This Friday, I was on a call with Zina Sarif, a founder building her company Yendou to accelerate the development of life-saving therapeutics. What particularly struck me during the conversation was her power of changing perspectives and reframing. According to me, it’s a must-have for anyone who wants to do challenging things and enjoy them.
As humans, we are great at finding problems. We can easily find what’s not working or what is not so great about today. However, we are also great at finding creative solutions. We have survived for many years and significantly upgraded our living standards. Unfortunately, it's easy for us to fall into the habit of labeling problems as negative.
As kids, we start in the playground and we love challenges such as hide-and-seek, building sandcastles, and inventing games. Nevertheless, as we get older, we tend to adopt a different perspective. Problems become less fun, we have more desires and we develop a negative perception of challenges. However, the reality is that we still solve problems. Of course, we don’t always get to choose the problems we are solving. Yet, we still choose how we frame them.
By changing our perception, we can become more effective at solving problems. Moreover, reframing situations improves our life satisfaction, decreases the likelihood of developing mental health problems, and improves our decision-making1.
Zina’s success is a great example of the effectiveness of this mindset. Her company, Yendou, has existed for more than 1 year, secured pre-seed funding, and brings the world closer to curing diseases every day. Interestingly, Zina told me how she perceives “problems” as fun challenges to overcome and the excitement she has for building her product to achieve her vision. In short, adopting a positive problem-solving mindset helps her be successful and, according to me, embracing this framework can benefit anyone. But how do you adopt such a framework?
Next time you label a problem as something bad, recognize your thoughts and ask yourself how you can reinterpret them. By using a metaphor, reversing the situation, or putting the problem into a different perspective, you can change your perception and become keen to solve your problem. Afterward, specify the challenge clearly and brainstorm solutions. Lastly, take action and enjoy!
In conclusion, being a problem-solver is great. Yet, being an eager problem-solver wins. Choose to reframe your thoughts and get ready to be excited.
This was it for this newsletter! Feel free to send me a message to discuss the topic or feedback and subscribe for more.
PS.
has an incredible substack. Read one of my favorite articles from her here and hereFan, S. C., Shih, H. C., Tseng, H. C., Chang, K. F., Li, W. C., & Shia, A. S. (2021). Self-efficacy triggers psychological appraisal mechanism for mindset shift. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 23(1), 57–73. https://doi.org/10.32604/IJMHP.2021.012177
Kapasi, A., & Pei, J. (2022). Mindset Theory and School Psychology. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 37(1), 57–74. https://doi.org/10.1177/08295735211053961