When trying to solve various problems in life, an approach I find very useful is to first identify what I’d consider the most direct solution, regardless of how I feel about actually implementing it. What’s the clearest, most direct path to my goal or the most efficient way to get around an obstacle?
Many problems will have multiple direct solutions, but often these solutions will be unsavory at first glance because they’ll require courage, self-discipline, creativity, or persistence to implement. But if we can somehow get ourselves to follow through, we know the solutions will actually work.
For example, suppose you want to lose weight. And suppose we can say that one (of many) direct solutions is to eat the same as you’re eating now, and boost your exercise output by 500 calories a day. If you implement this rather simplistic solution, you’ll lose weight. It may require discipline and persistence, but most people would agree that it will work if you follow through.
Another example: Suppose you’re interested in starting a relationship with someone, but you don’t know how that person feels about you. One direct solution would be to simply walk up, explain your thoughts and feelings, and ask if s/he is interested in discussing the possibility of a closer relationship. This will take less than a minute to say, and regardless of the outcome, at least you know where you stand. Of course this solution may require a lot of courage to overcome the possibility of rejection, but it’s very simple and straightforward.
See if you can identify the most direct solution to some of your problems. What’s the simplest and quickest way to reach your goals, assuming you had limitless courage and discipline?
Benefits of Directness
There are many seemingly challenging problems that have very simple, direct solutions. The real challenge is how to become the kind of person who can implement the most direct solutions instead of having to take a circuitous path to compensate for laziness or timidity. This is why working on your personal development, especially building your courage and self-discipline, is one of the best problem-solving techniques there is. When you go to work on yourself, problems that once seemed untenable become much easier to solve. You get better at implementing direct solutions instead of falling back on indirect ones.
One of the best areas where the idea of directness helped me was in making my career transition from game development to personal development in 2004. I asked myself what I’d do if I was already retired. My answer was that I’d spend most of my time working on personal growth with other growth-oriented people. That’s what I was already doing in my spare time when I wasn’t working. I realized I was running a games business to generate income, so I could pay my bills and then work on personal development in my spare time. That seemed like a needlessly indirect solution to me. Why couldn’t I just eliminate the middleman? I asked myself, “Wouldn’t it be smarter to work on personal development full-time and find a way to pay all my bills from doing that?”
I identified a more direct solution, but it was a solution that would require courage, discipline, and creativity to implement. I could see that if I actually did it, it would work. (I’m glossing over the specific details, but I think you get the idea.) So then the problem became: How can I muster the inner resources I need to make this happen? When I tried to tackle that problem, the results were a bit unexpected. It turns out I didn’t need to build those inner resources so much. I just needed to be willing to apply them.
Why We Resist the Direct Solution
There’s something reassuring about a direct solution that you know is going to work, but there’s also something disturbing about it. When you see a direct solution staring you in the face, and you haven’t implemented it even though you know it will work, you have to stop and ask yourself, “Why am I holding myself back from solving this problem when the solution is right there?” If you really give that question some thought, it may lead you down an interesting rabbit hole.
My particular rabbit hole was that I had to consider whether I was willing to work hard to achieve a result I wanted. Was I only willing to take the easy path? I saw that the only real barrier to achieving my goal was whether I was willing to put in the time and effort to make it happen. Running my games business had become very easy for me, and I didn’t have to work that hard to keep it profitable. I had to decide whether I was willing to push myself to a new level of action. Once I could honestly say to myself, “Yeah, I’m willing to do that,” I was able to get moving and implement the direct solution. But as long as I was thinking, “There must be an easier way,” or “I’m not sure I want to do that much work,” all solutions (direct or indirect) eluded me.
Consider one of the direct solutions you identified in your own life. Stop and ask yourself, “Am I willing to do that? Am I willing to be the kind of person who could implement this solution?”
What does it mean if you say you don’t want to be the kind of person who’d implement the direct solution? Are you saying you’d rather be uncreative, undisciplined, and timid instead of creative, disciplined, and courageous? When you bring these issues up and deal with them consciously, it’s hard to admit that you’ve been choosing to be that kind of person — the kind of person who has to settle for slower, more indirect solutions and sometimes no solution at all. But that is what you’re choosing when you shun the direct solution, isn’t it?
You have an important choice to make regarding what kind of person you want to be. Do you want to be courageous, disciplined, creative, and persistent or not? Do you think those are good qualities to develop in yourself? If not, then you’re basically left to embrace their opposites by default. Is that something you’re willing to do?
Directness and the Law of Attraction
What about using the Law of Attraction? Is that part of a direct solution? That depends on the problem.
Consider this simple example. A common manifestation exercise is to try to manifest a blue feather somewhere in your reality. You hold the intention to see a blue feather sometime in the next 24 hours. What’s the most direct solution to that intention? Is it to wait patiently and let the universe bring it to you somehow? Why not simply do a Google image search? You’ll find your blue feather within seconds. Problem solved. Next.
Many times when people try to apply the Law of Attraction, they simultaneously resist implementing the most direct solution to their problem. To me that’s a mixed intention. If you really desire something badly enough, why on earth would you resist the most direct path to it? Doesn’t that imply you don’t really want it? Or maybe you don’t want to become the kind of person who’d be able to get it. If you already have a direct solution staring you in the face, and you don’t implement it, I’d say you’re using the Law of Repulsion more than the Law of Attraction.
The point of the Law of Attraction is to hold the intention to discover a direct solution to a problem. Once that solution is already known to you, the Law of Attraction has done its job. Your job is to implement the solutions you attract.
When you find yourself having difficulty solving a problem, but you can identify a direct solution with relative ease, perhaps the real problem isn’t what you think it is.
