What if you found the answer to your current problems by discovering the bigger problem to solve?

I started thinking in this direction after a conversation with my friend Wally Arnold. We were confronting some business issues and Wally said, “We need to solve the bigger problem so we don’t resolve this one issue, and find that another one pops up later.” Think of the image of Hercules fighting the mythological hydra, where you chop off one head only to have another emerge.

Too often we’re solving the wrong problem in the first place, so we end up with solutions that are temporary at best. What if you started identifying the bigger issue, so when you resolved it, not only could you solve your current problem; you could also fulfill an overarching goal. Think about creating a BIG goal that contains the problem that needs to be solved. When you set and achieve a big enough goal, you not only solve the problem of the moment, you benefit spiritually, financially, or physically for the long run.

My daughter gave me an example to illustrate this idea. She had been struggling with her weight over the last 10 years, gaining and losing, and gaining again.  Her doctor told her that her cholesterol was up, and that (according to BMI measurements) she was teetering on obesity.  Losing weight seemed to be the answer.  In looking at why she was unable to keep the weight off, she discovered and faced several factors including stress, emotional eating, and over eating.  She realized just losing the weight was not enough.  She needed to solve a bigger problem and set a new goal.

When she identified the new goal — living healthy and staying fit — she started a new relationship with her body, along with noticing when she felt stressed or out of control, and how that impacted her relationship with food.  The bigger problem wasn’t about removing stress in order not to over eat; it tackled something much greater, a sustainable way of dealing with her life in a healthy and fulfilling way. She backed it up with strategies and actions to achieve her goal. One year later, she’s at a healthy weight, and continues to discover ways for maintaining a nourishing lifestyle everyday.

Think about the people who tell you they’ve lost the same 10 pounds over and over. Making the problem about losing 10 pounds may not get the long-term solution you’re looking for. What’s the bigger issue to solve? The solution is not only to lose the 10 pounds, but also to prevent it from coming back, so you don’t have to lose it again and again.

Same thing with money. The idea is not getting out of debt. I know it sounds like the right problem to solve, but have you ever noticed that you get out of debt and then get right back into debt again? The difference is in creating a sustainable practice. What’s the bigger problem to solve that would handle the debt, or keep the extra weight off, or resolve business or work issues, so you have sustainable fulfillment?

You have to start somewhere, so getting out of debt, losing the last 10 pounds, reducing costs, increasing sales, finding work, are all places to focus, but in and of themselves don’t finish the job. Here are some questions to contemplate so the bigger and juicer problems emerge:

1.  Why? This is such a simple question and so profound. We often train our children to stop asking this question because it’s annoying! We don’t want to think more deeply about their questions. Why are they asking? What do they want to know? Thinking is hard work. Asking why is the opening to question what you know about the problem you’re trying to solve, and comes with deliberation and awareness. Asking yourself why puts your attention on what needs to be sorted out and why it’s important.

2.  What is going to be different this time? What will finally be resolved? This question will point you in the direction of sustainability. How is your solution going to support you and others in the long term? If you treat every problem that you need to solve as an emergency, you won’t get to the why and what. If it’s a true emergency, do the triage, and then ask the questions. But don’t ignore the questions, or the emergency may occur again and again.

3.  How are your goals served by your solutions? You will most likely alter your solutions as you achieve your goals. Think of solutions as interim, so you stay awake to intuition, insight, and innovation. This is the foundation of discovering and resolving the bigger problem.

Use these 3 ideas to create favorable solutions to any problems or decisions you’re facing today. I’ll leave you with a quote from Einstein, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them!” (Exclamation is mine.)  Let me know what you discover during this process and what kind of results you achieve along the way.

If you would like to bring more of what matters most into your daily life, I invite you to join us for our next workshop on October 17th, in Petaluma.  CLICK HERE for event and registration information.

My love goes with you as you work with this uplifting moment.