This week, working at the Thrivetime Show with Clay Clark, I have learned a lot about problems. So many of us are always searching for the one thing, the one job, the one business, the one source of income, or the one perfect employee to make all of the problems stop. Something that you can install into your life that will make all of the problems go away. We all hope that there will be a beautiful time in our lives where all of the problems will simply end. We turn to passive income pushers, zero money down real estate sellers, and get rich quick schemers who play on our emotions and want to feed that deep desire for a problem-free life. This is something that we have all desired at some point. We think that “Once I have enough money, I don’t have to deal with all of the burning fires, all of the problems, and all of the issues that life throws at us! It will be perfect!” What I just described is called being dead. Even the poorest of the poor have problems and the crazy rich have problems. As long as you have air in your lungs, there will be problems. As TD Jakes puts it, “The fight will always continue. Big church. Little church. Lots of money. No money. Big crowd. No Crowd. There is always something that fights you back.” I have been able to see both sides of this first hand through growing up with little money and also being able to speak with some of the wealthiest people in our country. The key to this is that you cannot hope for a life with no problems, you have to create a life with good problems. Problems that you are willing to solve and receive money or, as Rabbi Daniel Lapin calls them, “Certificates of Appreciation” in exchange for solving them.
The key to this is that you cannot hope for a life with no problems, you have to create a life with good problems.
I have seen people trying to run from their problems in their business, at their business coach job, and in their home lives. Every time I see the same thing happen. They run from one problem only to find themselves in a deeper, larger, and stickier problem. If you run from the problems in your business coach, they will only fester, grow larger, and eventually explode in your face. As Mark Manson puts it in his book titled, (Earmuffs) “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck”, the point isn’t to get away from the problems, the point is finding the problems that you enjoy. This means that you have to find the things that other people are willing to pay you or show you an appreciation for solving. For some people, it’s writing books that guide people through the proven path. For others, it’s podcasting or maybe even managing a team of hundreds of employees that work for your construction business. No matter what it is, you have to first accept that there will always be problems. Second, you have to find the problem that you solve. Third, you have to enjoy the climb up to your goals. Yes, it is a spiral but this spiral is a little bit different. It goes up.
While we are going on this upwards spiral, you will most definitely be seen as the punchline to many jokes, a mockery to your friends and family, and more than likely a failure to others. Once you find your problem, you should passionately work to solve it every day because it is your obligation. Some people have also referred to this obligation as “Your Calling” or “Your Purpose.” While you are going about solving your problem, people will say things to me and you such as, “You are working way too hard!” or “Don’t burn the candle at both ends! It ages you much faster!” Often times you will hear these comments because these people have not found their problem. They are scurrying around the world on what Marc Manson calls the “Hedonic Treadmill”. They are hopping from thing to thing trying to find happiness. Yet, they find it nowhere. So, they try to destroy yours… And while they are not busy trying to destroy what you have created, they are running on their treadmill which social media has pieced together and built for them. They run from new houses to new girls, to new cars, to new ideas, and to new jobs. This is because sites like Facebook and Instagram have built this utopia lifestyle that is imposed on us. If you spend any time on these sites, you will see that if you don’t have a nice car, a great job, a growing online business, or a huge house, then you are simply average. The way we look at it these days, average sucks. If we could turn back time, the word “Average” today is equal to the word “Failure” from 25 years ago. It is implied that we must have the most successful business, bank account, children, and life in general or we are simply not living a good life. This is not true. Just like TD Jakes said, “Lots of money. No money. There will always be something to fight you back.” So whether your goal is to live in a $1,500,000 house with your family on 25 acres or if it is to live alone in an airstream on the beach for the rest of your life, you have to get off your treadmill, pick your spiral, and start walking on up.
This isn’t to imply that we are supposed to have sub-par lives that we dread every morning. Lives that we hate. This simply means that you have to choose your battles. You have to choose what problems you are going to solve and not let others impose the problems they want you to solve. While you are a joke to some, you will truly become life-changing to others. You will set a great example for someone through your average, semi-successful business coach, that allows you to serve yourself and your family. The business should be a vehicle for you and you should not be a slave to it. You have to choose your battles, solve the problems you can solve, and ignore those who will try to destroy you in the process. Set a maniacal laser focus on what you want for yourself and for your family and do not deviate. If you stick to it, you will eventually be looking up at the spiral to see that there will always be more. But it looks enjoyable. It looks doable. You can then look down and see all of the others at the bottom of the spiral. You can show them the path you took up the spiral of Mount Awesome and give them a hand up. As they weed through all of the get rich sherpas and zero money down real estate scammers, you can guide them up and show them the way. All while continuing to keep looking up and keep solving your problem day after day.