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万能钥匙
面对生活中出现的种种问题，我认为最有效的解决方法莫过于首先找到最直接的解决方法，然后再去考虑这种方法的可行性。那么什么才是达到目的的最简洁最直接的途径，什么才是跨越一个障碍的最有效的方法呢？
其实很多问题的解决方法都不止一种，但是，这众多的方法都需要一个有勇气，自律，有创造力并且有毅力的人才能实施。这也是很多的方法乍看上去没有可行性的原因。因此，只要能够坚持，很多的方法都是能奏效的。
例如减肥，在保持原有饮食习惯的基础上通过运动每天消耗500卡洛里无疑是（其中）一种最直截了当且行之有效的方法。也许实施它需要自制力和毅力，但是大部分人都承认只要能坚持这种方法是有效的。
再举个例子：假设你希望结交某个人却不清楚对方对自己的看法，最直率的方法莫过于径直走上前去，告诉对方你的想法和希望，问问他/她是否愿意和你建立更深一层的关系。无论结果如何，至少一分钟内你就能了解自己在对方眼中的地位如何了。当然，这需要极大的勇气以做好被拒绝的心理准备，但这一方法本身却绝对简单有效。
你能够用最直接了当的方法解决自己的问题吗？如果你拥有了无限的勇气和自制力，那么达到目的的最简单快速的手段是什么呢？
直截了当的神奇之处
有时看似棘手的问题解决起来却意外的简单。其实最难做到的是抛弃个人的懒惰和懦弱，不拐弯抹角，直截了当的解决问题。这就是为什么人要坚持自我提升，特别是要注重培养勇气和自我约束等处理问题时必不可少的素质。坚持对自我的修炼，原先看似不可能解决的问题也会变成小菜一碟。面对问题，你将会直截了当的解决它而不会拐弯抹角的绕过它了。
正是这一观念促成了我事业上的一次最成功转型。2004年我将注意力从对规则的完善转向了对人的完善。我问自己退休以后打算干什么，得到的答案是，退休后，我将花费大量的时间与志同道合的人一起实现个人的发展。闲暇时我已经开始尝试这一作业。我意识到这项行为真的能带给我收益，所以，我不仅要谋生更要在闲暇之余提高自身的档次。可这似乎是多此一举。为什么不能跳过中间步骤？我问自己，“花全部的时间用于个人的发展并从中找到生财之道岂不更加明智？”
我确定了这一方法更为直截了当，但是真的实施起来却需要勇气，自制力和创造力。我确定它行之有效但首先得把它付诸行动。（不厌其烦的重复这些细节，但我相信你会理解的。）所以真正的困难是：我如何组织起内在的动力开始行动呢？真的开始尝试时，结果却让我有点失望。我发现根本不必花心思去组织，它们就在那里等待着我的召唤。
为什么我们不愿直截了当的解决问题
虽然我们眼中直截了当的方法总是有效的但是总有些因素阻止我们这样做。有时候，最直接的解决方法就在眼前，我们却不能说服自己去实施它，我们不得不停下来问自己，“方法就在眼前，为什么我却退缩了呢?” 如果真的去思考这个问题，我们会陷入极度混乱之中。
我最大的困扰就是总想弄明白我到底是希望通过艰苦奋斗还是希望通过捷径来达到目标。阻碍我成功的真正障碍是我不确定自己是否真的愿意为目标投入时间和精力。现在对我来说找出最直接可行的解决办法并不是什么难事，我能够轻而易举的保证他们行之有效。我面临的问题是是否真的要行动起来，把自己推向一个新的高度。一旦我承认“是的，我想这样，”我就能够着手解决问题。但是，只要我还有“这可能不是最好的方法”，或者“我不想做这么多工作”这类想法，所有的解决方案（无论是直接还是间接）都将是徒劳无功的。
找到最适合自己的解决问题的方式，然后停下来问问自己，“我真的想这样做吗？我真的想拥有实施这一方式的能力吗？”
如果你的答案是否定的这意味着什么？意味着你宁愿自己是一个缺乏创造力，懒散而怯懦的人吗？当你提出这一问题并有意识的想去克服它时，你就不能说自己是一个迟缓犹豫甚至没有主见的人了。但是如果你不愿直面这一问题，那就另当别论了，不是吗？
你希望自己成为什么样的人？这可是一个非常重要的问题。你是否希望自己勇敢，自制，敢于创新并且坚忍不拔？你是否认为这些品质有利于自我的提升？如果答案是否定的，那么你就完全放弃这些品质了，这不会是你想要得结果吧？
直截了当和吸引力法则
来看看吸引力法则如何？它也是一种直截了当的行为吗？这得看具体问题。
来看看这个简单的例子。这里有一个普通的命题，让你在现实生活中找出一根蓝色羽毛。如果你希望在未来的24小时内能看见一根蓝色的羽毛，最简单的方法是什么呢?耐心的等天上飘下来一根？为什么不去谷歌图片中搜索？几秒钟之内你就会找到它。问题解决。下一题。
很多时候当人们试图运用吸引力法则时便不约而同的放弃使用最直接的方法解决问题。对我来说，这是非常令人费解的。如果你真的非常喜欢一样东西，究竟为什么不直截了当的得到它呢？你的拐弯抹角是否说明你并不是真的想得到它。或者说不希望变成能够拥有这种东西的一类人？如果最直接的方法近在眼前，你却对它视而不见，那你就是在运用排斥力法则而非吸引力法则了。
吸引力法则的重点在于集中所有力量发现解决问题的最直接了当的方式。一旦你了解了这种方法，吸引力法则就完成了他的使命了。剩下的就是看你如何付诸行动了。
遇到一个难以解决的问题时，寻找一种相对简便的方法去解决它。也许问题并不像你想的那样严重。