The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. But the waters off Japan’s coasts do not yield fish in abundance. To feed the population, the fishermen built larger boats and sailed farther out — and the farther they went, the longer the journey home became.

If the return stretched beyond a day or two, the catch lost its freshness, and the Japanese disliked the taste of fish that was no longer fresh. To solve this, the fishermen installed cold-storage rooms on their boats, so they could sail as far as they liked and keep the catch frozen. Yet people could taste the difference between fresh and frozen, and would not pay much for frozen fish.

So next the fishermen built seawater tanks into their boats. The fish would be a little cramped, bumping into one another and growing somewhat dull, but at least they stayed alive. Even so, people could still tell the difference in flavor.

Fish that had travelled for days, motionless and sluggish, simply did not taste like lively, fresh, moving fish. How could the fishermen bring truly fresh, flavorful fish to Japan? What would you have done?

As soon as we reach our goals — we find the perfect partner, join a thriving company, pay off our debts — doesn’t the excitement begin to fade? When we no longer have to strive, don’t we slacken? Don’t lottery winners begin to squander their fortune?

As with the fresh-fish problem, the answer is actually simple. As L. Ron Hubbard noted in the 1950s, a person makes their greatest efforts only when stirred by ambition and challenge. The sharper, more skilled, and more stubborn you are, the more you enjoy wrestling with a worthy problem. The harder it pushes you, and the more you solve it step by step, the more alive, energetic, and engaged you become.

So the Japanese kept the fish in the tanks aboard their boats — but they dropped in a single small shark. The shark swallowed a few, yet the rest stayed wonderfully lively and fresh all the way home.

The lesson is clear: rather than fleeing our problems, we should dive in, grapple with them, and overcome them. Our troubles may be many and varied — do not lose heart. Know them, organize them, stay resolute, and meet them with more knowledge and support.

Drop a shark into your mind — and then see what you are capable of.