Everyone runs into snags, problems, crises or issues.
“A problem” is a label we give something that doesn’t feel good, that we don’t like the look of, or that is unappealing to the senses in some way.
We can consider it an “identified threat” on some level.
Once the threat is identified though, now it’s important to turn the mind in a different direction and ask, “what’s the unmet objective that hasn’t been identified yet?” to reveal the part of the experience where you can actually do something about it. If you don’t do this, you sit in victim land for a longer period of time, and just spin your wheels trying to get rid of the problem. That will honestly mess you up.
Trying to get rid of a problem goes nowhere in a hurry IF you have not clearly identified and strategized around the actual objective and what you are looking to accomplish. Focusing on the problem and how to get rid of it will generally keep you in a passive, neutral state…like putting your car in neutral and having it idle. You will stare at the problem, think about the problem, focus on what’s not working and try to come up with a million reasons why it’s there in your reality.
Now imagine noticing a ‘problem’ and asking, ‘what objective am I really trying to accomplish that would make this problem obsolete?’
“I have a shitty marriage, we don’t get along, and we fight all the time” can turn to “the objective for us to learn is the skill of healthy communication = LEARN COMMUNICATION”
“I have a slow business, we don’t have enough money to pay the bills” can turn to “triple our store traffic flow in the month of September = TRIPLE TRAFFIC FLOW”
“My kid is so bored, he looks depressed” can turn to “let’s find fun adventures we can go on to liven up the energy = DAILY FUN ADVENTURES”
Remember you are asking, “what objective would make this problem obsolete?” THEN you can now strategize around that objective with the things that come to mind to get you there.
It places you in an empowered state of asking questions and building action plans, and implementing them.
LIFE is about energy. There is little to no energy focusing on a problem, feeling helpless and powerless. The stress response is only designed to last effectively in our systems for around 15 minutes. The brain needs to fulfill an objective. And the RAS (reticular activating system, like our inner GPS, needs to be useful and come up with the best strategies on how to get the objective accomplished.
So in summary
- identify the ‘problem stress’
- shift your mind to “what objective would make the problem obsolete?”
- Then ask, “what are the top 3-5 things I can do that will get me the objective?”
Now you have power behind you to go and get your compelling future.
Have a great week,
Dr. Steve
