Solving the same problem over and over again can be either be immensely frustrating or incredibly lucrative depending on what side of the problem solving equation your standing on.
Recently I was asked for updated information on a routine report. The report takes two hours to gather information, set parameters, run the report, review the information, check alternate information sources, create the report, and then update the relevant parties and answer any questions. Problem solved.
Solving Problems Repeatedly
If I’m salaried employee, I just run this report 20 times a week and call it a day. I run four reports a day. I hope that people need this report for the next 25 years and then I can retire. I’m incentivized to keep the status quo.
Now if I’m a salesman, getting compensated by the report, I’d be delighted to run this report all day long. I’d figure out how to run it faster, find more customers that need this report, and streamline the data gathering process.
But if I’m an owner, I realize I’m not really in the report-generating business, and I want to figure out how to run this report once and then automate it. I can’t leave it undone, people need this information. But I can’t let this distract me from my bigger goals. Once and done. I don’t want to spend my time on reports because I’ve got a higher calling. I’ve got something more urgent to focus on. I want to impact my organization and community, not spend my time running reports.
Solve it once.
This scenario serves as a microcosm for our daily lives.
How are you approaching the challenges in your life? Do you treat them like the salaried employees where you are just trying to survive the day?
Or are you being a salesman? Happy to have challenges because you benefit from them?
Or are you looking at the challenges in your life like an owner- problems you want to solve once so you can focus on what you want to focus on. Don’t try to solve the same problem every day. It will rob you of your energy and willpower.
“Will I write today?” becomes “I write every day, Monday through Friday.”
“Do I want another helping of ice cream?” becomes “I only have once scoop when I have ice cream.”
“Do I feel like getting up early tomorrow?” becomes “I get up at 5:30AM every day.”
Decide it once. You’re not going to do it perfectly, but deciding every day how to solve the same problem isn’t how take ownership of your life, it’s how you survive a life you don’t really enjoy.