THE SOLVED SYSTEM
ASK. BELIEVE. CHOOSE. DO
Geoffrey Canavan
Copyright Geoffrey Canavan 2011
Published by Time Stop Publications
Smashwords Edition
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INTRODUCTION
You are about to discover the illusive formula for the health, wealth and happiness – in life and in business - we all crave distilled into four simple steps:
Ask. Believe. Choose. Do.
The Solved System™ is a 4-step problem solving process that demonstrates how to quickly and effectively deal with any challenge and achieve lasting success.
This system is powerful, innovative and radical:
A. Ask: What is the real problem?
B. Believe: Nurture your belief in your right to experience the best and in your ability to find a solution.
C. Choose: Make the decision to choose wisely.
D: Do: Take action to move towards your goals.
This basic and practical prescription can be readily applied to any situation or any challenge for immediate results.
The Solved System™ was born out of a 13 part radio show called The Power of Realism broadcast on the VoiceAmerica Business Channel in 2011. Each week, I interviewed key people from the worlds of business, spirituality, technology, finance and the arts about what realism meant to them and how it impacted on their lives and businesses.
The concepts and integrity of the Solved System™ were validated by business leaders - like Patrick Doyle, CEO of Domino’s Pizza – as well as more spiritually focused teachers – like Dr Robert Holden PhD, author and founder of The Happiness Project who has been a regular guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show and also pioneered some of the biggest marketing campaigns worldwide and Stephen Russell, better known as Barefoot Doctor, author, musician and creator of the world's largest Taoist website.
With their permission, excerpts from the invaluable and exclusive wisdom shared by the individuals who contributed to The Power of Realism radio series have been integrated into this book to illustrate and underline the power and simplicity of the Solved System™ for any aspect of life or business.
By applying the Solved System™ to any problem you will immediately define and clarify the root of the problem, strengthen your belief in your ability to handle it, recognize potential solutions and know what to do next.
For example, Patrick Doyle asked about the problem with the perception of Domino’s Pizza. He believed in his company’s ability to address the issue. He made courageous choices and radical changes that actually transformed the ‘problem’ into a huge opportunity.
The consistent and recurring message from people like Dr Robert Holden PhD, Stephen Russell, Patrick Doyle, Brendan Foster, Partner in Grant Thornton, Jerry Flynn, former MD of Sony, Chip Conley of Joie de Vivre, Brian Fenix, Client Principal at Hewlett Packard and more, endorse the concepts that I have been writing and speaking about for many years: facts are your friends, authenticity and integrity are fundamental elements of real success and applying the Solved System™ leads to true success.
This book is divided into sections - ASK, BELIEVE, CHOOSE, DO - and each section ends with a summary of the main points and suggestions for what you can do right now to move your life forward.
It illustrates, in a concise and clear way, that - however you define it - success is an inside job, inherent in, available to and accessible by everybody prepared to look within and use the Solved System™ in every aspect of their lives, work and relationships.
It presents a thought system that is based on decisions made in mind - for it is only in mind that we can make decisions. The world we experience is a projection of what is going on inside our minds. The clearer and more focussed our minds, the clearer and more focussed our decisions will be.
It takes you on a journey that illustrates how you can move from a state of hopelessness and confusion to the point of knowing that you can choose once again and choose better.
In many ways the topic is vast but yet the core of the message is simple: there is always a solution.
The real benefit is in understanding how to fully accept yourself without judgement or blame and how real value is only ever found in your own self-worth.
This is the gentle art of forgiveness that we must all embrace to lead us to sustainable and lasting success - however you define that term.
"The Solved System - Ask • Believe • Choose • Do" gently guides you on a personal voyage of discovery that ultimately leads to the source of everything we can all be, do and have. When we learn to harness the Solved System™ the quest for success reaches the happy and fulfilled conclusion we all deserve.
A. ASK
“Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.”
Tony Robbins
UNDERSTANDING
Understanding yourself is about becoming aware of the reality of your self. This awareness is the first step towards a better life, a better business, a better personal world and ultimately leads to the deep and sustainable happiness we were all born to know.
It has been my experience that most people fail to fully accept the human condition, especially when it comes to understanding themselves.
Understanding yourself is a fundamental step to accessing and implementing the Solved System™ in your life and business. Unless you understand - even in the most basic way - some facet of who you are and what you are you will never appreciate the potential of what you can be.
