No one right answer

I have a book full of puzzles and every now and then I have a go off solving one of them.

What’s great about this book is that if ever I am unsure if I’m right or wrong I can simply check the back of the book and I have my resolution. My attempt was right or wrong, confusion over, doubt removed.

The thing is not every problem has a book with answers to consult.

Problems and decisions based on freedom are a completely different beast.

Problems such as what to do with my life has infinite possibilities and no one right answer.

Answers to these questions come with no reassurance that you are right or wrong.

This vast amount of choice can be paralyzing but it is the price of freedom.

The biggest issue I see with answering questions like these is avoidance. The problem is too difficult to sit and grapple with so we distract ourselves, either consciously or unconsciously, to avoid answering it.

So if you can concentrate on the problem, lean into it and wrestle with it you’re on your way to finding the answer. (A quiet solitary place with a pen paper I find is a good way to do it).

PS: When contemplating your potential answers a great phrase to repeat to yourself that I heard from Seth godin is:

“This might work, this might not work”.

This phrase acknowledges that failure is a possibility and you’re ok with that, you’re taking your best stab at it.