It’s easy to think that all the “good” problems have been solved. With thousands of apps populating our universe, many of us lean toward a feeling of apathy. With a market saturated with solutions, it can feel like everything interesting has already been designed, launched and “solved.” But there are so many problems – obvious ones – that have yet to see the light of a solution. Some of them are global. Some of them are local. World peace feels too pie in the sky, while local trash pick up feels adorable, but not very potent on the impact scale.

Yet we all want to do something. So what if we approached problem-solving (and business creating) from a more obvious point of view? What if we said: What’s close to me (in passion or proximity) that I can affect? What’s in my immediate world? What group of people – big or small – need me or what I know?

Not everything has to be a business. And not everything has to be a volunteer project. But it would be nice to know that at the end of our lives (not to be morbid), we left it all on the field. We wrung ourselves out with giving our gifts, and bettering other people’s lives. Within this benevolence there are needed boundaries and self-care – but if we spent less time thinking up dynamic, never-been-done-before ideas, and more time solving the obvious issues in our midst…healing, supportive hospital food, global access to maternal health, natural deodorants that actually work, meditation/calming resources for teens…to name a few out of thousands. We could make change we can see and feel.

Remember that some things are NOT obvious to other people – but once you know them, you can’t ignore them.

First step? Open your eyes. Someone needs you.