Why you’ve stayed stuck in the same problems.

Has anyone ever told you
“People don’t change”
?

Did you believe them?

Because here’s the thing:
if that were true, I’d still be making myself throw up 8x per day.

What I’ve found to be the real truth is this:
People don’t change until they genuinely WANT to.

So if you’re still facing the same problems that you were 5 years ago…
if you’ve been having the same arguments with your partner for longer than you can remember…
or if there’s some goal you’ve always fantasized about but never achieved…

…you’re in the right place.

But you have to WANT to change this.

You have to want to move forward more than you want to be right.

If you do, let’s keep going.

You might be reading this for yourself, because you keep falling into the same potholes that you always have.

You’ve been struggling with the same unhappiness for years.
You’ve got goals that you never accomplish, and your reasons for not accomplishing them change.

I’m too busy with _____
I don’t know how.
I’m not good at it.
Etc.

Or maybe you’re reading this out of interest for your relationship.

Maybe you and your partner find yourselves arguing about the same things. Even when you think you’ve moved past it, it comes up again.

And that same old argument is causing resentment in your relationship, because you feel like your partner doesn’t care enough to actually fix it.

Both of these recurring problems come down to the same root cause:

You’re not solving the right part.
You’re trying to fix the outcome, when what you really need to fix is the WHY.

To summarize: it doesn’t matter what happened in the past or who made the bigger mistake. What matters is how you tackle the problem today and move forward so it doesn’t keep coming with you.

If this problem has been popping up in your life for years, it’s because you haven’t addressed the WHY that keeps causing it.

Here’s how to fix the WHY using the 5 Whys

1. Identify the problem or goal.

   “I haven’t I finished writing my book.”

2. Ask why the problem is happening.

   “Why haven’t I finished writing my book?

   Because I feel overwhelmed by the process.”

3. Keep going until you’ve answered “Why?” five times.

   “Why do I feel overwhelmed?
   Because I don’t have a clear plan.
   Why don’t I have a clear plan?
   Because I haven’t taken the time to create one.
   Why haven’t I taken the time?
   Because I’ve been prioritizing other tasks that feel more clear to me.
   Why have I been prioritizing other tasks?
   Because I feel lost on exactly what steps to take, and I’m afraid my book won’t be good enough anyway…”

4. Find the root cause.

   “I’m feeling lost, and afraid that I’m not good enough to do this.”

5. Create a plan.

   “I could block out 30 minutes every day to work on my book—whether that time is spent actually writing the book, or researching resources that could teach me what to do.”

Like we discussed in last week’s article, when you’re really trying to improve your life, you can either ask questions or tell stories.

It doesn’t matter if you were right…
or if you failed…
or what your reasons were.

It only matters how you want to move forward from here.

Start with the 5 Whys.

If you’re committed to
working for yourself
AND progressing in fitness,
we’ve just launched our inspired idiots community
to help people like you
network and figure out
exactly how to actually make that happen.