I don’t have any problems in life, just situations.
Young people today have no idea who Evel Knievel was, but most middle-aged people do. Evel Knievel was a daredevil who routinely jumped his motorcycle over a variety of obstacles, ranging from school buses to the Grand Canyon! In fact, Evel Knievel became so popular in the 1970’s that an entire line of toys was created in honor of his death-defying stunts. What exactly prompted Knievel to risk his life performing these stunts is anybody’s guess, but his quote above provides great insight into his mind and psyche — and, interestingly, can be adopted by everyday people to use when up against life challenges.
Challenges, or threats?
As humans, we run up against obstacles on a daily basis. Some of these tasks are relatively easy and need little attention, like whether to buy a coffee or cappuccino. Other situations demand more of our attention, like how to best raise our kids, or find a job better suited to our interest and talents (for Evel Knievel it was probably how am I going to jump 20 buses without crashing?!). What is interesting about all of these decisions is that they can all be framed one of two ways: As challenges or as threats.
While Evel Knievel did not use the terms challenges or threats, he used similar words in “problems” and “situations.” While you might think this is just a simple semantics issue, it is actually much, much more than that. Cognitive psychologists help people by looking more closely at how people approach life situations — as challenges (i.e. “I’m determined to run a mile today”) or as threats (i.e. “This work is impossible, how will I ever get it done?”). While this might seem like a very minor difference in perception, it’s actually a world of difference in framing life situations. When we are open-minded, optimistic, and confident, our chances for success increases dramatically. Conversely, when we begin with pessimism and despair, our odds for success decrease.
While it’s funny to think about, Evel Knievel viewed a row of buses to jump over as a life situation, not a problem, and that probably helped on the jumps that he successfully landed. And on the times where his jumps came up short, he probably should have lined up one fewer bus!
How many times have you approached something and have already framed it as a threat or problem? Looking back now, might you have had different, better results had you instead looked at the situation as a personal challenge, or like Evel Knievel, just another life situation. Remember, how you view your day and the accompanying tasks is entirely up to you, and only you can decide to take on a challenge, or decide the situation is a threat and near impossible to do.
Final thoughts
While it might seem funny to use Evel Knievel to make a point about the power of positive thinking, his approach to daredevil stunts was spot-on. When we see life as an experience filled with daily challenges, we can then channel our thoughts, energy, and actions toward getting the job done. On the other hand, when we immediately write off any chance for success, our thinking becomes distorted, our energy drops, and our behaviors only hurt, not help, our chances for success.
