A great frustration of mine occurs at how long it takes to find the real problem or issue that prevents us from accomplishing what we want. Everyone can throw out a symptom. “This is happening!”. ” I could not get it done because…….”.
Our story builds out, in detail, what we feel and what we think we see. In fact, we fool ourselves into believing that our story is true. As evidence it fails, yet we still embrace it, because our stories are so biased by the way we see a situation and the world.
When talking to multiple people, we end up with multiple stories. Every person’s worldview is different. Their ability to observe and process information varies. So discussions about a problem or issue become so confusing.
Because they are only symptoms, the solutions we quickly proclaim as being the right one only disappoint. But it still doesn’t stop us from trying.
We go out and try what we believe. There may be a minute of success that fades into disappointment. Why? Because we are too impatient and rush to claim a symptom as king.
Leverage is very powerful tool that is used to do some amazing things especially when it comes to moving heavy objects. It is so difficult to find the point of leverage in most situations we encounter. We are too easily deceived. Too distracted and emotional to fight through the symptoms to find the issue that we can apply leverage to to break through.
Most times, when I find myself in difficult situations it takes time to fight through my ignorance to find and understand how I contribute (or run from) a difficult situation. Then, it is even more difficult to find a common theme to the symptoms that seem so clear and then elevate what is behind them to find a more basic issue where I can apply some leverage to break through.
Finding a lever is as difficult as finding the third piece of what we thought was only a two piece solution. With some practice, persistence, and effort going deeper and wider before anointing a symptom as the problem can make you much, much more effective in the long run.