When you’re on the trajectory of working toward your goals, you’ll invariably come across problems that stand in the way of your getting what you want (this assumes your goals are appropriately audacious – if you’re not stretching yourself you very well may not “fail”).
First focus on “what is” before deciding “what to do about it”. After you encounter a problem, you will come across a common trap that can typically befall us humans – wanting to quickly move to a solution, rather than sitting with the problem and accurately diagnosing the root of the issue. This can be a big problem, because if you move quickly to a solution, you’re much more likely to keep bumping up against the same issue down the road.
Here’s the beauty of diagnosing well – you get to learn about what you and other people are like, that way you can know what to expect. The tough part about this is it can be very uncomfortable. We as humans don’t like to sit with all of our weaknesses and inadequacies, and we also do not like pointing out those things in other people. Part of the time it’s because we’re blind to our weaknesses, but it’s much more likely our egos get in the way.
According to Ray Dalio “More than anything else, what differentiates people who live up to their potential from those who don’t is their willingness to look at themselves and others objectively and understand the root causes standing in their way”.
Our next blog will focus on how to Design a Plan to overcome your problems and keep on ascending toward bigger and better goals!
