This week’s question from our portal “Ask Us Anything” comes from Steven:
I understand intellectually that I need to focus on what I want instead of what I don’t want. But when I’m in a difficult situation—like a problem with a client or a financial stress—it’s really hard not to focus on the problem. How do I actually shift my focus in the moment when the problem feels so real and urgent?
The problem IS real. I’m not asking you to deny reality. What I’m asking you to do is not give the problem more power than it deserves.
Here’s what most people do: they take a problem and they amplify it in their mind. They catastrophize it. They think about all the terrible things that could happen. They replay it over and over. They tell everyone about it.
All of that is giving the problem energy. And what you give energy to grows.
So here’s what you do instead: you acknowledge the problem. You assess it objectively. You decide what action you need to take. And then you take that action and move on.
You don’t sit there marinating in it. You don’t tell the story about it 50 times. You don’t make it bigger than it is.
And here’s the key: you focus more energy on the solution than you do on the problem.
For every minute you spend thinking about the problem, spend five minutes thinking about the solution, the outcome you want, what’s going right, what you’re grateful for.
You’re not ignoring the problem. You’re just not giving it all your mental and emotional energy.
Problems are part of business. Part of life. They’re going to show up. Your job isn’t to eliminate problems. Your job is to not let problems consume you.
Handle it, and move on. That’s how you keep your focus on what you want instead of what you don’t want.
