There’s a certain phrase I hate to hear from my students, which is:
“I will not give up, and I’m going to keep pushing!”
Let me explain why I hate to hear this…
I hate this phrase because this isn’t the kind of attitude that makes you solve any problems. In fact, it’s likely a phrase that has more potential to KEEP you stuck in your problems than anything else.
Yes, of course, you want to “keep trying” in the greater scheme of things, and yes, sometimes you just have to put in a bit more time.
But often, when it comes to solving a specific issue you don’t understand, this isn’t a good strategy, and here’s why:
Being good at solving problems is about being good at knowing WHAT to keep pushing on...
And what NOT to.
What I just said might sound “cheezy” and obvious, but stop a few seconds and let it sink in because this is a lot more nuanced than the classic phrase “just keep trying”.
Problem solving is about being smart with finding ways to uncover what works and what doesn’t, and then refining your process according to the outcomes you get. The FASTER you can make something fail (or work), the FASTER you get to find a solution.
While determination and willpower are aspects required to solve problems, they are not definitive factors for problem-solving. Not only are they not definitive, they can also be completely useless when you’re pushing in the wrong direction and not looking for ways to get feedback and improve.
That said, to push in a direction that doesn’t provide you with any sort of positive feedback isn’t perseverance…
It’s stupidity.
So, instead of saying things like, “This isn’t working, but I’ll keep trying!”
Start drilling in your head, “This isn’t working… so what am I missing here?”.
And then, there’s another thing to keep in mind with all this:
TIME
If the ONLY feedback you’re looking for is something that will take many months or YEARS to validate if you’re going in the right direction or not…. then you’re essentially gambling. You have to find ways to get some degree of feedback FAST enough to know if you’re heading in the right direction…. within days and weeks.
NOT months and years.
Now, every time I explain this, someone will tell me something like“But Sam… it might take me 5 years to fix my back. I can’t fix that in 2 days!”
True, but at the same time, it’s not like your back will get fixed between day 364 of the 4th year and day 365 either. So, you’ll have to find ways to leverage different micro-cues to gain near-instant feedback for you to know if you’re going in the right direction.
For me, when I tackle a problem on myself, I know what I need to test and keep working on in a matter of days.
Not months and years.
Like I said, I’m not saying that I’m fixing all my problems in a few days. I’m a biological creature, and biology does take time to change. But I AM getting feedback on what needs to be investigated better or not fairly quickly.
This is the stuff I cover in the Problem-Solving Workshop, so I won’t simply give everything for free here. But perhaps the thing I would like you to take away from today is this:
Instead of simply doing things, start asking yourself if the things you’re doing are the good ones. But don’t just ask it in your own head; Conduct tests to validate or invalidate if they are, and pay attention to the insights your tests are giving you.
This is particularly helpful in the mechanical/movement health world, but it can be applied to almost anything in life.