Gravity is a fact. It’s heaviness. It’s weight. It’s not something we can change, it just is. In Designing Your Life, Bill Burnett talks all about “gravity problems”. The things, the situations, the circumstances, the conditions, the facts of life that are not actionable.
How much of our days do we spend stuck on gravity problems?
Things like…
- Our boss’ attitude.
- Other people’s perceptions on how you live your life.
- A friend who treated us unfairly.
These are conditions we cannot change. And because we can’t change them, they aren’t actually problems. They are just facts.
Differentiating gravity problems, or more accurately, accepting gravity problems as gravity problems (aka facts) frees us to actually start figuring out alternatives, workarounds, creative solutions that we can take action on. That’s how we get unstuck – we accept what is, so we can focus on what we want to create.
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Bill Burnett talks all about gravity problems and getting unstuck on The Hidden Brain. Highly recommended.