Your capacity to solve a problem is greatly determined by your capacity to DISSECT the problem.
And your capacity to dissect a problem is determined by your capacity to understand clearly how those different elements you've dissected are at play with one another.
In many cases, if you can't fix a problem, it's because you don't understand it well enough to begin with. That said, if you don’t understand the problem, this means that the solution to fix the problem is NOT to execute more;
It's to understand the problem in a better and deeper way.
I've been having many discussions with coaches and practitioners lately, and every time we get to the point of talking about the problem they are facing, they often throw at me a bunch of concepts and words.
And then, when I ask them to tell me what this means, I often get an answer along the lines of "Well... I'm not sure."
Everyone trying to figure things out has been in this "unsure" state at some point. That's just part of the process, so this is not a problem in itself.
What is a problem is when I ask these coaches to tell me what they did to try to gain CLARITY, and they answer me that they've tried doing this exercise, and that exercise, and this exercise, and that and this, and that again...
So let's backtrack to the first line of today's text:
If you can't fix a problem, it's because you don't understand it well enough to begin with.
If you can't fix a problem, it is NOT because you are not executing enough; It's because you don't UNDERSTAND what's going on.
And don't get me wrong, you will have to execute something at some point if you want to eventually gain clarity on what's going on.
If you’re not even trying to do anything, then this is the problem. But this isn’t the scenario I’m talking about.
What I’m trying to say here is that here's a difference between executing on “the solution" for the problem, and executing on "mapping things out,”
These are two very distinct types of actions, and while both are necessary, doing them in the wrong order doesn't produce any good results.
So, what do you do if you're stuck in this "execution loop” and you lack clarity with what’s going on?
1 . You start by positioning your brain with the question you want to orient your efforts to.
To do this, ask yourself the question: What is going on here?
Notice how it is NOT: What can I do to fix this problem? (This is good question, but one that you will have to ask yourself LATER).
Now, it might look like I’m playing with words, and what I’m saying might sound stupidly obvious, but you can be surprised how, if you pay attention, you’re probably defaulting to the latter question without realizing it... and thus, directing your actions and energy on the wrong things. I’m fully aware of this phenomenon since I’m writing this text, yet, I still catch myself from time to time falling in the trap of focusing on the execution to solve a given problem before even having mapped the problem correctly.
That said, just forcing your thoughts on the right question will already position your mind on different details you've likely been missing.
2. You have to get extremely good at "noticing.”
There’s a difference between “looking” and “observing”.
Looking makes your eyes see. Observing makes your brain see.
And then, once you start noticing something…
3. You have to be good at phrasing what you're noticing.
And you want to phrase what you’re noticing in the simplest way possible.
So simple that when you say it to someone else, they go from looking to suddenly observing.
Also, being good at naming what you’re noticing won’t just help others; It’ll help cement and solidify your understanding of what’s going on.
Now, once you’ve achieved the 3 steps, the execution part of solving the problem is usually pretty easy… or at least a lot easier.
Keep in mind, there are about many nuances and variables in what I said in this text, but the fundamental ideas stay true. ____________________________________
If this text resonated with you and you feel like you could use a helping hand to dissect, analyze and then correct your biomechanical problems (or those of your client’s), take a minute to check out my Mentorship Program.
This program is essentially about applying everything I mentioned in this text.