Here’s the kind of conversation I have with my students on a weekly basis:
Those conversations can sometimes be quite challenging, but it is a necesseary means if I want them to move forward.
I’m sharing this because nowadays, many coaches and therapists really like to use the famous phrase:
“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”
Although I find the quote to be “incomplete”, it isn’t bad in itself.
What I find bad, though, is that despite this phrase being often quoted, not a lot of those who quote it actually apply it.
Let me explain what I mean using the fishing analogy:
If you want to teach someone how to fish, you will have to go a lot farther than teaching them how to hold the fishing rod and how to throw the line.
You’ll also have to go beyond showing them how to tie the hook to the line.
In fact, I have tried fishing a few times in my life, and I know many throwing techniques, many types of knots and what tools to use…
But I’m still bad at catching the fish.
That said, you can know how to tie a line and throw it… but still, be clueless as to how to fish.
This is because you need a lot more than “techniques” and the “right tools” to be good at the “catching the fish” part.
Now, when it comes to fishing, this is obvious to the point that what I’m saying seems stupid.
But somehow, in the movement and rehab field, it seems like many still don’t get it.
Every week, I speak with different people who are reaching out for help, and when I think I could potentially help them, I take some time to learn about how they view things and how they think.
9 times out of 10, when that person is stukc, it’s because they’re going all in on the “techniques”, but don’t know how to think.
They know how to wield a fishing rod… But their fish basket is still empty.
I keep saying it, peeps:
If you want to solve problems, you’ll have to level up your thinking process and know how to come up with conclusions on your own.
You’ll have to learn how to develop your own hypothesis and challenge your assumptions.
You’ll have to segment variables and make sense of things by yourself, even if no one is next to you.
Many people claim to be “teaching their clients” how to solve their problems…
But what they’re often doing is showing them what to do to solve their problems; NOT showing them how to think so they can come up with what to do by themselves.
Both approaches are relevant in their proper context, but In my opinion, teaching the latter is the only way to get someone to fully transform their lives.
Give a man a fish; he’ll eat for one day.
Teach a man how to fish; he’ll eat forever.
Ok. But…
Teach a man how to think, and he’ll figure out how to fish by himself.
_________________________
If you want to get good at thinking for yourself and figuring your problems on your own, go check out what the Mentorship Program is about.