Lessons from the Garden: Identifying the Problem

What if you aren’t the problem, but your tool is?

Last fall I was planting some bulbs in the back yard. I started out with a bulb planting tool, which makes it very easy to get the whole the right depth for the particular bulb. But I kept hitting rocks and the ‘right’ tool wasn’t working. I walked back and forth to our shed three or four times to get different tools in the attempt to plant those daffodils.
What struck me about this process is that I wasn’t mad at myself when the bulb planter didn’t work. I knew we had rocky soil and just kept looking for the tool that would help.

When engaged in these hobby activities, I’m usually able to have this kind of reaction to obstacles. But for some reason, in my professional life, if there’s an obstacle, I assume that I’m the problem instead of setting down whatever tool I was using and looking for another one.

I bet this kind of limiting belief and action is not something unique to me. Do you struggle to set down the thing that isn’t working or internalize the tool’s failure? I’d love to hear how you’re pushing past it and what helps you get out of that pattern.

(Pictured -some in progress images plus all the tools I needed to pull out to dig a few holes 🪴😁)