A not-so-funny thing happened on the way to writing a post last week. I fired up my computer to see a comment from one of my children, letting the family know that she had spent the night in the emergency room with my granddaughter and that she had just been admitted.
WHAT???
Blinking back the shock and at the same time marveling at the wonders of this day and age where you find out the most intimate details of your family life on the timeline of your Facebook account, I clutched my coffee cup firmly in my hand and scrolled through the many comments to piece together the history of what had happened while I had slumbered in ignorant bliss.
It seemed that the “Aching Hip” my granddaughter had been complaining about over the weekend at the family dinner, had become an intense pain over the last few days. Still clinging to her conviction that it was her hip, she was seeking advice from anyone who would listen on the best ways to treat an injured hip.
Since she is a cheerleader, advice ranged from leave it alone and let it heal, put on heat, the ever practical RICE approach, take an ADVIL—or three—or assorted other goodly solutions. Let’s be honest. She is a teenager, very active in her sport, and always in the midst of some ache or ailment attached to it. No one took it too seriously.
It wasn’t until the pain became out of control, and her mood unbearable that my daughter finally took matters in her own hand, sat her down and said, “Alright, tell me ALL of your symptoms, and don’t leave ANYTHING out.”
Well, needless to say, once the list—long and alarming—had been uncovered, it became quite clear that the hip was the least of her worries, and in fact was not even involved in the problem. A harrowing trip to the emergency room and admittance to the hospital ensued.
I’ll cut to the end of her story. She is fine. Having clarity on exactly what the problem is, asking the right questions and getting the right diagnosis from a professional was the first step toward getting the help and care she needed to get back up and running quickly. Having well-meaning family and friends give her not-so-very helpful advice based on wrong information and only a few of the facts was… well… worse than not helpful at all. (Present company included.)
How Many Times is This Happening in Your Business?
Let’s face it, nobody wants to go to the doctor, and we don’t want to go to the professional in our business either. Not if it would be easier to just hang around the virtual or real water cooler and ask friends and family for their well-meaning opinions about what we should do to fix our nagging issues, gain clarity, sharpen our branding, or master our mindset blindspots. We don’t want to be vulnerable to a respected expert and admit we don’t know what we are doing—and in many cases have no idea what we are even talking about—let alone hand over much needed dollars or invest valuable time.
So we rehash, retell our side of the story, play the old tapes as we see it, and listen only to the people who agree with us.
The problem with this approach is, it might not be your “Hip” causing the trouble anymore than it was for my granddaughter. The solution to your problem might be something completely different. But, because you are only looking at the issue from your limited knowledge base, from a one-sided perspective, you don’t have enough information to ask the right questions.
You need an expert to ask the right questions for you.
Coaches, mentors, consultants and specialists don’t “fix” you by magically looking at you and deciding what is wrong. They go through a series of careful and important questions designed to help you gain clarity on what is at the bottom of your issue.
Sometimes the fix may take a very short amount of time and you might be tempted to think, “That’s it? All that money and she/he fixed it that fast?” Or… once the solution becomes apparent it’s so obvious you want to smack yourself on the forehead and ask yourself why you couldn’t see it all along!
But the truth is… you couldn’t.
It is the rare soul who can be enlightened and objective enough to ask themselves the right questions all the time. We all need a professional opinion from time to time.
Being a solopreneur or creativepreneur does not mean being an alonepreneur.
Get the help you need. It will save you time… and money… and perhaps some health and sanity in the long run.