Any time you have a problem, there are always at least 5 ways to solve it.

Real life example from yours truly: My daughter has been missing the bus about 50% of mornings lately.

If I’m annoyed by this (I am), I can start by listing 5 things I could do to solve it. Start with the least and most dramatic options.

Least: She could miss the bus, and I could take her to school and continue to be annoyed. (Yes, the least dramatic option is essentially do nothing.)

Most: Tell her that if she misses the bus, she has to ride her bike to school or walk. (These options would be sooooo embarrassing to her.)

Now we have options 1 and 5. Let’s brainstorm some middle ground:

I can do nothing and continue to be annoyed when I have to drive her to school.
I can decide to not be annoyed when she does miss the bus and enjoy the extra time with her.
I can offer to just drive her every day so we don’t have to factor in the bus at all.
I can punish her if she misses the bus (for example, take away her phone).
I can force her to get herself to school on her own if she misses the bus.

I could think of 5 more things, too. The important thing here is to write down every possible option, even the ones you know don’t want to do. It reminds you what your options are, and that you always have choices.

Guess which option I’m going with?

Where can you use this List Five tactic to a solve an annoyance in your life?

AND ALSO….

I'm doing a fun new series on my podcast where I share and summarize my fave self-improvement books. Check out the first episode here!

If you've got a book that you think I should review, let me know! You can comment on this IG post.

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If there was a problem, yo, I'll solve it