Your Problem-Solving Brain Is The Problem

20 years of corporate life trained me to do one thing brilliantly: hear a problem, solve it, move on.

With a blend of decent critical thinking + a loud mouth, I could fix things before the meeting was over. That skill built my career.

It is also, it turns out, the single most counterproductive thing I do to myself.

I found this out the hard way when I started coaching.

2 decades of being paid decent money to solve problems all day means it’s really hard to stop wearing the problem-solver hat. Someone would come to me with something they were struggling with and my brain was already 3 solutions deep before they’d finished talking.

And it’s not just coaching.

A friend calls because they’re going through something and I go straight into what worked for me, what I’d do, what I read.

If I’m being honest, I tend to love talking about myself…. and I have a whole newsletter about it, in case you hadn’t noticed.

It comes from a good place, I swear! Ok maybe with a dash of self-centeredness.

But coaching made me realise something uncomfortable: my clients don’t actually want to be told whatto do. That’sthe whole point. And you probably don’t either.

If being told what to do worked, we’d all be super fit, sleeping 8 hours a night, and running wildly successful businesses by now.

That urge to fix, the one where you hear a problem and immediately go for the solution, has a name. And psychologists have been studying it for over 40 years.

And it’s terrible.

Why You Can't Tell If You're Hungry, Tired, or Anxious Episode #45: 'Listen to your body' assumes a skill nobody taught you. Interoception is how you read your own signals. Plus the 60-second check-in that rebuilds it. 🎧 Listen Now

Hey! I'm Noemie Wellbeing by Design for burned-out overachievers allergic to self-help BS. Evidence-based habits, mindset shifts and real talk from a Former Queen of Bad Habits. No toxic trends or wellness hustle, just science, soul, and a little bit of chaos ⚡️ Did someone forward you this email? ​ ​Subscribe here​

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