Email from an online business tool: “Next week, things are going to look and feel different [on our site].”
My response: “I hope that means you’re fixing your customer experience issues, not just prettying up the brand. Fix the car before you paint it.”
How often do we try to cover up the blemishes in our own lives with solutions like these?
- I’m drinking too much, guess I’ll lay off the hard stuff and stick with beer
- We’re fighting too much, let’s try not talking at all
- I hate my work, if only I could find a job that pays more money
Take a few minutes today to consider this one question: “What personal problem or roadblock am I trying to cover up instead of fix?”
Fix the Car Before You Paint It – Hypertension and Cholesterol
For the past several years, I’ve been taking a “blood pressure pill” daily. Worse yet, the doc says I should add a “cholesterol pill” into the mix. That’s a problem, you see, because I don’t like the idea of painting the car instead of fixing it.
“Doc, isn’t there something I can do with diet and exercise that would help?”
“No. This is all about heredity. You must play the cards you’re dealt.”
So, I’ve been taking the blood pressure pills, but I’m bucking hard against the statin drugs for cholesterol.
Last year, I experienced some remarkable success with an eating plan I developed. Then came the holidays, and I got off track. For awhile, I was off the blood pressure medication altogether (the doctor was amazed). But it wasn’t sustainable.
Rather than paint the car, though … I’m working on a repair. I’ve re-grouped, I’m back on the plan, and I’m hoping to duplicate the results.
LISTEN UP: I’m not saying you should stop taking your medications. This is about me and my car. I can’t drive two cars at once. You are in charge of your own. I do urge, you, though, to consider the core of this idea and ask yourself that one critical question: What am I trying to cover up that I should be dealing with instead?
Roadturn principle: Fix the car before you paint it.
Let’s talk about it …
— Don
Disclaimer: I’m not a psychiatrist. I don’t even play a doctor on TV. I write from my own life experience and observations. I’ve a master’s degree in the humanities, I’m a believer and philosopher, and I’m the author of How to LIVE, a field manual for getting unstuck. I’m not a physician, and I don’t intend to dispense medical advice here. My aim is to share what’s working (and not working) for me.
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