Course 3: PL 102 - Problems (Discussion 4)

@GlenM

1. What are 3 key points from Chapter 4 that stand out to you.

1. It does not work long term to ignore problems, they have to be faced or we have to carry the burden for the rest of our lives.

2. Problems are gifts, they break down denial, force us us to face situations and change what needs changing, become stronger

3. Problems teach us compassion, they teach us to walk in other people’s shoes, force us to reach out and make us vulnerable, reach out

Problems are there to help us become better people.

In your own words, please identify and describe the 3 key components he outlined in the video.

Perception/Action/Will

Perception is the designer of my world. Depending on what kind of story I add to it, my world will either be more positive or more negative. If I perceive a problem as negative or as a punishment I feel bad and might not do anything at all.

if I see it simply as a situation which needs a solution I will feel motivated to explore ways to find a solution, become creative and persistent = taking action

Will - Willingly accept what can be changed and what not, understand that I am part of a whole and not an island on it’s own, that there are things bigger than us. With this understanding we build inner strength.

1. How problems help you level up, how going through problems makes you more compassionate and empathetic and problems are gifts!

2.Perception, Action and will!

@GlenM

1. Three key points from Chapter 4 :

-- Problems disrupt and stop our denial. At some point, problems become so intense that we can no longer ignore them. They break from their imprisonment in the Unconscious and make themselves fully present in our lives.

-- Problems release us from the distraction systems. They follow us wherever we go, they will bother us, they will break havoc in our lives, and, until we have taken care of them, they will not let us live in peace.

-- Problems teach us to ask for help and to be Humble. To acknowledge we are not omnipotent, we have limits in what we can do alone. We can’t solve the most important problems of our lives alone. We need someone to help us. This requires that we open up to this person. This makes us vulnerable. This process eventually teaches us how to care for other people.

2. The Stoic Discipline of Perception, Action, and Will

1 – Perception: How we conceptualize the problems that happen to us in our life, that appear randomly, without our control. We should see and think of them not as mere obstacles, but as Challenges and Opportunities to grow and create something new

2 – Action: How we Respond to what happens to us, using our human capabilities of intelligence, creativity, and persistence to address and try to solve the problem. This is the way we control how we respond to what happens to us.

3 – Will: How we Grow by confronting and solving problems. We build a strength inside ourselves, by the sequential confronting and proactively dealing with the problems that we face in our lives. This becomes an internal system for dealing with new future problems. By growing our Will we increase our capacity to deal with greater and greater problems in better and better ways.

@GlenM

1.) Problems are a gift

2.) We can't run away from the deep lessons life is trying to teach us because they're being disguised as painful problems

3.) We do not grow when things are going well

1.) Perception - change the way you see the problem, and it changes the way you respond to it

2.) Action - respond to the problem in a postive manner, and do what you can to fix it

3.) Will - understanding ourselves and what we are and are not capable of

1.

Problems teaches compassion for oneself and for others. Growth is a part of confronting and solving problems. Problems teaches us how to ask for help when encountering other difficulties, it is a great teacher and it is a part of self improvement.

2.

Perception -The way we understand and make sense of the world.

Action- What we do in response to our perception.

Will- What we cannot control.

@GlenM

1. problems help us level up, problems teach us to open up and care and problems break us out of distraction systems.

2. Perception: if you decide to see the problem as horrible, unfair or insurmountable it'll be those things. However, if you tell yourself that this thing is what it is but that you can do something about it, then you'll be able to see through it.
Action: to respond to it with creativity, persistence and ingenuity.
Will: looking at the parts that we can't control, like the fact that we'll one day die, that people might try to hurt us and that we won't always be prepared for it, so we can work on building that inner fortune and strength that's understanding that there has to be causes bigger than us and loving that what happened even if it was bad.

What are 3 key points from Chapter 4 that stand out to you. Please post them in this thread.

1) Problems are valuable. While the Aunt Maggie metaphor had a few issues with it (*sighs* these days I am legit finding all these loopholes in stories ahaha), and might not exactly be exact metaphor to problems, I do agree that problems could be valuable.

2) Problems teach you to ask for help. With a build up of problems, I suppose in some cases it does let us/force us to reach out for help more so than when there are no problems.

3) We grow together as a society. I actually like this one, and it is also slightly related to the second point because it reminds us that we are growing together not individually, and more of as a society/community.

Side note: None of my 3 key points included breaking down denial or breaking out of a distraction system because while some people may be more motivated to act because of all the build up problems that keep haunting them, I personally feel like sometimes the more problems and the more these problems never leave us alone, some of us might fall deeper into denial and deeper into the distraction system.

Watch this overview video by Ryan Holiday on his book the Obstacle is the way.. In your own words, please identify and describe the 3 key components he outlined in the video.

1) Perception: Our (perception ahaha) way of viewing a problem. Some people might view a problem as a chance to grow and as an opportunity while others might view a problem as a setback and something that hinders growth.

2) Action: Our reaction and solution to the problem. Some people might actively not think about it while others might actively think of a solution and use their abilities to figure out the problem.

3) Will: Our understanding that there are many things we cannot control. It is really about acknowledging that there are many things that are out of our reach, and we could take this time to build ourselves!

1Self, us currently and the building of a culture.

2: Perception at how we look at the problem, action what are we are going to do about problem, and the will that the outer world will try to stop what we are doing.

1. What are 3 key points from Chapter 4 that stand out to you. Please post them in this thread.

- Problems are important

- We grow when we solve problems

- Problems teach compassion

2. Watch this overview video by Ryan Holiday on his book the Obstacle is the way.. In your own words, please identify and describe the 3 key components he outlined in the video.

- Perception - we can view a problem as something to overcome, an opportunity to achieve something

- Action - how we respond to an obstacle

- Will - there are things bigger than us, that we cannot control, we can think of this as fate.

@GlenM

1. What are 3 key points from Chapter 4 that stand out to you. Please post them in this thread.

As exhausting as it is, dealing with problems headfirst is the best thing you can do.

Problems teach you in engage in help seeking behaviour.

Problems help you become more sensitive when other people need help or assistance. And you are able to offer this help wholeheartedly.

2. Watch this overview video by Ryan Holiday on his book the Obstacle is the way.. In your own words, please identify and describe the 3 key components he outlined in the video.

Perception- how we comprehend and view our environment

Action- our unique response to tackle a problem.

Will- our ability to understand and accept the factors out of our control