This Post
Intro
You are a hard worker. You put everything you've got into everything you do
because for you, apathy is not the answer. You cannot accept that everyone
around you has such a dour view of the bright beautiful world that we live
in. Let me tell you something, you are unique in todays world, someone
who believes that hard work is rewarded. Someone that sees a hill and
thinks, I SHOULD RUN UP IT! Someone who is not scared to try their
hardest knowing there is more to life than Instascrolling and TikTok while on
the pooper.
I have always felt that way as well. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't
consider myself a hyper achiever or anything but I have always valued hard
work and those that do it. Most of the successful people that I have met
in my personal life are the hardest working. I believe there is
something to that tenacity that these individuals have inside them. That
spirit of taking on challenges that others shy away from or refuse to
participate in. I am constantly baffled by the amount of people I meet
that do not want more for themselves. They hate the thought of stepping
outside their comfort zone and risking doing something amazing. Consider
what that means, not only for you, but for the world as a whole.
There are soooo many people out in the world that are totally content and do
not really expect more out of their lives and are not willing to work harder
to get more. For those of us that want more out of life and are willing
to put in more effort, something becomes quickly apparent. Success is
pretty darn achievable. I mean think about it, there really is not any
competition, ESPECIALLY if you are working up from the bottom of the
barrel. People in America are comfortable at the bottom! Whenever
you turn on the news or jump on social media we are constantly bombarded with
people more successful than us. We LOVE to hear stories about the hyper
successful, the one percenters we hear them called. We can live
vicariously through those super wealthy super rich leaders and we don't have
to lift a finger. I think it is sad that so many people live vicariously
but never try to find a way to become a one percenter themselves.
What if I told you that I have the secret sauce, that special formula, that
mix of 12 herbs and spices to become a leader? Read on to stop living
vicariously.
The Secret Sauce
To the person reading this, let me just say, WELCOME! You have made the
first step to achieving something more for yourself. Everyone starts at
the same place, a fire, a desire, a calling to reach for something
higher. So here is the secret to working your way up the ladder in any
activity you want to excel at, become the problem solver.
"Well thanks for the great advice there, I never would have thought of that
on my own!"
Okay, okay, I get it but stick with me here. Seriously contemplate this
for a second, anyone that is successful is able to solve problems. Let's
start small here. Your sink clogs and backs up and now you can't use
it. Who do you call? A Plumber. Why do you call the
Plumber? BECAUSE HE HAS THE SECRET SAUCE! He knows how to fix your
problem which is why you give them $300.00 each time they fix your sink.
That Plumber has the secret sauce and can sell it to anyone with that problem
and that makes them a leader, at least when it comes to plumbing
problems. If you have an electrical problem the Plumber wouldn't be much
help and so they would not be the problem solver in that situation.
"Okay, so I just need to become a Plumber, got it. You give great
advice Continuous Learning Journal..."
NOPE! I'm not done yet, there is more to this illustration. That
Plumber probably works for a company right? If he works for a company
then there is probably an owner that once started out as a Plumber. What
separates this old business owner that was once a Plumber from his employee
that just fixed your sink for 3 big ones? HE LEARNED TO SOLVE BIGGER
PROBLEMS. "What?" - YES! Starting a business is no joke. I
would argue that all business owners are just excellent problem solvers.
This Plumbing business owner had to figure out how to start the company, file
taxes, be in compliance with governmental regulations, market to customers,
host a website, stay competitive in a highly saturated market (no pun
intended), keep customer satisfaction high and the list goes on and
on!
"Okay, great speech, get off your soap box.."
Oh the list goes on. Who do you think makes the tools and supplies for
the Plumber? Someone somewhere started a company that manufactures drain
augers, the bread and butter of every plumber in the world. I am willing
to bet the person that invented drain augers is quite wealthy. They are
wealthy because they solved a problem at a whole new level. Good
reliable drain augers cost thousands of dollars. It took someone looking
into this niche market and asking the question, how could I make this job
easier for Plumbers and the people they work for? The bigger the leader,
the bigger the problems that need to be solved. Alright now I will get
off my soap box with the plumber analogy.
"Maybe you have a point..."
Your task is to set out each day with the intension to identify and solves
problems. It doesn't matter if the problems you are solving are small
ones to start. I once had a journal and my entire goal with this journal
was to identify 100 ways to save myself time during my work day. I
didn't get to 100, but I did get good at finding ways to improve my
effectiveness. I solved a problem for myself which made me more
competitive with those around me. It made me stand out in a crowd.
The great thing about the laws of attraction is this, leaders attract leaders
and as I already spelled out above, leaders are simply problem solvers.
When someone in leadership is around you, whether its a business or a church
or even a non profit one thing will always be truth. They want to have
the best on their teams! They know who solves the problems on their team
and they are willing to invest in those people because they are critical to
keeping the business afloat.
When I started to truly take this to heart, I can tell you that the leaders
around me took notice right away. They started to invest more time in me
and helped to grow me as I continued to step up and take on larger
problems. They would even give me guidance on solving big problems when
I didn't even know where to start! My plan moving forward for my career
is to further develop my knack for problem solving. I want to solve big
problems because I know the world is so desperate for hard working people that
can fix things. I would encourage you to take up the torch with me and
become a problem solving master!
Conclusion
During the intro I asked you to consider the consequences of there being
little competition to solve problems in todays world. On the bright side
we identified that there really is not that much competition to start.
There is a darker side to this coin though. With there being less and
less problem solvers in the world we are going to start to see bigger and
bigger problems compounded by the lack of caring at the bottom. I
believe it is our duty to not only ourselves, but to everyone around us to
start working hard to solve these problems before they fester and
compound. Become a systematic problem solver, set a good example for
everyone around you. Tell them the secret sauce. Surround yourself
with the best problem solvers. The larger your crowd of problem solvers
and the larger the problems you solve the higher you will work yourself up the
leadership ladder.
The higher and higher an individual works into the "achievement index" i.e.,
working towards the top to become a one percenter, the stiffer and stiffer the
competition. With you setting out to solve problems and building and
inspiring a group of problem solvers with you. You will slowly build an
empire of problem solving that will compound your efforts to the TOP!
Look for a future post where I will guide you through how to become a
systematic problem solver.
BOOM! Congratulations, you are now a problem solver, go forth and
prosper!
-John
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