This morning I had a very dry garden; the promised rain hadn’t materialized. I also had back and knee pain. I eyed the hose on the hose hanger. If I waited, hoping somehow that the problem would go away, it would become too hot to water. My back sharply informed me that dumping the hose on the driveway, bending over to untangle it and dragging it down the driveway to the garden in my usual fashion would result in me joining the hose in a tangled heap on the very, hard driveway. Yet I could hear my plants crying, “Water, Water, Help!”
Keeping my back very straight, it’s truly amazing how great my posture becomes when pain is the alternative, I walked slowly towards the hose. With the intention of keeping the business end of the hose in my hand when I got to it, I lifted the hose and dumped it on the ground. Of course the nozzle ended up on the driveway. I looked at it, then braced one arm against the house and slowly moved a foot under a loop near the end and, still moving slowly, lifted my foot and the hose up until I could grab the hose. I carried that end to the front yard placing it through the porch railing pointing down to the garden. I could reach it easily and the water was headed into the garden, not onto the porch. Bringing the loops of the hose up to me and untangling it as I went, I gradually worked my way back to the hanger. On the rare occasion that I had to bend, I discovered that if I raised a back leg as I reached forward with the opposite hand, the sore part of my back didn’t bend. Alternatively, I could bend my knees outward and lower my upper body enough to reach what I needed. Turning the water on was not a problem. The hose was straight and running with water. I could walk upright slowly around my front yard pleasing the plants and myself as I admired them. Looping the hose back on the hanger was simply a matter of drawing the hose upwards towards me and looping it over. Those slow movements had eased my back enough to make the remainder of the day easier.
How does this apply to you? Do you have a business problem, something in your lifestyle, or perhaps you want to improve the way you move or look? Regardless of the need or the obstacle that you can’t work around, the answers are exactly the same as I used to solve my garden problem.
Recognize that this is all about you, no one else. It is your need and your obstacle. I cared about my garden and I was the one who had the sore back. You care about your issue. You are the one who is feeling the obstacle or the lack of results. It really doesn’t matter to anyone else.
Define the need and the problem. A hint here, it is not a lack of money or clients. Both are a result. Lack of them is lack of a result, not the cause. To determine the cause, ask questions until you reach a very specific answer. What do I want to achieve? This is not a grand future goal. What do you want at this precise moment? Why do I want to achieve it? The answer to this is the reason you are doing this in the first place. If you have no reason, what are you wasting your time for? Again, narrow your focus to the present. Why do I want this Right Now? When do I want to achieve it? If the answer isn’t now, give a precise and specific date. What is standing in my way? The answer could be your personal beliefs. It could be that you don’t have a plan. It could be that your focus is too broad. Pain was my answer. How can I get around it? Specific solutions are required here not general statements. What are my strengths? Remember to include you as well as other positive areas in your life/business. Who are my supports? Supports can be physical, people, information, nature, technology, or beliefs. You can use these supports to stabilize you as you try new ways of doing things.
Act, but act slowly. There are some people who can be thrown into the deep end of the pool and immediately start swimming. The majority of us learn much better when we start in the shallow end, learning in stages. If you try small things, you can stop or correct before too much is lost, before you have to absorb too much pain. As you are acting, watch for what works and what doesn’t. Write it down. Keep an ongoing record. It makes it so much easier to remember for the next time. It also makes it easier to share.
My garden needed water. I defined what I couldn’t do, used physical, mental and informational supports to define what I could do and altered as necessary. The result, my immediate problem was solved, my condition improved and I was able to discover and share some new-to-me problem solving techniques.
