Stop Solving the Same Problems Over and Over

(Transcript edited for clarity.)

Hi, I'm Wes. Welcome to Stop Solving the Same Problems Over and Over. This is Your Life Systems.

I help you think about different systems you can create, build, and work into your life to help you achieve the success you want in all kinds of different areas.

One thing I've found that I have a lot of problems with is ending up solving the same problems over and over again.

So again, today's title is Stop Solving the Same Problems Over and Over.

Here's the question I want you to think about and remember as we go through this today:

What problem do you keep fixing that you could solve with a simple system?

I'm going to start with an example from my life that I finally figured out.

I struggle with my sugar.

I have some A1c issues, and I had to make a lot of changes to my life because it wasn't controlled well.

One thing I found is that while I was making those changes, I'd have a bad meal.

I'd make a mistake.

I'd be tempted by something.

I'd eat a couple pieces of pizza when I shouldn't have.

Then I would instantly feel guilty and start beating myself up.

I'd tear myself down, and I'd let one bad meal or one mistake turn into two bad meals or two mistakes.

Then I'd beat myself up more.

Before you know it, I'd be completely off my plan, and then it would be a fight to start over.

I figured out I had to keep solving this over and over because I love to eat pizza.

I love to eat pasta.

But those are high in carbs.

We're talking about sugar, not calories.

So I can't eat all of that stuff, or if I do, I have to eat just a little bit.

And I like that stuff.

So I was tempted often to eat things I shouldn't.

Then I'd beat myself up, feel the guilt, and tear myself down.

That would make me get even farther off the system I'd put in place.

So I kept having to solve this over and over again.

Once I realized this was a recurring problem, I intentionally created a system so I could deal with it, know what was going to happen, and hopefully get back on track immediately.

What I did was very simple.

I thought it through.

First of all, I'm going to try not to get off track.

I'm going to try not to make a mistake.

That's the goal.

But if I do make a mistake, get off track, and have a bad meal, I immediately stop and allow myself to beat myself up for five minutes.

I can feel as guilty as I want for five minutes.

I can tell myself how weak I am for five minutes.

I can feel bad about the choices I've made for five minutes.

But that's it.

Five minutes is it.

Then, at the end of those five minutes, I have to immediately plan how I'm going to avoid making the same mistake again.

For what I was doing, that simply meant you can't ever let one bad meal become two or one bad day become two.

I talk about stacking wins sometimes.

Stacking losses is the exact same thing in the other direction.

You stack a win every day for long enough and you're making huge progress.

If you stack one loss or mistake, then stack a second one and a third one, you're basically back to zero or worse off than where you started.

So that was my simple system.

It doesn't sound a lot different from what I was doing before.

However, the difference is that it's a system I created intentionally.

I recognized what the problem was and put a simple system in place that helped me not go off track and stay off track.

It helped me get back on track.

So why did it work?

I'm not a psychologist, but here's why I think it worked.

First, I recognized that this could happen.

No matter how much willpower I had or how much I struggled, eventually I might have a bad meal.

Then I recognized that I feel bad when I get off track because it makes me feel weak.

It's like, "You should be stronger than this."

That's what I tell myself.

But willpower only works for so long, and then I have to put systems in place to replace the willpower.

Willpower is a finite resource.

It doesn't last forever.

So I told myself that yes, I can feel guilty and feel bad about it, but there's a strict time limit.

The guilt and beating myself up weren't supporting my long-term goal.

They were making it harder.

The more I felt guilty and bad about it, the more likely I was to get farther off track and have a second bad meal or a second bad day.

So I recognized that I was naturally going to feel bad about it, and I gave myself permission.

Sure, feel bad about it.

Beat yourself up all you want.

But I put a time limit on it.

Five minutes.

That's all you get.

That's the rule.

Five minutes, then I have to get back on track.

I don't know why, but that fed some part of the mental process that said, "Okay, you made a mistake. Yes, you deserve to beat yourself up a little bit, but you do not deserve to beat yourself up for hours until you want to eat all the chocolate, pizza, and everything else in the house."

