Is there something about your life that you want to improve, but you struggle to figure out how? Some goal that always seems out of reach? Some problem that’s always proved intractable?
You don’t have to stay stumped and stuck. In my experience if you want something, there’s always some progress you can make.
That’s why I just launched a course on Udemy that’s designed to empower you. It’s called “The Meta-Problem Method for Daily Life.”
A little over a year ago, I got to run my very first Meta-Problem workshop for the teachers at my kids’ elementary school. The idea was that each attendee would choose a challenge they were struggling with, and then apply the method to identify better options.
To wrap up the discussion, I asked the group if they had made progress. One teacher had chosen the challenge of wanting to exercise more, but reported that she was just as stumped as when she began.
At the time I didn’t have a great response. I knew that if you really are motivated to exercise, you’ll find a way to make it happen. If you discover it’s just not a priority, then you have achieved some useful clarity.
Later I realized there were other possible reasons she stayed stuck. Maybe she had not clarified what she really wanted. Exercising might have been a means to an end, but not the end itself. What did she think would be better in her life if only she exercised more? Could that be achieved by exercising better or differently (rather than more), or by doing something else instead?
I built my Udemy course to give everyone a structured process for thinking through what you really want to achieve (it’s often not what you think), what options you have to achieve it, and how to weigh the trade-offs that come with each option before finally selecting the best one.
Two other insights informed my design. The first is that we often underestimate how good we are at adapting to change, and the second is that we succeed at making a big change by tackling it in a series of small, achievable steps. Those small successes not only provide motivation to continue, but they also reassure us that the bigger goal is attainable.
That one-mile walk I take at lunchtime doesn’t get me all the way to my fitness goals, but it makes the two mile walk easier next month when I wake up early one day. It makes me associate exercise with accomplishment instead of obligation.
If you know you want to go on a thousand-mile journey, ask yourself what single step is the best way to start. Committing to the whole project at once takes a lot of energy you realistically might not be ready to invest.
Making better small choices clearly will set you on a better path to realize your goals.
To check out the course and all the other lessons, signup for free here (toggle that option in the bottom-right if you register before September 2nd).
P.S., I’m looking for feedback so I can make this course the best it can be - including re-recording most of the videos to get them a bit more polished. Please take it, and let me know what you think!