How to solve any problem

Recently at my gym, we had a challenge to do 25 "double unders" which is like regular jump roping, but you have to make the rope go under your feet twice before you land. Twenty five times in a row.

I could do zero. I had the thought "I can't do double unders" and called it a day.

But that just didn't feel good. Was I just going to give up without trying?

I decided to approach this with life coaching tools. I laid out the magic 3 questions to understand the problem:

  1. What's the problem? I can't do a double under

  2. What's already working in my favor? I know how to jump rope, I have the stamina, I have the desire to learn.

  3. What's the exact problem? I don't get the mechanics of how to get the rope to go under my feet twice before I land.

Then I looked at what was in my control, which is (as always) my thoughts and my actions.

Step one: Change my thoughts

💭New belief: I can learn to do a double under.

🧾Evidence to support new belief: I've learned to do many things in life that I'd never done before. Everything I can do now, there was a point in life where I didn't know how to do it.

Step Two: Change my actions

🎬Watch a video on how to do double unders

💪🏻Practice

💪🏻Practice

💪🏻Practice

Guess that happened? Week one I did 1. Week two I did 2. Week 3, I did 24!

Practice without the new belief isn't enough. A new belief without practice isn't either. But with the powerful combination belief and practice, you can solve problems from jump roping to changing careers to putting yourself first. I'd love to guide you through it. DM me to set up a free discovery session to learn if coaching is a good fit for you.

PS This picture is what I imagine I look like while jump roping. In reality, there's a lot of tripping and whipping myself with the rope accidentally.

Michelle Gauthier