We have all been there: trying not to be late for a friend or trying to control our monthly spending or trying not to eat that unhealthy food but ending up doing it again and again.
In this blog post, I am going to share a “framework” that helped me fix a lot of problems in my personal and professional life. Most importantly, it helped me not staying stuck and repeating the same mistakes.
You must have heard the phrase: “Learn from your mistake” times and times.
I did too, but no one told me how to do it, let alone how to do it in a systemic and repeatable way, so I decided to build a process:
1- Make a list of all your reoccurring problems:
Through this whole process, I use notion to write down those issues. You can use whatever note taking app, or you can use a pen and paper. Just make sure to keep your notes because you will need them later.
Now write down a list of the problems that happened to you many times, not just once. Usually, we are good at fixing many issues as we encounter them, so we don’t want to clutter our list.
Once that done, sort this list by putting the most impactful and urgent problems on the top.
2- Describe the issue and how you will consider it solved:
This step is essential: if we don’t know what we are trying to fix, we can’t fix it, and if we don’t know how “fixed” looks like, we can’t measure our progress.
3- Iterate, observe, and correct:
This is the core part of this process:
Iterate:
Think of a way to solve the problem you are tackling and implement it. This solution doesn’t need to be perfect and usually won’t work on the first try. Use the internet: Most probably someone else has had the same or a similar problem, use their wisdom, and adapt it to your specific case.
Observe:
Keep an eye on how you are doing when executing your plan. You will find yourself in one of two situations:
- Your solution seems to be working: Great, do nothing
- It’s working: Write down why, what have you missed, what aspects of the problem you haven’t anticipated when working on the solution.
Also, it’s a good idea to take your time here. Don’t consider the problem solved by observing your solution work just once.
Correct:
Based on your observations, try to come up with a new way to solve the problem that covers what you previously missed try again.
Her is an example:
4. Set your expectations:
Managing the emotional side of this process is as much important as the process itself. Here is a list of things to keep in mind:
- Every time a solution fails, you are not a failure, you are just one step closer to solving the problem.
- Sometimes, you think you have found the right solution, and it may work for some time, but then the problem will arise. That is fine and expected. It merely means that your circumstances changed and you have to go back to the drawing board again.
- If you try to solve the problem many times, but you still can’t figure it out, this is usually a good sign that you need to seek help from experienced people. Don’t be shy to do so; a lot of people are willing to help others if you reach out to them and explain your situation.
I have found that not getting discouraged and abandoning the process is the hardest part here. I had to tell myself many times that with each failure, I am getting smarter and closer to my goal. Stay positive my friend and best of luck cracking those problems!