That's why it worked for me.

I created a system intentionally.

I thought it through, gave myself permission to feel bad about it, then put a definite time on when that had to stop and when I had to move on.

That's worked wonderfully for me.

I'm not saying the exact same thing will work for you, but it might.

What I'm saying is that you need to find something that will work for you.

That's an example of how I stopped solving the same problem over and over.

I find this all the time in business too.

I'll solve a business problem, and if it comes back up, I'll solve it again.

Usually, by about the second or third time, I've trained myself to start thinking, "Why do I have to keep solving this business problem? What can I do so I never have to solve it again?"

There are all kinds of different examples, but I bet if you think about it, you have the same things happening in your life or business.

There are things popping up that you're solving time and time again that you could possibly put a system in place for now so you don't have to repeatedly solve them.

A problem that happens once may need a solution.

A problem that keeps coming up usually needs a system.

That's what I'm talking about.

Just like my example with a bad meal, these systems don't have to be complicated.

Some systems are complicated, but your system just has to work.

It can be a very simple system.

It doesn't have to be super complicated if it works.

You've got to find a system that works for you.

Repeated problems quietly consume time that you could be using for something more productive.

Reacting may fix the immediate issue without finding and solving the core issue.

We're trained a lot to react to things.

A problem comes up.

Sometimes in business we'd call them fires.

We're running around all day putting out fires instead of working on growing the business.

We're trained that something bad happens, so we've got to fix it.

But if we never put things in place to keep the bad things from happening over and over, then all we ever get done is running around putting out fires instead of working toward what we want.

Recurring problems are information.

When a problem keeps coming up, that's telling you something.

It's up to you to figure out what it's telling you, find the source, and attempt to put systems or frameworks in place so it isn't a recurring problem.

Every recurring problem is a form of information.

How you use that information will determine whether you can lessen the issue in the future or hopefully solve it so it doesn't keep coming up time and time again.

This is super important.

Don't get stuck only solving what you can see.

Always look and see if you can dig deeper.

Find the core issue.

A lot of times, the problem you're solving is not the real problem.

It's the symptom.

You're solving the symptom, but you need to dig down until you find the core problem in order to create systems or frameworks so you hopefully don't have to solve the same problem over and over again.

Review the system when the problem returns.

Let's say you've recognized a problem that's happening over and over.

You've put a system in place that you think will solve the problem so you don't have to solve it again.

But then the problem comes back.

It's time to take a close look at the system you put in place.

Is there a problem with the system, or did you solve something with the system that wasn't really the core issue?

A lot of times, when I put a system in place and it doesn't actually solve what I thought it was going to solve, the answer is that I didn't dig down far enough to find the core issue.

Sometimes the system is weak.

Sometimes you need to tweak the system or use a different system.

But often, when I create a system so I don't have to solve the same problem again and that problem comes back, the first thing I look at is whether I dug deep enough to get to the core problem.

In closing, don't keep paying full price for the same lesson.

Try to solve it once and build the answer into your system, your life, or your business.

You can stop reacting and build a system for the next time.

When you're trying not to solve the same problem over and over, the goal is to create a system or framework that frees you from repeatedly dealing with it in the future.

That's what I'm talking about when I talk about compounding.

If you solve something that comes up over and over one time, then you benefit from not having to solve it again in the future.

Once you solve it, you can stop reacting or putting out fires and focus on the things that are most important to you in your life, your business, and your success.

This is Your Life Systems. I'm Wes.

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Thanks for being with me.

What's Next?

·        Identify one problem you've had to solve at least two or three times.

·        Write down what keeps happening before the problem appears.

·        Ask whether the visible problem is the cause or only a symptom.

·        Build the simplest system or rule that addresses the recurring pattern.

·        If the problem returns, review the system and dig deeper before blaming yourself or the system.

·        Keep refining until the problem requires less reaction and less repeated attention.

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