problem charges you."
canonical: "https://problemspay.com/rules/the-smallest-move"
author: "Robert Nikic"
author_url: "https://robertnikic.com/"
type: "Article"
---
RULE 08 OF 13 · PART 3: THE RESPONSE

# Make the smallest move into uncertainty.

Three steps, not fifty. One change, kept.

WHERE YOU ARE · MOVE 5 OF 6: MAKE THE SMALLEST MOVE

CHAPTER 08THE SMALLEST MOVE0:00

## Maybe you're the man with the plan.

![Illustration: a list unrolling into a staircase that climbs out of sight, and the same man taking the first of three big steps toward an open door](https://problemspay.com/assets/plate-fifty-steps.webp)

PLATE · CHAPTER 08THE SMALLEST MOVE

It lives in the notes app on your phone, or in a spreadsheet you open late at night. You've researched it and priced it, and you've told almost nobody, because telling someone would start the clock.

You will never know how much opportunity you lost while you were deciding. It doesn't show up on any statement. So start with the smallest move. Three steps, not fifty. One change, kept. Every day spent planning is a day the problem charges you and pays you nothing.

Chapter 8 covers why big goals aren't the problem, starting before you raise the money, one hour to fix a failing project, and what to do when every option is bad.

FROM PROBLEMS PAY BY [ROBERT NIKIC](https://problemspay.com/robert-nikic)

THE RULE, AGAIN

## Every problem has a price, and every problem pays.

THE DEBT

THE PAYMENT

Every day spent planning is a day the problem charges you and pays you nothing.

The first step starts the payment, and it's due tonight.

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

SAY IT OUT LOUD

> One change I keep is worth more than a million dollars.

DO THIS TODAYRULE 08

Take your biggest problem. Cut the plan down to three steps. Do the first one before you go to sleep tonight. Not well. Just done.

 I DID IT. SWITCH THE LINE.

![Robert Nikic, author of Problems Pay](https://problemspay.com/assets/robert-nikic-author.webp)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert Nikic

Robert Nikic is an entrepreneur, author and TEDx speaker, and an advisor on innovation and economic growth to an international council working on United Nations SDG 8 & 9. He made his first dollar at thirteen. Problems Pay is his six-move method for handling problems at work, at home and beyond.

[About Robert Nikic](https://problemspay.com/robert-nikic)[robertnikic.com](https://robertnikic.com/)[Robert's journal](https://robertnikic.com/blog)[Robert Nikic quotes](https://problemspay.com/robert-nikic-quotes)

THE NEXT MOVE

## The full chapter is in the book.

The stories, the objections and the teaching behind Rule 8 are in Chapter 8 of Problems Pay.

[Price it, then move](https://problemspay.com/tools/price-it)[Get the book](https://problemspay.com/book)

---

Source: https://problemspay.com/rules/the-smallest-move
Problems Pay by Robert Nikic. Author site: https://robertnikic.com/

The content of this publication has not been approved by the United Nations and does not reflect the views of the United Nations or its officials or Member States.