A Very Good Kind of Problem

Before I went to college my dad told me there was no excuse for skipping class. “You can get a “C” just for showing up,” he said. His point was that half of success in life comes from the quality of our presence.

Kindness and gratitude will get you further than you think. When we focus on what we have it becomes difficult to come up with what we don’t.

A very good problem to have.

Ideas are OverValued

Ideas are great. The problem is, we all have ideas. Ideas are overvalued. Execution is undervalued. 

Our job is to pick the idea that inspires us the most and find a way to make it a reality. It'll separate you from the herd and in the process cultivate a sense of pride in seeing a project through from start to finish. 

Few things are more rewarding. 

There May Be a Better Way - Just Ask!

This morning I discovered my car had been broken into. The driver side window had been shattered, my personal belongings were scattered on the passenger seat, and my proof of insurance had been tossed outside the car into a muddy ditch. Miraculously, all that was taken was a phone charger. Perhaps the culprit was not encouraged by my music selection deciding to forfeit the iPod in the center console.

I felt no vengeance, had no axe to grind. In fact, there was something strangely peaceful about quietly sweeping chards of glass into a dustbin on a brisk winter morning.

My insurance company notified me that my deductible was too high for them to cover the cost. Anything below $1,000 would be coming out of my pocket.

After punching in a few numbers and clicking a few boxes, an online estimate rounded my troubles to $354. I’m no car expert, nor a driver side window aficionado, but that seemed a bit steep, if not unreasonable.

I drove to an Auto Zone in my area looking for a makeshift window until I could resolve my loud and drafty commute. I bumped into a close friend who was standing at the counter in a bit of a daze. I explained what happened and he suggested I follow him home where he’d put together a slapdash window, which is to say a plastic bag cut at the corners.

We joked on his driveway as we applied this silly car Band-Aid. Just as I was set to go he asked if I’d like an estimate with his “glass guy” instead of forking over the $350 I’d silently agreed to pay the following day. “I’ve troubled you enough,” I said. “I’ve got the receipts and number of the company inside,” he insisted. “Just wait right here.”

After a two-minute phone call I was set to have my window fixed a mere 3 miles away. That certainly beat the 30 I was set to drive to a town I’d never even heard of. It was also a fraction of the cost at $160.

The window was fixed in 30 minutes, the price stood as advertised, and I gleefully cancelled my original appointment. A mess had not amassed into a bigger one. I’d persisted and somehow found a silver lining among the broken chards of glass.

Don’t be afraid to ask if there’s a better way to solving a problem. Our pride and limited thinking can keep us from opportunities we’d never even consider.

Getting Honest Feedback

How often have you rushed to a friend for his or her opinion with a problem in your life? How about their take on a new project you've just completed? A short story? A screenplay?

Having a community of like-minded people who have your back is crucial. And those of us who are fortunate to have such a network should never take it for granted.

But it can be a challenge to get the type of feedback you really need to help you take your work to the next level.

Your friends are your friends, which means they're feelings for you are biased. From their vantage point, being objective while trying to be sensitive to your feelings can be a very delicate dance.

Instead, try seeking the opinion of those you may not know as well and aren't afraid to be direct with their input. Rather than pursuing points of view that support those you already have, be on the lookout for thinking that enriches and challenges your own.