Earlier today I fell victim to the XY problem where I was trying to get help with an approach to my problem that turned out to be futile, and the best solution to my problem was much simpler and was only uncovered once I shared the real problem I was solving. However, it has been bothering me that I wasn’t able to figure out my original approach. It seems very possible, yet neither I nor the couple of people helping me were about to figure it out. Even though my true problem was solved, I would like to figure this out.