Navigating Tech Challenges: A Lesson In The Power Of Belief
Sometimes it’s the little things that remind us of the power of our thoughts.
Recently, we replaced our home router after the old one suddenly stopped working. While we quickly reconnected our laptops and phones back to wifi, the printer presented a different challenge.
After various attempts by my husband, he said he couldn’t get it to work and didn’t know what the problem was. He came up with a workaround, but it wasn’t the same smooth setup we had before. He generally handles all things technical for our home and I was left wondering ‘How’s this going to get fixed?’ Since he works in technology and can’t figure it out, what chance do I have? It’s been well over 20 years since I worked in telecommunications. I waited a while, and then on a day when I had time to do some research online, I went looking for a solution.
After multiple trials and errors, I luckily managed to reconnect the device, and we are back to the same setup we had before.
I share this story not just for the happy ending but because I have been thinking about the role beliefs play in how we perceive ourselves and our abilities to be successful. I was conscious of my thoughts each time something I tried didn’t work.
Even when I wasn’t sure if the steps would work, I was determined to find a solution, preventing me from giving up the first couple of times I failed. If my beliefs were different, it would have been a lot easier for me to quit.
We see a similar scenario with kids when learning something new. They may expect the work to be easier than it is or form an identity of not being a good learner, leading to frustration or fear of failure. Comparing themselves to their perceptions of peers, they may throw in the towel based on their beliefs of themselves. It’s harder for a younger person with less experience to grasp that believing you’ll find the solution empowers you to fight harder against challenges.
By midlife, I’ve had my share of getting things wrong and having to make several attempts at troubleshooting before a problem is fixed. The reason I had the belief I could solve the printer problem was
This is a situation many people deal with and eventually resolve.
I have successfully followed the steps I learned online, and they generally work out.
I knew I could call tech support to help me if I didn’t figure it out on my own.
Problems of living have solutions, and I see myself as competent in this area, having had technical successes with troubleshooting in the past. Of course, at some earlier point in my life, I lacked this experience. I likely referred to earlier instances of not giving up or a general belief in some level of problem-solving abilities.
The point I am trying to make is that perseverance and a willingness to try something new are strengthened when we believe in ourselves. We don’t need everything figured out before we begin. Failing to succeed at something doesn’t make us failures, too many times people generalize an event and turn it into a character trait. Not being able to do something isn’t a reason to avoid trying. You never know your capabilities unless you give things a whirl.