Understanding and accepting yourself - including your weaknesses, vulnerabilities and past failures - is part of starting the momentum to drive your world onto one platform that works on inclusion and functionality and above all, happiness. It is here we start to unlock the true opportunities for happiness and success. Quite simply, nobody was born into failure and nobody needs to be doomed to unhappiness.
ASK
How much of myself do I see in what I do and how I live?
How much truth and honesty is in that vision?
If you’re already happy with your lot stop reading now. However, for the rest of us, life is an ongoing quest to do better and achieve more happiness in how we live, work and experience life.
At some point we have all asked ‘is there more to life than this?’ That is the frailty of the human experience. Many never find a satisfactory answer and compromise their true identity with the belief that so much of what happens is outside their control. This may come as a surprise, but it’s not!
ASK
How do I access this choice for change mindset that can really and honestly make a difference to the way I live my life?
How do I unlock the brighter future, the better business or the happier relationships?
Asking begins the process of problem solving. What we’re really doing here is getting back in touch with that part of our minds that remembers who we are. It is here we find all that we are and all that we can be. Asking for answers is the first stage of breaking free from a state of limitation, frustration and unfulfilled existence.
FORGIVENESS
It is sometimes far easier to hold ourselves in an identity which only has an understanding and acceptance of human frailty and vulnerability. A lack of personal forgiveness - not making allowances for the fact that we are all human - is a common block to life or business development. More importantly, it is the point that anchors us more than anything else in life. I think it is essential that we remind ourselves regularly of that tried and tested expression ‘I am only human.’
In other words, when something does go wrong - and it will, that is the nature of life - don’t beat yourself up over whatever perception you hold of failure. Instead develop the technique of taking a deep breath, standing back and asking ‘where is the learning opportunity in this situation?’
This is not always the easiest thing to do when you’re caught in the middle of a crisis. It can be the furthest thing from your mind to look for or recognize learning opportunities, but it is essential that we always retain the simplicity of the situation - regardless of what degree of failure we may feel in life, love or business. Remind yourself that a failed relationship or business does not equal a failed person. Even if you struggle with the terminology around ‘understanding yourself’ look at your life with a little openness.
“Whenever we run into trouble it’s because we haven’t really been clear. We haven’t been clear about what’s really real so therefore we haven’t been as authentic as we could have and maybe we haven’t really got clear on what real success and real happiness is.”
DR ROBERT HOLDEN, PhD, Author and founder of The Happiness Project
I think it is a fair assessment to say that if you didn’t want to do better in life or business, if you were not looking for happiness, success, love or solutions of some kind you would not have picked up this book. Now that you’ve become aware of the possibility to improve your life you have already started to ask the better questions that will lead you to the better experience you seek.
FUNCTIONALITY
This is all fine in theory. The real challenge is that on a day to day basis we have to face problems; some are major, some are trivial but nevertheless everyone everyday deals with the stuff of the world.
It’s different for everybody. For some people the thought of doing their daily shopping feels as challenging as climbing Mount Everest does for others. What we have to establish is where we can function and how we can function and then build on our ability to live with a sense of success that has meaning in truth; a life that works, a business that’s successful, a state of mind that finds realism and truth in simplicity and an overriding sense of deep happiness.
“It’s knowing a sense of worth but also knowing a sense of your vulnerabilities so in other words you do understand where other people are coming from too.”
JERRY FLYNN: General manager MSE Group, former M.D. Sony Ireland
It’s a step-by-step process and there is always a learning curve. We all find it hard to make sense of our lives at times.
ASK
What if I had greater control over my journey?
What if I could design the life I want?
What would I change?
What would make me happier?
The real answers come to us in the knowledge that at all times we have to be aware of our personally imposed limitations so that, through a process of examination and questioning, we can turn limitation to limitless expression - all done without beating yourself up.
It starts with being kind to yourself and developing an understanding and awareness of who you are. Now as we focus on that awareness we can actually start to change our experience. We are basically providing ourselves with a vehicle that affords us opportunities to get so much more from our day to day living.
COMPLETION
It is important to realize that sometimes you really need to be gentle with yourself and be prepared to support yourself in the same way you would support anybody going through trials and tribulations.
The fear of living the life you so deserve is a common cause for not finding the happiness you are entitled to. Fear stops the world. The whole purpose of this book is to encourage us to move away from repeatedly finding ourselves in a situation that represents the fear that is failure.
