Solve Small Problems

Most of us get overwhelmed when we ignore an accumulation of small problems  that hardly matter until they pile up and crash us down. These little things never get our attention in the midst of a real personal or global crisis, yet they eat away at the fabric of our lives, robbing us of energy and focus.

Take my garage door remote, for example. It sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t.  It was a tiny issue, but in my life it became a daily annoyance.  So, after many false starts,  I found a woman who has spent the last 30 years in the garage door business.  She pulled the thing apart and fixed it, charging me five dollars.

Suddenly I had the bandwidth and momentum to tackle bigger challenges, because this little one was solved.  So my advice to you is to identify some small thing that bothers you every day, taking your focus away from your art practice.  Then take the problem out of the short circuit in your brain and get it into the hands of an expert. Just don’t give up until you’ve found a solution. 

Sometimes your problem is embedded in a larger system (most technical problems are).  If you can’t find an expert, try a google search, starting with “how to fix . . . .” Look for a simple, step-by-step answer, follow the steps, and don’t give up until your problem is solved.

By solving small problems, one at a time, you create a new mindset:  problems have solutions, and you are capable of finding them.  When you reach out to other people, and other resources, you realize that you don’t always have to go it alone.