A specious inclination is to assume that competition is a bad thing. To assume that you shouldn’t bother with your idea because someone else has already tried it or is doing it. The reality is, competition means there is a market. So, competition can be a good thing. Without out it you might be heading into unchartered territory which often leads…
Tell yourself no
One common hindrance to working out is when your mind says no even though your body is perfectly capable. And I’m not even talking about taking risks. Often the mind says no to attempting one more rep or five more degrees in a squat. And it’s not just the gym, the mind unnecessarily says no all the time. For example,…
Don’t make it easier to do things you shouldn’t be doing
Sometimes we want to do things that will make it easy to do one thing and will enable us to also do things that we shouldn’t. For example, I have a recording tool that I’ve found is amazing for editing. It makes it incredibly easy to make changes to videos after the fact. And it’s great when I do editing…
Try resolutions you don’t like to find cause
When problem-solving, especially alone, if you’re stuck you should try looking at resolutions you don’t like. What biases do you have? It is possible you’re avoiding wonderful tools to ascertain the cause of the problem simply because you don’t like those tools as a resolution to the problem. It’s plausible though, to use something you don’t like to find a…
All hypocrisy isn’t equal
It’s easy in life to find hypocrisy. Especially in politics when you are out to dismantle the opposition. People are inherently hypocritical, all of us, because each situation and individual’s perspective dictates what matters. We simply hold too many beliefs to reconcile all of them. For example, what is food versus a pet. We have no real reason to designate…
Don’t conflate finding cause with finding resolution
As I’ve mentioned it’s important to find cause before a resolution when problem-solving. Part of finding cause can easily appear as if it’s finding a resolution and that can be offputting to the point where people avoid a technique to find the cause because they don’t like the implications of it as a resolution. For example let’s say I have…
Cause before resolution
When something goes wrong we have a tendency to want to fix it as fast as possible. The human mind sees a problem as painful and any hint of resolution steals focus from finding the cause. By all means if a simple fix is ok because it’s not that important then have at it. For example, if somebody blocked my…
Go back and do it the new way
When you’re developing a new habit, if you catch yourself following your old habit, go back and do it the new way. For example, let’s say someone tells me about a new driving route that’s faster than my current route. No doubt I’ll find myself slipping into the familiar route. When this happens and I notice, I can turn the…
Problems don’t go unsolved
I’ve seen plenty of people stuck on problems but I’ve never encountered a problem worth solving that wasn’t eventually solved.
Mindful eating can be just as refreshing as a hot shower.
Most of us know that we can take a hot shower and almost always feel better. Problems melt away. You feel better because feelings come from your body. And warm water is a pleasurable feeling as opposed to say cold water. The same is true of eating food. It’s definitely something that triggers positive reinforcement. No doubt you’ve been hangry…