“…there’s a point at which you just have to believe in what you’re doing and you have to have the strength of your convictions…”
PATRICK DOYLE: World President and CEO Domino’s Pizza
By detaching from the fear we increase the momentum of self-belief and true fulfillment. As fear diminishes the self-belief grows. It’s so simple that sometimes it’s hard to believe - but it’s true.
ASK:
What really motivates me to be who I am?
How complete am I within this role?
Don’t be afraid to look at the shortfalls, to look at the inadequacies and the disappointments. It is only by this type of examination that you will begin to see what in truth you can be, as you learn that so often what you have and what you deserve can be very far apart - but need not be.
It’s not always about simply letting go of the fear but it is always about having a genuine awareness of the need to change an old system that can keep you fearful and experiencing lack and has done so for many people for most of their lives.
The time has come to reconcile the account of life and ask the real questions in a way that leads to some real answers. The process doesn’t have to be drudgery and hardship. It can be fun and incredibly rewarding. Deep down in your heart you already know this.
“Actually one of the questions I always like to ask senior executives about their organizations is, if your organization, if your company didn’t exist, who would care – and why?”
CHIP CONLEY: entrepreneur, author and speaker
VALUE
What I’m really saying here is that through the questioning of your own value system you begin to assess how much you value your self and how you measure your self belief. It is self-belief that ultimately brings us across the line.
Always remember that there is nothing more valuable than yourself and there is nothing in the truth of life that you’re not worth. This is something so easily forgotten.
Many people labor in the wrong career, the wrong relationship and the wrong world for years. We can all see this so clearly in other peoples’ lives but yet we have a blind spot when it comes to ourselves. Other peoples’ lives are in black and white whereas ours are in color! In other words, I can see the black, the white, the wrong and the right of everybody else’s life but in my own world the lines of definition are often blurred.
And so the simplicity diminishes in terms of decision making and reasoning as the colors of life merge. As I said earlier, the secret of this process lies in the simplicity. As you start to unravel the awareness of yourself you really do begin to see how simple it truly is. As you apply this principal of value to your life, your relationships, your career or your business the real changes begin.
All good leaders, teachers and achievers have a sense of value around their own decision making. They genuinely believe in the value that their own experience in life has given them and they really understand the essence of the learning process that the journey of life offers. Through this understanding they make what we perceive as great and accurate decisions. Wake up to the fact that this faculty is available to us all if only we can take the time to listen to the simplicity of our own truth.
“…I happen to believe that beneath this guise, this perception of myself there is another knowing that is there within all of us. And it’s only this perception that I have imposed upon myself that blocks me from seeing what’s really there – this other very loving, very peaceful, very joyful place in my mind. And when I stop, when I make myself literally withdraw the habitual judgment that I make about myself and about other people I open my mind to this other awareness that’s there. And that frees me absolutely.”
TOM CARPENTER: author, teacher and founder of The Forgiveness Network
Above all, we must begin to be honest in the understanding and awareness of where we are and where we’ve just come from in life, all done with a real focus on the human nature of who we are.
It is important that we constantly remind ourselves to step into the limelight, not in arrogance or brashness but in the security of your own true value, which is in truth priceless.
TRUTH
You do this by knowing that regardless of what surrounds you or what difficulty you’re in, you are worth more than any challenge you may face. You have to start asking the questions that you may not have yet been ready to ask, knowing that you always have a choice.
“It is very liberating for people ultimately when they decide to confront the reality of what’s there and they get it all out. … I think in the current environment facts are friendly and you can move on with the facts.”
BRENDAN FOSTER: Grant Thornton
The answers will come surprisingly easily if the questions are simple and truthful. It is only when we deviate from simplicity and truth that the questions and answers become difficult. Truthful analysis leads to simply truthful solutions. Don’t be afraid to take ownership of the simplicity and truth that is your life, that is your work and that is your heart.
Awareness and truth go hand in hand. That is why it is important that from the start of the process we have a sense and an awareness of who we are because in the awareness of who we are we can find the limitless nature of what we can be. And this ‘what we can be’ is a solid state with direction and clarity.
This is the real strategy for building happiness, success and the complete you. Not only do you see and feel the change but so too does the world around you and the appeal of who you are becomes more evident to the world.
