We all have problems – don’t we? And yet most of us in my experience want to get away from, solve or have a few problems as possible. Me too, to be honest. But, as you’ll discover, not only are problems a sign of life, they are the route to strength.
I want to give you a new way to look at problems today. The thing is, that there is no-one without problems (save for those in the graveyard perhaps – but then again, they probably have bigger problems!).
So how to look at them in a way that serves you. I was listening to a Tony Robbins audio recently and in it, he recounted how he was speaking to the then 92 year old Norman Vincent Peale (author of the 15million copy selling The Power of Positive Thinking). In their conversation, Norman Vincent Peale was telling Tony Robbins about the time he met with Gene Tunney. Gene Tunney was a boxer who held the Heavyweight championship belt from 1926-1928.
Peale was asking Tunney how he got so strong and muscular. And Tunney explained.
“Every day, I go and work out lifting enormous weights. My muscles ‘expand by demand’”
And then Peale thought. Well, that’s what problems are. They are just like the weights in our gym. We need them to get stronger.
And not only are they weights, but just when you get used to that particular weight, that problem size, you then need bigger and heavier weights or problems.
That’s all they are. Problems are weights to train you. You need problems to get stronger in life. If you didn’t have any problems, you wouldn’t become stronger.
So embrace your problems. Think of them like a workout in the gym. The more you go and the greater weights you lift, the stronger you become physically. The same is true emotionally too. The more problems you have and begin to ‘lift’ – the stronger you get. You don’t get strong just by having the weights and leaving them under the bed remember!
Sometimes we wish life were easier. I often make the mistake of wishing life were easier sometimes. But as the late great Zig Ziglar used to say: “Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better!”
So be bold. Embrace your problems and work at them every day. You’ll get stronger and better in the process and then you’ll be able to move onto the next level up!
What do you think? Let me know by liking and commenting below.
Here’s a video explaining the same principle in case you have a moment to watch.
