The Book

Problems PayWhat No One Taught Men About Handling Problems, and How to Make Every One of Them Pay

By Robert Nikic · A six-move method

You have a problem right now that nobody knows about. Here's what Robert knows about it without knowing anything else about you: it's getting more expensive while you read this sentence. Problems Pay shows you how to stop paying for it, and start collecting.

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Every problem has a price,

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and every problem pays.

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You're either paying the price or collecting the payment.

HardcoverComing soonPaperbackComing soonKindleComing soonAudiobookComing soon

Coming soon in hardcover and paperback, on Kindle, and as an audiobook on Audible.

Problems Pay by Robert Nikic, hardcover and audiobook

Every format

Read it, carry it, or hear it

Full-color hardcover and paperback editions, 45 illustrations with red reserved for the problem and what it pays. Kindle for tonight. Audible for the drive.

Problems Pay by Robert Nikic in hardcover, paperback, Kindle e-reader and audiobook
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HardcoverTo be announcedFull color · 6.25 x 9.25 inHardcoverComing soon
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What's inside

Four parts. Thirteen chapters. One idea each.

A man with a problem doesn't need a lecture. He needs the next move. Every chapter ends the same way: the ledger, one line to say out loud, and one thing to do today.

Part I: The Reaction

The first two seconds and the first few days.

  1. 1Good.
  2. 2Say It Out Loud
  3. 3Nobody Is Coming
  4. 4Terrified of Calm

Part II: The Reading

Find the root, price it, go where the information is.

  1. 5What This Is Telling You
  2. 6Every Problem Has a Price
  3. 7Stand Where the Information Is

Part III: The Response

The smallest move, rebuilding, bringing it into the light.

  1. 8The Smallest Move
  2. 9Band-Aids Fall Off
  3. 10Lift the Fire Blanket

Part IV: The Transfer

Make it stick, and make it bigger.

  1. 11A Lesson Isn't Learned Until It Hurts
  2. 12The Same Muscle Everywhere
  3. 13The Bigger the Problem, the Bigger the Pay
Illustration from Problems Pay: one man paying the price, one man collecting the payment
PLATE · PAYING THE PRICE, COLLECTING THE PAYMENT

THE PROBLEMS PAY RULES

Carry a problem and it charges you interest. Collect on it and it pays you. Those are the only two columns on the ledger, and every problem you have is in one of them right now.

  1. Say “Good.” One word in the two seconds after bad news keeps you in control of it.
  2. Say it out loud. As long as a problem lives only in your head, you can negotiate with it. Out loud, it becomes real.
  3. Nobody is coming. Stop waiting for the check, the call, the promotion or the person who's going to fix it. That's good news.
  4. Don't trust the calm. Calm is dangerous when you've lost sight of the vision. Ask what it's costing you.
  5. Ask why until you're back at the beginning. And the answer isn't someone else.
  6. Price it. Then fix it or walk away. Never carry it. The price is what you pay. The cost is your opportunities.
  7. Stand where the information is. Not where the report is.
  8. Make the smallest move into uncertainty. Three steps, not fifty. One change, kept.
Illustration from Problems Pay: a man looking at glass bottles filling with red sand
PLATE 02 · THE BOTTLE. IT FEELS LIKE STRENGTH. IT'S SAND.

From the introduction

Problems don't hold their size. A bad job you never dealt with turns into a missed car payment. The missed car payment turns into missed rent.

Don't rank your problems by how they look right now. Rank them by what they'll turn into if you leave them alone.

THE DEBTTHE PAYMENT
The price, every day you carry itInformation you didn't have
Interest: the bad job becomes the missed car paymentUnderstanding of how it happened
The missed car payment becomes the missed rentA second chance you built yourself
Charged in sleep, patience, energy, confidenceMoney, time and respect
NOBODY GETS TO NOT PAY. YOU ONLY GET TO CHOOSE THE COLUMN.

The method

Six moves, one at a time

  1. 01

    Say “Good.”

    Acknowledge the problem. Don't justify it. Don't blame anyone.

    CHAPTER 1
  2. 02

    Own it

    You're the one in control of your life, so stop pointing fingers.

    CHAPTERS 2 AND 3
  3. 03

    Find the root

    Ask why, and keep asking until you're back at the beginning.

    CHAPTER 5
  4. 04

    Price it

    Put a dollar sign on it, even when it isn't about money.

    CHAPTER 6
  5. 05

    Make the smallest move

    Start small, try something different, test it.

    CHAPTER 8
  6. 06

    Make it stick

    Let the lesson hurt enough to remember, then stay disciplined.

    CHAPTER 11
Robert Nikic, author and entrepreneur, professional headshot in a navy suit

About the author

Robert Nikic is an entrepreneur, author, TEDx speaker and advisor on innovation and economic growth to an international council working on United Nations SDG 8 & 9. He went to work young, failed at venture after venture, then built a company without outside investors that was named twice to the Inc. 5000. Problems Pay is the method he learned along the way.

More about Robert →

FAQ

Questions about the book

Problems Pay by Robert Nikic is a short, practical book for men about handling problems instead of hiding them. Its core idea is that every problem has a price and every problem pays: an unhandled problem is debt that charges interest, and a handled one pays you back.

Problems Pay was written by Robert Nikic, an entrepreneur, TEDx speaker and two-time Inc. 5000 honoree.

Men who are carrying a problem nobody knows about, and men who have already tried and are worn down.

Say “Good.” Own it. Find the root. Price it. Make the smallest move into uncertainty. Make it stick.

Full-color hardcover, full-color paperback, Kindle and audiobook on Audible.

Four parts and thirteen short chapters, about 30,800 words, with 45 full-color illustrations.

PROBLEMS PAY.

Problems pay. The sooner you learn how, the sooner you collect.

HardcoverComing soonPaperbackComing soonKindleComing soonAudiobookComing soon

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.