SIMPLICITY
The human condition resonates at a natural frequency of simplicity and truth. Through awareness and self-belief you return to your most natural state, which is a heartfelt self-respect and a deep sense of happiness that you can apply unreservedly to everything that makes up your world. What you’re really doing is taking the fear out of the truth and putting yourself on a foundation of self-belief and discovery.
The most interesting thing for me has always been the simplicity of these principals and how the world resists the simple. We seem to have developed a real gift of complication and cross complexity. Let’s return to the simple where personal triumph and real happiness spring from a state of mind about how we value and perceive ourselves.
“And once that begins to become nurtured, to become a reality in your mind, then the reflection of that begins to appear in your world and whether it appears as a way to be better at what you do or have a better relationship or simply to be happier your life will change because you have changed the way you see yourself.”
TOM CARPENTER: author, teacher and founder of The Forgiveness Network
REALISM
Tough times sometimes necessitate what appear to be tough decisions. Brendan Foster, senior partner with Grant Thornton, uses the expression ‘facts are friendly’. This is another way of saying that the truth is your ally and ultimately sets you free. For clarity, engagement and direction the truth and the facts are essential.
But there is also a bigger question and answer in that ‘facts are friendly’ statement because, as we seek the truth of who we are and what we could be, we are activating the innate inner confidence that can be reflected to our world in every way.
Within the truth of who you are lies the fact of what you deserve which, quite simply, is the best life you can experience. In starting your journey into self-awareness you begin a mission of looking for and discovering the facts that have forged and formed the identity that is you.
When experts and leaders like Patrick Doyle, Dr Robert Holden and all the others who have contributed to this book, talk about the importance of truth there’s a very good reason for it! Truth sets the parameters for real, meaningful and sound decision making; which are exactly the same parameters that we all need in finding and believing in our happy and successful self.
“… the way that you communicate with consumers has to be different today than it was twenty years ago. It just simply will not work anymore to sit in a room and decide how you want consumers to perceive your brand and then to go out and simply say that over and over and think that they would believe it. Consumers control the brand perception so you’ve got to get the reality of your brand to where it needs to be.”
PATRICK DOYLE: World President and CEO Domino’s Pizza
So now from the storehouse of facts we are dealing with only the truth and this is a wonderful opportunity to inspire and focus. One of the most attractive aspects of human nature is honesty. It makes the great greater, the best better and is the definitive attraction to all of us.
Now your offering inspires engagement and it’s all coming from within. There is an attraction to truth and simplicity. This is what forms the fundamental of self belief, one illuminating the other.
CHANGE
Be your own hero – even if for only a day - whether you’re making lunch, deciding your next career move, planning your sales strategy or trying to fix what seems unfixable in your work, life or relationships. Take control with a kindness that spells simplicity and focus on having a direction that spells harmony.
Surprise yourself as maybe for the first time ever you turn on a light that shines like a beacon to a new world of truth, collection and direction. Today might be the first day you give the world an opportunity to see you as you really are and as you really should be. Stand back as you watch the results.
Look what honesty did for Patrick Doyle and Dominos Pizza. Think about Grant Thornton and their facts are friendly comment. Be inspired by those who have achieved great results with the same simple principals that you can use to make real change to your daily life.
WILLINGNESS
There was recurring theme running the series of interviews I did for my VoiceAmerica radio show: for all the guest speakers - whether they were business people, teachers, authors or artists - at a certain point ‘willingness’ became hugely important.
In talking to these representatives of the best in their respective fields it became apparent that - once awareness and the truth of a situation was established - the willingness to change is the next step on the road to success.
“You know this was not news to us that we had a problem with consumers’ perception of the taste of our pizza. We had simply convinced ourselves that we didn’t need to take that hill; that we could be successful simply focusing on the service that we give to people with an OK pizza.
You know the payoff for us in making a dramatic change in something we knew was a real weakness in our business brought us dramatically positive results. It was clearly worth it for us to do it and I think that exists in most every organization.
People know where the real problem is in the company and they simply choose not to deal with reality.”
PATRICK DOYLE: World President and CEO Domino’s Pizza
It may sound obvious but so often in life, business and love that willingness - while fundamental in its essence - is often missing or not fully embraced.
Sometimes, our identity is so embedded in recurring themes of failure and problems that our resistance is much greater than we can imagine. This may seem like a contradiction - that somebody who finds themselves in a very difficult and troubled situation would somehow lack the willingness to find a better or happier existence - but the world is full of repeat pattern stories where the fall back happens more easily than the willingness to move forward.
