Questions for challenging times

I recently encountered an old interview in which Michael Caine was asked to explain his life philosophy. Caine responds: “Use the difficulty.” Caine’s story about finding and implementing the theory is worth hearing. In its essence, it suggests a powerful question to change our perspective when facing a challenge: “How might I use this difficulty?”

Oliver Burkeman shares a similar perspective when he talks about finding the life task one is facing. Burkeman defines a life task as something that is possible and something that life demands from us through the current challenge.

In coaching, coaches offer the opportunity to select different frames to view the “difficulty” and a process to uncover the life task ahead of us. Much of our work as coaches is to create a space for people to talk about the immediate issues they face and to then support them in hearing their own thinking, considering alternative viewpoints that align with their values and vision for their life, and how they might use their strengths to make the progress they desire.

The coaching process is not always about forward progress. In many sports, the pass backwards is a powerful way for a team to reset to play forward powerfully. In many coaching conversations, what we will stop doing, and how we will “play back” to have an excellent foundation to move forward from is as important as any progress toward a solution.

So, the next time you face a challenge, here are some questions to ask yourself as you reflect on what you want to do:

• What is the difficulty?

• What is the life task demanded of me in this?

• How might I use the difficulty to accomplish the life task?

• How do I use my strengths to do this?

Asking ourselves powerful questions when we encounter challenges is one way to play back in life and build the foundation for forward movement.