Everyone has problems

"The biggest problem that we have is thinking that we aren't supposed to have problems."

Wow... That one mindset prevents so many people, including myself at times, from being successful. Often times I have found myself, as many people do, looking up to others thinking that they have all the answers or are perfect. We too often see others with a higher position than us, a degree higher than us, a coaching postion and assume that life is easier for them. But even leaders of communities, a famous people, and successful business people experience the same feeling process as you and I. Life doesn't magically get easier or more enjoyable by having more money, more friends, more knowledge, more anything. There are still problems at all levels.

But there is one difference. People who have become skilled at a particular area of life know that they will always have problems (even in their area of expertise), but repeatedly try find solutions to them. They never give up. They persevere until they figure it out, even if that means failing over and over. My first manager, Dan Casetta at Vector Marketing, echos this idea often when he teaches that the key to success is to fail often. He said the reason he is the most prolific manager of company is because he has failed more than everyone else. And THAT was why he was successful.

Ultimately, I believe that understanding that we all will continue to have problems in life is extraordinarily freeing. Rather than seeing problems as something wrong, we can now recognize that it merely means you are human. Just because we have problems, just because a new skill doesn't come on the first try, just because a class/experience is requiring far more effort than expected DOES NOT MEAN that we should give up or quit. Having problems is likely one of the most commonplace experiences in the lives of people. It happens to people at all walks of life. The difference is whether we repeatedly get up when we fall down or give up.

I love life! :)