What you think is a problem isn’t the problem.

What you think is a problem isn’t the problem.

You read that right, what you think is a problem generally isn’t the problem. 

So often client’s come to me with what they think is the problem in their life. I call these “faux problems” and they often stem from what one thinks about themself, their abilities, their goals, etc. 

I like to think of this like an iceberg where the faux problems or symptoms are the peak of the iceberg sticking out of the water. What happens is we spend all our time, energy, and resources trying to fix the symptoms/faux problems and maybe things get a little bit better for a hot minute and then we go right back to suffering from the symptoms wondering, 

“what’s wrong with me?” 

“why can’t I seem to achieve the result I want?”

“I’m just not disciplined enough.”

“I haven’t tried hard enough to reach my goal.” 

And we repeat this cycle over and over and over. It’s exhausting, right? 

So, what do we do instead?? 

For starters, we have to treat the real problem. The real problems generally lie below the surface feeding those pesky symptoms that we deal with on the day-to-day. Those real problems are the limiting beliefs you hold, the negative patterns of behavior you’ve developed over time, the lack of self-trust, the perfectionism that’s holding you back, or the self-doubt that whispers to you. 

Those my friends are the real problems. The problems that keep you stuck, frustrated, and feeling defeated. 

This is where coaching comes in. Coaching allows you to examine those symptoms or faux problems and trace them all the way back to the source, the real problem. And once you begin to solve the actual problem that’s when you start to see results. You begin to believe in your big dream, you start to take inspired actions, and most importantly you start to feel empowered. 

So, cue your happy dance, because just by reading this blog post you’re already one step ahead of where you were two minutes ago. Now you have the knowledge that those pesky little thoughts that come into your brain telling you that you’re not enough, likely aren’t the problem, but you can get curious about those thoughts and follow them back to the source and learn what’s feeding them. Once you know that, you can get to work solving the actual problem so you can move on with confidence.