Your Business Can Only Grow to the Level of Problems You Can Solve

Mar 20

A few weeks ago, I was having one of those mornings. Two big things hit me back to back, and I could feel myself spiraling. Someone had said something unkind about me online. And then, right on the heels of that, scammers impersonated our business and sent emails to our clients using our logo, our website, all of it. I dropped my daughter off at school and drove to the health club in a full-on grumpy, reactive fog.

And then a fox ran across the road in front of my car.

It stopped me cold. I grabbed my phone at the next red light and typed in, "what does it mean when a fox runs in front of you?" The answer: creative problem solving. Wit and flexibility. The universe, God, whatever you believe in, sent me a message at exactly the right moment. Because I was about to walk into that health club ready to fight a bunch of invisible people.

That moment is what this episode is really about.

Why We React Before We Think

When a problem lands in your lap, especially one that involves another person, your nervous system fires before your brain can catch up. It cannot tell the difference between a threat to your safety and a bad Google review. The stress response is the same. Your strategic thinking, your emotional regulation, your ability to problem-solve at a high level, all of it goes offline.

So what you're left with is a caveman mentality trying to run a business. And you cannot build something sustainable from that place.

You've probably experienced this. Someone emails you something frustrating and you type a response immediately, then think better of it and sit on it. A day later, the fire is gone. You either don't need to send it at all, or you can finally write it from a calm, clear place. That's your nervous system coming back online. That's where real problem solving lives.

The One Thing You Need to Hear About Your Business

Your business can only grow to the level of the problems you can handle.

I want you to sit with that for a second. If a parent doesn't follow up after an inquiry and you spiral, if a bad review sends you into a Facebook meltdown, if a staff member gives two weeks notice and it feels like a breakup, those are the limits of your growth. Not because you're weak or unprofessional, but because you don't yet have the capacity to handle those problems calmly and strategically.

Business is solving problems. That's the whole job. If you're in reaction mode putting out fires, you're staying small because it's all you can handle. The bigger your business grows, the bigger the problems get. Building the capacity to handle them well is what makes space for actual growth.

Is This Happening To You or For You?

The first shift I always come back to when a problem shows up is this question: Is this happening to me, or is this happening for me?

The mean comment online? My gut said, this is happening to me. Someone is attacking me. But after the fox moment, I got honest with myself. One of my biggest fears has always been that people will say things about me behind my back. That fear kept me small for a long time. It made me hide my opinions, water down my message, stay quiet on things I actually care about. And that comment? It taught me that someone can say something mean about me, not like me, and I am still okay. I survived it. I'm still here, still showing up.

Every problem in my business that felt personal at first turned out to be for me. A conflict with a client taught me to tighten my contracts. A difficult situation with a team member helped me build better systems. The problems I faced early on are the reason our business runs the way it does today.

Solving from the Future

When a problem feels too big to think through clearly, I use this: I step three to six months into the future to a version of myself where the problem is already solved. And I ask, how did I do it? What did I actually do?

This sounds simple, but it works because you're stepping out of the emotional pressure of the moment. When we're in the thick of it, our options feel narrow. We feel like there's only one way out, or no way at all. But when you project yourself forward and look back, your brain opens up. The brainstorming that happens from that future vantage point is different. It's more creative, more strategic, more useful.

I've had moments in this business where new inquiries dropped significantly and revenue took a hit. My first instinct is always panic. That's biology, and there's no shame in it. But I've learned to give myself the space first. Sometimes I go for a walk. Sometimes I lay on my office floor and stare at the ceiling. Whatever it takes to let the nervous system calm down before I try to solve anything.

Not Every Problem Needs to Be Solved

This one might be the most freeing thing I can tell you. We carry this unspoken assumption that every problem deserves our attention and a resolution. But that's not true.

Some problems are redirections. Some are lessons. And some don't need a response at all.

Think about a bad review. Who made the rule that you have to respond to it? Nobody. There is no rule. We invented that expectation ourselves. And with it comes a lot of unnecessary suffering, because most of the pain around a problem isn't the problem itself. It's the belief that we have to respond, and respond in a very specific way.

There is real power in saying, I'm going to let that go. I know what actually happened. I know how I handled it. That has nothing to do with me, and I'm moving on.

Being silent doesn't mean you're weak. Sometimes walking away from something, not giving it your energy, not needing to have the last word, that's the more powerful choice. I've been in business for ten years. There have been conflicts. There have been hard situations. And the ones I let go of without a fight are the ones that cost me the least.

Changing the Level of Thinking

Einstein said we cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them. That quote sat with me that morning in traffic, and it's the thing I keep coming back to.

Reactive thinking is low-level thinking. It's instinct, not strategy. To actually move through a problem and come out the other side with a better business and a better version of yourself, you have to shift the thinking. Ask different questions. Stop asking why this is happening to you and start asking what it's doing for you. Step into the future. Get creative. Challenge the assumption that you even need to solve it.

That's how you grow. That's how your business grows. Not by avoiding problems, but by becoming the kind of person who can handle them well.

The Fox Was for You Too

My hope for this episode is that it works the way that fox worked for me. Something to stop you mid-spiral and remind you to get curious instead of reactive.

Whatever is sitting on your plate right now, big or small, ask yourself: Does this need to be solved? Is this happening to me or for me? And if it does need my attention, what would it look like to approach it from a calmer, more creative place?

You don't have to have a dog in every fight. You don't have to solve every problem. And you don't have to react from the same place that created the situation. That shift alone is what creates room to grow.