Today's TRAINING:
Problem Solving is the Secret to FEARLESS ACTION
When you get good at problem solving ->> you unlock the key to becoming
fearless.
My coaching company is Fearless Focus Coaching. People think that I teach people to become fearless, meaning they have a total absence of fear.
Nope. I go one better.
I teach people to act IN THE FACE of fear. When you've acted in the presence of fear often enough it becomes a non-issue. It's simply
loses its ability to stop you from starting. The ego focuses most of its efforts on preventing you from beginning. Once you're in motion, you can usually stay in motion and get whatever it is done.
True heroes, still feel fear on some level, but they will act anyway. I have acted in the face of fear so long that I don't notice small & medium fears and thus appear quite fearless to many people.
The better you get at acting in the presence of fear - the
harder it is for your ego, other people and non-perfect conditions to stop you from doing what it is you decide you want to do.
The key to acting while afraid is problem-solving ability. Because I'm so confident in my ability to solve any problem, it's just not really necessary to be afraid of it. I'll simply get in there and start solving it. If I do three things and two things don't work, I just
keep going. (See Below - Skill 6 Failure)
When I get tired and I don't feel like it, I re-commit to my decision (See Skill 4 Re-Commitment).
I do not wait to start because things aren’t “just right” yet, because I don't need things to be perfect to begin. (See Step 5 - Actively Course Correct as you go).
When I'm problem-solving my way through something, I keep a close eye on my attitude to make sure I am solving my
problems out of Yes Energy, expecting it to work out. (See Skill 7 – Expect Success)
Your Fears Keep You Thinking Without Taking Action
Most of you are information junkies. You read blogs, books, courses and take webinars, seminars and anything you can find, especially if it’s free.
All of this thinking “I
need to know more” comes from a common myth.
Myth: Knowing the truth will change your life.
I'm so sorry but that's not actually true. Or more accurately, it's not complete.
Reality: “Believing the truth and moving into unstoppable massive action will change your life” isn’t
as catchy sounding but it IS true!
How many “AMAZING” a-has, epiphanies and insights have you had this year? Life still the same? No action, no change. Point made.
KNOWING the truth is often just
annoying and does NOT compel you to act.
BELIEVING the truth moves you to take ACTION & MAKE better decisions.
Knowing is NOT believing. So how do you know if you believe? When you move into action and problem solving – then you believe!
That’s The Reason I Am a Coach of Massive Action.
Judge your REAL beliefs by your ACTIONS not your aspirations or thoughts.
Getting Into Action Will Bring Challenges – And That’s a Good
Thing!
Believing the truth leads to making decisions that get you in MOTION so that you start finally tackling what is in between you and your goal.
I am defining this as “Positive Problem Solving”: making all the decisions, taking the actions and solving
the questions that stand between you and your goal.
Having these “problems” to solve is GOOD, it means you are in motion toward something desired.
The Positive Problem-Solving Phase is where your life really changes. It’s where the good
stuff starts getting visible and you start feeling better and seeing massive shifts. That’s because at this point you are doing your work, so the Universe is responding.
Let’s look at the skills you'll have if you are a great Positive Problem Solver on the way to your good stuff.
(For those of you who have a
habit of not finishing, my “Start Strong, Fade Fast people” - you should print this and work from a hard copy.)
A Great "Positive Problem-Solver" Does Seven Skills Well:
Owns the Truth
Makes a Decision
Commits to Her
Decision
Re-Commits When Struggling
Actively Course Corrects
Allows Failure
Expects Success
Skill 1: I Own the Truth. No challenge ever gets solved unless you are being honest with yourself about what is the matter, what is your part, what needs to change and what constitutes a success.
Skill 2: I Make a Decision. Never get into motion
before you make the decision. That allows in too many variables which you cannot effectively prevent or fix, so you get overwhelmed.
Skill 3: I Commit to MY Decision. You decide and you stick. If you go back and forth and need other people’s opinion and vote, you are not committed. If you can be distracted, you are not committed. If you stop because you don’t “feel like” working on it right now, you are not committed.
Skill 4: I Re-Commit When Struggling. Commitments are like bathing. It’s not once and done. When somebody gets married and says “I do”, if that's the last time they commit to that marriage, that marriage will fail.
You have to periodically go back and re-enroll yourself in
your decision. You first remind yourself WHY you are making this decision and THEN take your butt to the gym or do whatever it is else that you're resisting.
Skill 5: I Actively Course Correct. Airplanes are flown by computers these days. The computer knows the exact perfect route to get from Chicago to Miami, Florida. But while the airplane is flying it is actually off course fully 90% of the time. Flying is
really a series of hundreds and thousands of minute course corrections.
They are NOT just flying in a perfectly straight line. They hit variables and adjust as they go - just like you will. Perfectionists, there is no such thing as perfectly done or perfectly BEGUN. Just start and wiggle your way there.
Skill 6: I Allow Failure. First, let's dispel the notion that failure is a bad thing. If you are NOT failing at something on a regular basis, then you are just phoning your life in. Yeah. I said it. I'll say it again. Failure is when you have pushed PAST your limits. If you aren't experiencing it, it means you're always inside of your limits and inside of your comfort
zone.
One of my favorite quotes from Neil Donald Walsh is that “Life begins outside of your comfort zone". What was the last thing you failed it? And what was the thing before that? I used to joke and tell clients that my job was to get them to fail as much as possible. It’s not really a joke. Failure is just feedback. It is a useful part of
Step 5 when you're actively correcting your course.
Skill 7: I Expect Success. You know that I am big on teaching that expectation is critical and it often determines the outcome. Problem-solving requires an expectation that
whatever it is you're trying to fix will get fixed, so wherever it is you're trying to get to, will be gotten to.
Let’s Apply This to You
Right now, I want you to score yourself on the seven skills
positive problem-solving requires. Usually I say pick the easy thing. This time pick your biggest dream in your life right now that you WANT but haven't made happen. Give yourself 1 point for each of the 7 skills above you are using for your dream.
Got it?
Scoring:
0-2 Most of you
will fall here. That’s OK. OWN that truth and start pushing on Skill #1. Make it your bedrock.
3-4 If you are here, you have a roller coaster. You get close and then you crash. You can even that out. Go through each skill and start focusing on the first skill that has ANY wiggle in it and go forward from there.
5+ You are probably a coach! If you are scoring this well, your life should be good but that, my dear, is the enemy of GREAT. Get to work and nail the missing skills that are keeping you from the top.
