Tag / problem-solving

by Nathan Coumbe

Live by the ABCs

I have a mantra that I repeat to myself through out the day, especially when I start to get bored or frustrated with something.

“Always. Be. Curious.”

These are my ABCs. Corny, I know. I don’t care.

My brain never stops; thoughts fly through my mind at light speed in a never-ending stream. There was a time when I tried to drown them out by mindlessly watching television or playing video games. I didn’t know what to do with all the thoughts; at times, they overwhelmed me, annoyed me, or just plain scared me.

Then I learned how to use it to my advantage – I started listening to Seth Godin who taught me to sit with the anxiety created by these racing thoughts and condition my mind to get used to it all rather than try and eradicate it by vegging out in front of a screen. I also read a book called How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci by Michael J. Gelb which taught me to keep a notebook and write down my thoughts and observations throughout the day.

It changed my life.

I have written down some absolutely stupid, ridiculous, useless thoughts in my notebooks, and yet I have also written down profound words of wisdom, insightful revelations about myself and what I want, solutions to problems that have plagued me, and some of the most interesting observations of the world around me which used to just pass me by.

So today, think about embracing your inner child, the one who used to ask questions about everything, the child that had to touch and smell and taste and listen to everything that crossed his or her path as a way to make sense of the world. Sit with your thoughts, without a phone or a tablet or screen in front of you. Let your mind wander. Write some things down.

Always be curious.

by Nathan Coumbe

Replace One Word and Solve a Problem

I have been working on my self-talk a lot recently, and a technique that I have found that really helps me get out of my own way is swapping out the word “but” for the word “and”. This idea came to me after reading a short, but very impactful, blog post by Scott Miller of FranklinCovey entitled “I Can’t Do That”.

How is “but” sabotaging us?

To illustrate the point of how this process can work, let me give you an example with which I am currently wrestling. I studied classical and jazz percussion in college, something that I absolutely loved and found great fulfillment in pursuing. Then I made some stupid decisions and am now currently without a drum set or anything other than a snare drum and some sticks. I would love to start another side hustle using my musical skills and abilities, but I have talked my way out of it many times without even trying. My normal thinking would be “I would love to start a business using my musical skills to teach and play the drums, BUT I don’t have an instrument other than a snare drum.” Well, there you have it – nothing can be done now. I’m stuck. There is no possible way for me to do anything with the skills or resources at my disposal.

Perhaps you already see how this works, but I will walk through it all the same. If I just change the word “but” to the word “and”, something magical happens. “I would love to start a business using my musical skills to teach and play the drums, AND I don’t have an instrument.” Now it is just a problem to solve rather than a brick wall preventing me from making any progress. I could easily follow it up with “so…[insert solution to problem]”, and I have just gotten out of my own way and on the path to a side-hustle. (As an aside, I am positioning myself as an expert snare drummer with a focus on musicality and technique that can be applied to the drum set as well as other percussion instruments.)

Implementation

There are plenty of others ways you can implement this:

  • I want to lose weight, but I don’t have much time.
  • I want to start my own business, but I don’t have any startup capital.
  • I want to get a job in web development, but I don’t know about JavaScript.

You know the drill now – we use “and” now.

  • I want to lose wait, AND I don’t have much time, so I should find a physical activity that I enjoy that doesn’t take up much of my time.
  • I want to start my own business, AND I don’t have any startup capital, so I should find a business idea that costs little or nothing to start making a profit.
  • I want to get a job in web development, AND I don’t know about JavaScript, so I should sign up for an online course or read a book about the subject.

What about you?

Are there things you want to do, AND the word “but” is getting in your way? See what I did there? It’s now just a problem for you to solve! The next time you start talking yourself out of doing something, try this little technique and see if you come up with a possible solution to your problem. You’d be surprised how easy it is.