I originally heard this from Marie Forleo. It wasn’t something that I questioned, as much as I felt a connection to the message. Intuitively, I have always believed that if someone wants to figure something out, she can. When I was listening to Marie share this belief, I found myself thinking:
Yes. I absolutely agree. Everything is Figureoutable.
The only thing stopping you from taking action isn’t that you lack the skill or the resources. It really just comes down to mindset. This doesn’t mean that you “get” whatever you want. There is no easy button, but it can be figured out.
I remember a couple of years back when I spoke at a board meeting for a local non-profit organization. They were struggling to take their efforts to the next level — make more money, serve more people, make a bigger difference. There was a sense of disconnect that they couldn’t seem to figure out. Suggestion after suggestion that I made was met with,
“Yeah, but how? How do we do that? How do we find the right people? How do we connect with people who would want to join our board? How do we keep the connection between the students we serve and the future of our organization?”
I didn’t have the answers, and I found myself feeling frustrated that I couldn’t help them. And, then, I realized, they aren’t trying to figure it out. They are stuck in the problem, with no belief that they can do it. They thought I should be able to help them, but unless they decide they can figure it out, there’s not much of a chance that they will do anything about the problem they are scratching their heads about. I hope they can take that first, necessary step and begin to solve the problem with the attitude that they are capable of figuring it out.
How do you figure out the answers to the deepest rooted issues facing your life, business, organization? You decide you will figure it out, and then you set about to do what needs to be done to figure it out.
You start with the attitude that everything is figureoutable, and then you figure it out.
One thing is certain. You won’t figure it out thinking you don’t know how to figure it out. You have to move, iterate, test, and try some thing(s) differently. Whatever you try that doesn’t work gets you one step closer to finding something that will.
First, decide it is figureoutable. If you want to blog, figure it out. If you want to grow your business with social media, figure it out. If you want to run successful Facebook ads, figure it out. If you want to lose weight, figure it out. If you want to learn how to do something new, figure it out.
Sure, there are a lot of things that you won’t need to figure out, because you aren’t the person who should be doing the figuring out. Sometimes, it makes more sense to figure out who the best person to figure it out would be — not you. Does it make sense for you to figure out how to change the oil, or replace the brakes on your car? Does it make sense for you to figure out how to build a website, or learn graphic design? It still needs to be done, and someone is going to need to figure it out in order for the goals to be met.
Hiring someone to figure it is figuring it out!
When we look at the future — figuring it out means being smart, and making the best use of our time. Just because you can’t figure it out yourself doesn’t mean it doesn’t need to be done — it simply means you need to figure out a way to get it done.
You get to choose, but whichever choice you make, remember this:
Everything is figureoutable. As soon as you decide.
