What's the problem?!

You're listening to A Little Bit Better, a podcast about how breaking goals into small steps can lead to big results. I'm your host, Chris Swell, a life and health coach. Let's get started.

Today we're looking at why quick fixes don't usually work and how we often spend our energy controlling symptoms rather than handling the root problem. So what's the problem? Exactly. You might be thinking that answer doesn't make sense, Chris. Well, listen up. The problem is that when we have a problem, we don't always know what the problem actually is. We often think we know. We think it's this one thing, the thing that's presenting or shouting the loudest to us, when really that one thing is just an indication of a different or bigger or the real problem.

The tendency in medicine and really anywhere in general is to go for the quick fix or the obvious fix, to focus on the loudest, most presenting symptom. This is often referred to as the band-aid solution, and it isn't actually a solution at all. When we have an issue—whether it's physical health, mental health, a relationship, our environment, work, home, or any other type of challenge—the common approach is to look at an obvious patch instead of considering if and what the larger issue might be and working to resolve that.