“Yes and I think when you reach that point in your life,… when you stand there and you say to yourself, wait a minute, I am not being true to myself.
Once you accept – first of all once you admit it – it’s a terrifying thing to realize, to all intents and purposes you’ve become a sham of your own making and it’s very important then that you realize that that’s probably the most fortuitous and most fortunate moment of your life, for all time.
You’ve suddenly reached that V in the road where you can actually stand there and say I’m not who I should be. I am no longer who I was, who I loved being, who I could rely on, who I really believed was at the essence of my real integrity.”
GARETH O’CALLAGHAN: Author and broadcaster
OWNERSHIP
So much of an individual or business identity can be based in lack - the lack of sales, the lack of success, the lack of ambition, the lack of drive, the lack of meaningful relationships. As we start to take ownership of the willingness to change we begin the process of returning to our natural state of inherent success and completion.
As our willingness to change increases, our ownership of and identity in lack begins to diminish. From this the rebirth begins but for many this can be a time that feels uncertain and anxious because there is a new dimension to daily life that may not have been experienced with any degree of depth or understanding before. This newness can often cause a rebound effect, where hope is replaced with the familiar, identifiable fear.
Quite simply, our identity is more wrapped up in the comfort, familiarity and safety of yesterday rather than the opportunity of today and the dreams of tomorrow.
ASK
How much of my life or business do I feel is influenced by and subject to external forces outside of my control?
What ownership can I take to change my recurring themes of dissociation and limitation?
How much responsibility will I accept for the non-successful and unfulfilling aspects of my career and life to date?
An honest appraisal is essential and honest answers provide a critical step towards nurturing the willingness that fundamentally will address the problems that you always felt emanated from external sources.
“I think it’s interesting; a lot of times when we decide to be authentic often we are faced with a lot of fear because in some ways we have lost faith in the power of our authenticity.”
DR ROBERT HOLDEN, PhD, Author and founder of The Happiness Project
If you dare to be so bold as to see the world in a totally different way you can turn the most despairing and difficult situations into experiences of inspiration, truth and success. To achieve this whole new relationship you are building with the world the determining factor is the real willingness to change.
ACCEPTANCE
In essence, the simplicity of the solution is often our downfall as we resist the simple fact that we control so much of our own lives and choose instead a limited version of who we are. In doing so, we fool ourselves into accepting an identity created in fear, guilt and lack and based on complexity, separation and misunderstanding.
It is not surprising then that having weaved such a complex web around our identity we struggle as we begin to have the willingness to look for and acknowledge who we really are. Even as you read this, become aware of any resistance you feel to the truth. Notice any conflict that arises as concepts like ‘you control your own destiny’ are presented and digested. Be aware of the voice in the back of your mind saying ‘you do not and you cannot control your own destiny.’
All of this is moving you towards the willingness to begin again, building on the real nature of what you can be and the perfection that you already are in truth. It may sound abstract, flowery and removed but the one thing you better believe is that for any degree of change, movement or reality to manifest the willingness to accept simplicity and truth rather than complexity and separation is a must. In other words, replace failure and contempt with inspiration and objectivity, see opportunity as forward momentum and do not allow old, limiting habits or patterns an ongoing role in dictating your future.
“… as I come to the conclusion that there are limitations on me I am going to impose those same limitations on you. As I believe there’s something wrong with me I’m going to believe that there’s something wrong with you and with the world in general. So, what I’ve ... is to project my self deception on to the world. Now if there were a way for me to unwind that, if there were a way for me to open myself to a different possibility, a different potential then I could be in a place where I could learn that there would be something different. And for me the way that we do that is through the concept that I call forgiveness. I’m not talking abut forgiving you or someone for something they have done. What I’m talking about is forgiving my perception, my belief that there is something wrong, that there is limitation that needs to be imposed upon me or upon you.”
TOM CARPENTER: author, teacher and founder of The Forgiveness Network
Limitation is not and never was a part of the human spirit. The real resonance of what you are and what your business can be lies in a culture of a free spirit inspired by a willingness to change. As we hold on to that willingness we are giving ourselves the most powerful, the most mindful and strongest opportunity we deserve. In short, we are learning to become everything we deserve to be in a world that is not totally dictated by external sources.
POWER
The real power emanates from the real self. Your willingness to change begins a fascinating and adventurous journey of discovering the real self, the self that will bring you completion, wealth, happiness and harmony in abundance.