Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Building systems, managing efforts, raising kids – these and many other worthwhile endeavors can be difficult. I see no good in attempting to make those things sounds easier than they are. The reframe discussed here changes the description of tasks to be attempted.

We will just…

I don’t know how many times I have heard this one in the years I have been studying and working and writing and doing everything else I have been doing these few decades.

Some examples:

We will just make a new one.

We will just toss out the draft and start again.

We will just sleep on it a while and move on.

We will just teach him how to do it correctly.

We will just build the sensor and write processing software.

We will just ignore it.

Sigh. That little word “just” makes everything seem so easy. There cannot be much to it. That hasn’t been my experience.

The reframe for this post is to replace “just” with something like “have great difficulty attempting to.” The above statements now become:

We will have great difficulty attempting to make a new one.

We will have great difficulty attempting to toss out the draft and start again.

We will have great difficulty attempting to sleep on it a while and move on.

We will have great difficulty attempting to teach him how to do it correctly.

We will have great difficulty attempting to build the sensor and write processing software.

We will have great difficulty attempting to ignore it.

None of these things are impossible. None of these things are beyond our attempt with the best of intentions. They are, however, all seen in a different light. Effort, concentration, passion, and many other things are needed if we are to succeed.