Tear Apart Complicated Problems

You decide to start your own t-shirt business. You get excited about working for yourself and making a lot of money. So you decide to take the plunge.

You then wonder, "What do I do first?" You suddenly feel fearful and confused.

You ask a few friends, "I want to start my own t-shirt business. What do I do first?" and they give you several different answers.

You ask a lawyer who tells you that you need to fill out a lot of forms and pay him $2500. Your accountant says the same thing.

You decide to study up on the subject. You check out Amazon.com bookstore and find over 300 books on starting businesses. You call your local college, but find they don't have a class on starting a business.

The more you research the subject, the more confused you feel. You feel like giving up on the idea.

Why?

"THE DEGREE OF COMPLEXITY IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE DEGREE OF NONCONFRONT." -- L. Ron Hubbard

If you can't face something, it gets complicated. It scares you, confuses you, upsets you. Your inability to confront the problem makes it complex.

Starting a business gives you stress. It makes you nervous. Because you cannot confront every part of it, it seems to complicated.

As another example, Pete wants a girlfriend, but every time he talks to a woman, he looks at his feet, sweats and stammers. He is terrified of women. His nonconfront is a big problem. Simply chatting with a woman seems very confusing to Pete.

So he decides to face his fear of talking to women. He starts talking to any female he can. He talks to his sister, an older woman in a store, the librarian, a few of his female coworkers and his friend's wife.

Sooner or later Pete realizes women are just people and not out to hurt him. He enjoys chatting and laughing with them. As soon as he can confront women, finding a girlfriend seems easy to Pete.

"THE DEGREE OF SIMPLICITY IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE DEGREE OF CONFRONT." -- L. Ron Hubbard
People who can take on complicated subjects are not afraid of them. For example, your roof leaks. To you, it's complicated: Which shingle should I remove? How do you remove shingles? Where do you buy new shingles?

But to a professional roofer, the problem is simple. You watch him fix the roof. By watching the process, you confront it. He pulls a few nails, digs out the bad shingles and installs the new ones. Simple!
How to Take Apart Problems

"To take apart a problem requires only to establish what one could not or would not confront." -- L. Ron Hubbard

All you need to do is figure out exactly what you cannot confront and you slice apart the problem.

For example, you want to start the t-shirt business. But instead of swimming in the confusion, or hiring someone to confront it for you, you ask yourself this question:

"What about this problem is difficult for me to face? What can't I confront about it?" You write down five things you can't confront.

1. Signing a long-term store space lease is scary.
2. T-shirt manufacturers seem like mean people.
3. What if the banker laughs at my loan application?
4. I'm afraid I'll hire bad employees.
5. My advertising ideas might make me look stupid.

Just making the list makes you feel better. Starting a business appears less chaotic. Then, you confront each individual item on your list.

You ask dozens of questions about leasing store space. You use a dictionary to figure out every paragraph of the lease. You change a section so you can cancel the lease, if necessary.

Next, you meet with a few t-shirt manufacturers. You discover they are very nice people.

You meet with a banker. You interview a few potential employees. You find out the kind of advertising you need to attract customers.

After facing all five items on your list, you realize it's not hard to make a t-shirt business succeed!
Solve Any Problem

What are the problems you face on your road to success? What seems too complicated?

Take this solution even further. What is complicated about life? Business? Law? Marriage? Politics? Death? What causes complications in this world? Nonconfront.

Take each problem apart by establishing what you can't confront. Write down everything that makes you afraid, anxious or angry. Everything about the problem that is difficult for you to face.

Then confront each piece. Get in there and deal with it. Persist until you can comfortably face each part of the confusion.

If a piece of the puzzle seems too big or complex, break it down as well.

Eventually, through courage, you solve the complexity.

Success, and life itself, becomes simple!