Overcoming Challenges

                                                                                                                     11/05/22

This week we talked about overcoming challenges.  One of the most inspirational talks by Elder Holland "However Long and Hard The Road" gives many examples of hardships and how each challenge was overcome through perseverance, faith, determination, and purpose.  The objective is that we are all faced with challenges in our lives but it is our choice to "act" or "react".  If we understand challenges help us grow and learn we have the ability to embrace them, even when life is hard.  

New strategies I learned this week were from a short clip by Eric Ries, "The Five Whys".  The five whys is another tool that can be utilized in a professional industry or adapted to our personal lives.  The scenario he gives, in my own summation, is as follows:

  1. Why did this problem occur? Technical error? human error? (machine went down)
  2. Why did the engineer put in the wrong code that caused the problem? (he wasn't trained properly)
  3. Why wasn't he trained properly? (manager doesn't believe in training)
  4. Why doesn't the manager believe in training? (he thinks production has to be stopped in order to train)
  5. Why is the manager not able to multitask?
By asking at least 5 whys to any issue, we are able to pinpoint where the errors have occurred and then we can come up with solutions to resolve them.  This allows us to get to the root of the problem, develop good problem solving skills, and can be very helpful in overcoming challenges.  

Every child goes through the "why" stage.  Although it can seem to be quite obnoxious at times, it seems to be a natural process to learning.  Even our Heavenly Father wants us to Seek, Knock, and Ask for the answers we need to fulfill our purpose and return to him.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Honesty & Business Ethics

  9/29/2022            This week's lesson focused on honesty and business ethics.  There were two key objectives I would really like to implement in my personal life.  The first was from Elder Robbins BYU devotional "Making a living and a Life".  The main objective in his talk was to "focus on what's important to the Lord".  If we do this in every area of our life, everything else falls in place.  This doesn't mean there will not be challenges or trials, but if we are focused on this one idea, it will be easier to endure.  He goes on to say to the easiest way to do this is to have your primary motivation be the "love of God and your fellow man" and your secondary "income".  By doing this we can keep our lives on the "A-level".  This requires three life applications:  building his kingdom and strong valiant families honest dealings with fellow men and use our talents for serving others filling your life ...
Read more

Deconstructing Your Fears

 10/7/22            This week's lesson was about deconstructing our fears.  I tend to avoid "facing my fears".  I do not like being afraid.  It makes me feel inadequate, shameful, and embarrassed.  I suppose one of my biggest fears is being vulnerable.  My experience has been when I am vulnerable I open myself up to hurt, disappointment, and many other feelings of displeasure.  I haven't learned how to embrace these feelings.  Instead, I clam up, shut down, and retreat.  I know I am not the only person who has experienced this.  What I have learned from this experience, is the necessity of  embracing displeasures in life.  This is how we learn and grow.  The Lord teaches us that there is opposition in all things.  I know this, yet I still struggle with it.  I have been blessed with the gospel and I am implementing new tools I have been given through this learning experience.  My...
Read more

Creating a Life of Meaning

9/24/2022 Much like Randy Pausch, I have always been a dreamer and had quite an imagination as a child.  Many times, others would scoff at me as if to say, “yeah, right”.  I used to let this bother me and hold me back, but through life experiences and age, I have learned it is okay to dream, “as a matter of fact, dream big, and then make it happen!” Pausch’s last lecture inspired me to keep pushing, especially when hitting brick walls.  He learned very early that brick walls were not put there to keep us out, but to challenge us to see how bad we want something.  He says, “experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want”.  His positive attitude and perspective on life is what I believe drove him to success in achieving his childhood dreams. One childhood dream I had was to become a criminal attorney.  Looking back now, I realized this was a dream my grandfather wished for me rather than my dream.  I also realized my core values and be...
Read more