Here's a breakdown:
* The forest: Represents the larger, overall picture, goal, or situation.
* The trees: Represent the individual details, problems, or obstacles.
In other words, you are so caught up in the smaller, immediate concerns that you lose sight of the larger goal or the bigger picture.
Example:
Imagine you're working on a complex project with many deadlines and tasks. You might get so bogged down in completing each individual task that you lose sight of the overall objective of the project. You fail to see the forest (the project's goal) for the trees (the individual tasks).
Here are some other ways to think about the saying:
* Being too focused on the details can blind you to the bigger picture.
* Getting lost in the minutiae can prevent you from seeing the overall progress.
* Focusing on individual problems can lead to overlooking the solution.
This saying encourages us to take a step back, analyze the situation as a whole, and consider the bigger picture.