You’re facing a problem right now - ask why

A simple tip I received from a family member, who is a coach, is to ask "why?" five times.

"Why?" you might ask.

To get to the root of a problem.

"Why?" you ask again.

To truly understand what’s happening.

"Why?" you repeat once more.

So we can address the problem.

"Why?" you almost infuriate me.

To achieve a better outcome than the current problem.

"Why?" - at this point, steam is coming out of my head.

Because I want to improve if I can!

It’s not just the final answer that provides a response to your question; it’s each of the above.

An unanswered question you have is also just a problem.

The saying that it’s “about the journey, not the destination” holds true here.

From the above example, you can develop an action plan, consider things you need to think more about, identify flaws in your initial assumptions, and much more.

You could shuffle any of the answers around, and the responses and order would still make plenty of sense.

When we confront challenging our own thoughts, rather than seeking a one-dimensional answer externally, we open ourselves up to a frontier of possibilities.

We should strive to keep our minds engaged across as many aspects of a problem as possible before zoning in.

If we imagine our problem as a metal cube sitting on a table, and someone says, “solve this problem,” what would we do?

Depending on our experience, we might initially determine if it’s a Rubik’s Cube. But even if it is, that’s not enough. We’d need to ensure it has an equal number of colors on each side and the ability to rotate.

We might spend all that time solving the actual Rubik’s Cube, only to reach a moment where we say, “Ta-da! Done!"—and then the person says, “The problem was to see if you could understand that this was a Rubik’s Cube.”

The point of the above example and the "why" question is that we need as much information as possible about our problems.

We also need an equal amount of information about our reasoning for wanting to address something as a problem.

Examining the individual layers between the deductive questions exposes our thought process to more surface area.

It can help us comprehend our reasoning, constraints, and limitations.

By having a broader surface area to contemplate a problem, rather than an extremely one-dimensional problem statement or question, we enhance our potential to use creative thinking in connecting different parts of our brains and memory (neuron connections) to generate more novel ideas, solutions, and thoughts.

Questioning yourself and others is as much about reaching an answer as realizing that there might not be a straightforward one.

The next time you encounter a problem repeatedly ask yourself "why".

You’ll become accustomed to shifting from problem identification mode to problem-solving mode, which gradually becomes simpler over time.

This is also exceptionally useful when you feel paralyzed to take action.

Ask yourself why you read this article. 5 times, to start.