Don’t ask for less problems, ask for more solutions
Don’t ask for less problems, ask for more solutions
In my twenties, and fresh out of school, I wanted nothing more than to become successful and have the accolade’s that comes with success. However, as I ventured into the business world, I encountered complex problems. They weren’t the same problems I experienced in my college years. These were real life problems that dealt with people and money. I found myself in a ditch. If I was stuck with a problem, no matter how hard I tried, the problem either got worse, or spilt into more problems. The problems were mainly on making money or finding the best ways to make extra money in my business.
Garth Brooks’ famous song, “Friends in Low Places.” Whenever I found myself in that low place, I found others right along side me in the ditch. When you’re surrounded with people in low places, they tend to focus on the same money problems. What you have is a group of people who tend to always focus on the wrong things. The people I associated with were dragging me down and not moving forward. I was buying into my problems and worst yet, I was buying into the problems others were having as well.
“Don’t ask for less problems, ask for more solutions”, said my business mentor. Wise words from a man who truly wanted to see me succeed in life. He taught me the valuable lesson of where to focus my energy. He said, “Most people spend 95% of their time on the problem and only 5% on the solution. What you need to do is spend 95% on the solution and 5% on the problem.” I never had anyone tell it to me like that!
Valuable Life Lessons Learned
I’ve been out of the ditch for over 25 years now. I have taught many others the lessons I learned from my business mentor all those years ago. However, there are still people today that are stuck in the ditch? Why? Many simply enjoy dwelling on the problems instead of finding the solutions. That’s okay, my business mentor taught me. He told me to focus on the people who deserve your attention, and not the people who need it. That little mindset change moved me towards living the lifestyle people long for. To this day, whenever someone comes to me with a problem, they better bring a few solutions with them.
Because of my willingness and desire to succeed and help people in business, I was able to find my business mentor in the network marketing industry. Networking marketing spends too much time talking about how much money you can make and not enough time developing the personal growth process. I’m sure I would have become successful in business, but I never would have known the person I would become as a husband, father, and business leader.