Situations Become Problems When We Think Too Much - Grasshopper

I wonder how many times we’ve labeled a situation a problem and elongated the time it took to come up with a solution.

The solution took longer because we engaged unnecessary thinking. Can you remember a time when you were stuck on coming up with a solution? The more problematic you made the situation and the more thinking you did, the harder it was to come up with an answer. Then you walked away to “clear your head” and then what happened? More times than you can count, you came up with a solution.

 

This is the case whether you’re working on a crossword or Sudoku puzzle or the Theory of Relativity. Genius isn’t thinking; it’s “other than thinking.”

 

You may not come up with a solution that will change the world, but you can have fewer problems when you have less thinking. Problems are mind based; it’s our thinking that makes a situation worse.

 

I’m reminded of the great question Byron Katie asks each person she works with: “Who would you be without that thought?” You’d be a person with one less problem with more space in your head for a solution to pop in.

 

Thinking is your problem, not your solution.

 

I’m not naive enough to believe that I’m going to completely stop thinking about my problems, but if I’m aware enough, I can take the time to re-label them as “situations” and remember to take a break from my thinking. This one-two punch is one of the best problem solvers I know of.

 

Situations are more porous than problems and break down easier when we give our thinking a break and come up with a magic solution.

 

All the best,

 

John