Stuck on the Same Problem? This Might Be Why

Have you ever felt like you’re going through life in a circular pattern, meeting up with the same problem in your business over and over again, like Bill Murray’s character in the movie Groundhog Day?

You may have heard the saying (usually attributed to Einstein), “We cannot solve problems from the same consciousness that created them.”

But what does that really mean? How can we possibly solve problems from a different level of consciousness?

What is a different level of consciousness, anyway? Let’s take a look at how this might play out in someone’s personal life.

Let’s say Melissa is unhappy in her marriage.

Maybe she’s mature enough in her understanding of human nature to realize that it’s not ALL her husband’s fault that the marriage didn’t work out, but she still just wants out of the relationship.

She makes a list of her ideal qualities that she’d like in a mate, and it’s clear her husband doesn’t have most of those qualities. She concludes that she probably should have chosen someone else.

She starts to daydream about what it would be like to be with someone who has all of these wonderful qualities, and this seals the fate of her marriage. She just can’t stay married to this man anymore, and she breaks the news to him and files for divorce.

After the split, she meets another man who seems to tick off all the boxes on her “ideal man” list. Hallelujah! She’s met her dream guy.

Unfortunately, though, about a year or two into her new relationship, she finds that this guy ALSO triggers in her the same kinds of feelings she was having in her marriage.

How can this be? He’s so different from the other guy! And he meets all of her “criteria” for the perfect man!

Is life just out to get her? Is she just unlucky in love? What the heck is going on?

Here’s what’s going on.

The problems in Melissa’s marriage were never really about her husband. They were problems she created in her mind.

She built up these images of what was wrong, and then she used that same mind to create new images of what could be right, if she could just find the “right guy.”

This is key, though: it was the same mind, generating both the painful images and the new, pleasant “problem-solving” images.

But remember our Einstein quote: a problem can never be solved at the same level of consciousness that created it.

Now, this doesn’t mean Melissa has to stay in a situation that makes her unhappy. Some people are better matches for us than others, no doubt.

But this story highlights how we often approach our problems.

We think we’re solving them, but we’re really just recreating them through a circular process within our minds.

In a nutshell, our minds create meaning out of everything — and thus, they create problems in our inner state of being that, by their very nature, aren’t “out there” in the world. Painful emotions can’t be solved in the outside world, no matter how hard we try.

Because our minds are so good at making meaning, though, we do keep trying, despite our ineffectiveness.

Imagine you’re flipping through TV channels, trying to find something to watch. Nothing seems appealing, so you keep flipping through the same channels over and over again.

The problem isn’t that there’s nothing good on TV — the problem is that you’re stuck on the idea that you need to find the “right” show, and you haven’t investigated whether you really even want to watch TV at all. Maybe what you want is to turn off the TV and go outside for a walk.

This is where being clear on our core values is so crucial. When we discover what’s really driving us, when we connect with that which gives our lives meaning, we can identify the actions (I call them “acts of devotion”) that will bring us actual fulfillment and vitality in life.

Just so I’m clear: none of what I’m saying here is about whether TV (or a marriage, or any relationship) is good or bad for you.

All you need to do is recognize what’s important to you, and become aware of when you’re stuck in a loop, trying to solve an inner problem that your own mind has created.

To be clear, I’m not saying that the outer circumstances of your thinking aren’t real. Our fictional “Melissa” isn’t making up her marriages, and she has real decisions to make about her life.

But true freedom comes when you recognize that there are outer issues to handle, but they’ll never truly go away until you see and work with the underlying mechanism that has been generating them in the first place.

So, think about a problem you’re currently facing in your business.

Maybe it’s something that’s been showing up in your world for a while, or maybe it’s new. Take a moment to consider: Is this actually a problem — or is it something going on in my inner world that I’m trying to cope with on the outside?

For example, if you’re struggling with cash flow (as many small business owners and entrepreneurs face at times in their businesses)… take a bit of time to explore the results of that cash flow issue.

What are the actions you’re taking or not taking that relate to the cash flow issue? What is your inner world like around this issue? Do you have a lot of fear, guilt, resentment (or all of the above) that leads you to make either impulsive or slow decisions about your finances?

Without blaming yourself, look at the situation honestly and begin to sense how it might transform if you were to heal the inner environment which creates the conditions that show up in your life.

Remember, our minds are problem-solving machines. We have this incredible capacity to make meaning out of our world, but sometimes that ability works against us. Our minds create scenarios, doubts, and fears that aren’t grounded in reality, leading us to chase solutions to problems that don’t truly exist.

By looking deeper within, you open the door to what I call your Essential Self — the real You. The one with real solutions.

And you begin a path to a kind of freedom you might not have experienced before.

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Running a transformational service-based business is different than any other business out there. Your clients have to bring their own commitment to the process — so marketing hits different for them. The decision-making process requires you do the opposite of almost everything you may have learned. And your own mindset, energy, and heart need to be aligned for your work to work.

I’m Helen Hunter Mackenzie, positioning expert and business strategist for impact-driven entrepreneurs working in the transformational field. I’ll help you differentiate your work, create strong messaging to articulate that difference, and streamline your marketing & revenue strategy so can focus only on attracting high-quality clients and building $10K+ months (and beyond).

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