Working as a Software Engineer - I am required to come up with solutions to problems a lot. That has made me very sensitive to how long it takes for me to solve a problem. And I have found the following to be true - a clear and curious mind is a prerequisite to creativity. At points in my career where I have lacked it , I have been very slow in solving problems.
Working long and continuously on a problem with great sincerity results in wasted time. I have performed that experiment upon myself twice in my life and gotten sub par results. Objectively - I would say I am reasonably smart and can solve problems. But I can be completely stymied if I am sick or if I have intrusive negative thoughts ricocheting in my head.
A lot of us in the modern world suffer from Adrenal Fatigue. Adrenal Fatigue happens when you have stressed yourself from either sickness or mental stress to the point where your adrenals can no longer support you. When the adrenals fail , your thyroid can also get affected and that can feel like you have a mental fog in your head. Dr Wilson's book on Adrenal Fatigue gives excellent details on the subject and on how to get out of it.
Today however , I want to give a list of thoughts that I have found to put a damper on one's ability to solve problems. These thoughts if left unquestioned can stress you out tremendously.
Working long and continuously on a problem with great sincerity results in wasted time. I have performed that experiment upon myself twice in my life and gotten sub par results. Objectively - I would say I am reasonably smart and can solve problems. But I can be completely stymied if I am sick or if I have intrusive negative thoughts ricocheting in my head.
A lot of us in the modern world suffer from Adrenal Fatigue. Adrenal Fatigue happens when you have stressed yourself from either sickness or mental stress to the point where your adrenals can no longer support you. When the adrenals fail , your thyroid can also get affected and that can feel like you have a mental fog in your head. Dr Wilson's book on Adrenal Fatigue gives excellent details on the subject and on how to get out of it.
Today however , I want to give a list of thoughts that I have found to put a damper on one's ability to solve problems. These thoughts if left unquestioned can stress you out tremendously.
- I am just too stupid.
- I am taking forever to solve this problem when others are doing it much faster.
- I am doing something dumb/stupid/hateful.
- This problem is too huge and too difficult for me/ I can't solve this problem.
- Other people are inherently smarter than me and can solve this problem way more elegantly than me - I can never hope to get to where they are.
Negative self talk such as I am stupid or I am dumb - must be avoided zealously. It is not true at all if one were to objectively look at oneself. Keeping your mind free from such clutter is as essential as keeping the space around you and your person clean to avoid getting sick. You are allowed to realize you acted in an unwise fashion and to learn from your mistake - but you yourself are not an absolute complete waste of space for having done what you did. To err is human.
Stressing out while comparing oneself to others is counter productive. Sure they are doing better than me - and perhaps they don't want to share how they are doing better than me with me. Or perhaps they just don't understand why I am not doing as good as they are. Perhaps my job is on the line if I do worse than others around me. I find I feel better when I submit such overwhelming worries to God and ask HIM to help me get through it. I need to do this to eliminate the tremendous counter productive worry brought on by the comparison. The state of mind I need to get to is one of curiosity about the problem. The belief and faith that I can solve the problem with God's help. For things are often imagined before they take material shape in this world. It is a problem I am meant to learn how to solve. The techniques to solve the problem can easily be found once the mind is calm enough.
If you feel uninterested in the problem you are solving - ask yourself why you are doing it? Perhaps you need to quit or perhaps you need to continue. Either way I find it's always best to start with acknowledging and letting myself know why exactly I am doing what I am doing. And always keeping in mind that I have the choice to quit or stay - in short I am powerful and am doing this only coz I want to.
When I wish I could solve a problem but feel I am incapable of solving a problem - that's a problem I really really want to have the ability to solve :). And hence should solve. One can feel overwhelmed if one is sick as well. I remember a time when I had no motivation to take up challenges at work coz I was too sick. In such times, the best course is to relax and truly take on only that which one can. If however its only fear of an enormous task that's preventing one , one can systematically break it down into it's smallest unit and eat the elephant bite by bite. And that will generate a truly big confidence boost in oneself.
Other people might be smarter than me - but how does that matter in my life? I can still provide value to others and to myself with all that I am. The spirituality books I read recommend loving everyone as yourself. I find I get peace when I rejoice in others being smart/happy. Not to say I do that every time and have nailed being happy for everyone - but that whenever I have practiced being happy for everyone around me, I have found a happiness and peace within me.
I am surprised workplaces don't give more importance to employee morale and state of mind. It definitely affects their performance and hence the companies bottom line.
