Kay:

Hey, hey there Questers and welcome back. Today is Monday, September 13th and this is episode 441. We have a Tony Robbins quote for you today, and it is such a good one packed full of wisdom and he says, “Every problem is a gift; without problems, we would not grow.”

Shi:

It seems so one-dimensional to read it like this. Now, when you are immersed in a Tony Robbins event and he is teaching this lesson, by the time you get to this powerhouse idea and breakthrough there’s so much build-up to it that literally, the room will gasp at a quote like this because the realization is so stark. Because he talks about who has problems in here and who has headaches and who has fires and challenges and struggles and everybody raises their hand. Then he says who wishes they didn’t have those and of course, everybody raises their hands, and he says, look, without problems, you’re dead. Everybody has problems and it’s not about trying to defeat the problem. It’s about understanding them and it’s about knowing that if you want to go to the next level, the next level is going to come with next-level problems. So, you’ve got to grow into those, and you do that through problem-solving which ends up being the gift. So, you get to this quote, “Every problem is a gift; without problems, we would not grow.”

Kay:

Right. Well, humans are literally problem-solving machines. Our brains are designed to checkboxes, close loops, follow up on things, and feel a sense of completion. So, every time that you’re awarded a problem in life, it’s really this kind of opportunity that you get to do the right thing or step up or learn something new or tackle something you’ve never tried before. This little perspective shift can be a really big energy saver, lifesaver, and emotion saver because sometimes the problems feel endless.

Shi:

They do. We found that really the behavior behind the perspective shift is a language shift that can help you the most and you just heard Kay do it. The problems turn into opportunities and they’re really opportunities in disguise. Making a language flip like that science supports, neuroscience supports, studies support, research support, all of this shows that language is the expression of culture and language is how we express our emotions and language is how we understand ourselves internally. Language is one of the easiest behavior shifts we can make in order to have that perspective shift come out of the mentality and the intellectual understanding and into our hearts and our emotions and our true believing.

Kay:

So, as you’re seeking to really embody this idea that problems are gifts, problems are growth opportunities, find the times in your life where you do maybe label something a problem. Don’t worry, we’ve got a quest for you at the end, but this is really important because in so many areas of our life we can look at problems and there are so many opportunities in our life for growth that problems stack to the point of overwhelm. It happens to many of us.

Shi:

Including us.

Kay:

Including us. You’ve got a problem in your family life, a problem in your health, a problem in your relationship. You’ve got all these problems and they stack but if you can start seeing them as opportunities and you as a natural human vessel as an embodied problem solver, literally your brain chemistry is set up to solve problems. You’re rewarded with dopamine when you do it. So being able to step into that just gives you more power.

Shi:

It does, and it gives you more ability to be creative, which is probably one of the secret weapons of humanity and the biological computer that you’re equipped with to be able to be creative, to look at things in a really radically different way, to approach something completely new that can give you a new result and this is how we advance, and this is how we grow. But those problems can stack, and Chad always says to the kids it’s not one of you individually asking questions but when all three are asking questions and having needs it stacks, and it becomes to that point of need of feeling that overwhelms or feeling that frustration and thinking, oh, I just wish I didn’t have all these problems or all these requests or all these complaints or all these challenges. If we can shift into that, okay, I might not necessarily enjoy the feeling and the tension, but I can appreciate the fact that I know this is an opportunity and I can rise to the occasion, which will give me that ding, ding, ding, dopamine and make me feel better in the end. So, to remind you of what Tony Robbins says, “Every problem is a gift; without problems, we would not grow.”

Shi:

So today is National Positive Thinking Day. So, we want you guys to join us in the problem to opportunity flip. Wherever today you find yourself using the word problem or challenge or unexpected difficulty change that out for the language of opportunity and see how it changes your attitude. Are you ready? Flip it with us now?

Kay & Shi:

Let’s quest!