Albert Einstein said “The formulation of the problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill.” What did he mean?

Sometimes we get so emotionally caught up in our problems that we think of it as "just too big" or "unsurmountable" meaning we can't get past it, then we give up. We don't actually take the time to define what, exactly, our problem is. If we aren't clear on the problem, then how can we find the right solution?! For example, instead of thinking "Forget it, I'm drowning in debt, I have to sell the house". First figure out what your problem actually is. "I'm not making enough money" Forget about solutions for a minute and simply define the problem.