The internet suddenly went down. I unplugged the router. Fiddled with the leads. The light was off. I went into the kitchen and told my wife the router had blown. 'Maybe connected to that weird problem with the alarm yesterday?' As as superstitious type prone to hyper-connectivity in thinking I am less scientific than my wife. Then something dawned on me. I tried the light switch. Nothing. The fuse has gone. It turns out the main fuse has gone and won't go back on. So I turn off all the circuits and isolate the kettle socket as the problem. I have long disliked this kettle as it often switches itself off too soon. Now is a chance to get rid of it. But my wife is more scientific. Maybe its the socket she argues. We need to test the kettle in another socket. Sure enough it doesn't blow the fuse in another socket so it must be the original one, not the kettle itself.
People who like testing, probling, checking off a list rather than solving a problem in a dramatic swoop usually succeed better in the loing run. They have reconfigured success as a process, a process you have to love, rather than a final result. Never mind the end justifying the means- it is more like the means justifying the ends...
If someone is frustrated at their 'lack of success' in the world their best tactic would be to reconfigure to a 'success process' rather than a final glittering 'goal'. Low key goals are usually enough...