Solving Challenges

Confession time. It took me 40 years to solve a Rubix cube. Now, in reality, I didn't spend 40 years trying to solve it. It actually took me a couple of hours once I had someone teach me how to solve it. The combination of practice and manageable steps helped me achieve my goal of finally solving this famous puzzle. It always intrigued me as a test of your intelligence. Those who can solve it are geniuses and those who can't are just average people. I've always seen myself as a problem solver but this problem was more complex than I anticipated. That was until I understood the fundamental moves to solve a Rubix cube. Now, for the most part, I can go through the 7 steps to solve a cube and even see when I've made a mistake, identify if I can skip steps, and potentially solve it within a few minutes.

Taking on this new challenge was very frustrating. I've gotten so used to being able to figure things out easily that when a difficult challenge came along I found myself in the role of a student again. It reminded me that I need to seek out things that challenge myself and look for ways to learn from others. It is not outside of the realm of possibility that I could have figured it out on my own but it may have taken all 40 years for me to do it. I believe we all know that we should keep learning and seek out teachers and mentors, but how often are we putting ourselves in those situations. They say outside of your comfort zone is where the magic happens and I think we can all agree that we love the results once we've accomplished it. But how often are we seeking out the boundaries of our comfort zone and really finding things that stretch us into uncomfortability? This little cube reminded me that to solve problems and grow you have to push yourself beyond what you think you are capable of, seek guidance, and be teachable. Preserver and you can solve any challenge.