Life lessons from Wordle
On my fourth try, I had an A, an I, and a T. A -- -- I T. I pushed to fit a word in there. I agonized over not being able to see it. I was trying words with letters that were unavailable, trying words I knew didn’t exist in the English language. I was playing Wordle. And it was ruining my morning.
This was in the AM over coffee. I’d put my phone down, pick it up 10 minutes later, and try the same invented words. Over and over. I couldn’t see it. ALBIT. ALPIT. AMLIT. I was stuck on that L for some reason.
I got distracted by something else, put the phone down for several hours, and remembered it later that evening. I opened my browser and saw AUDIT immediately. HA! There it was, pushing the letters in, pressing enter, watching those green squares light up. Until they didn’t. And then I really saw it: ADMIT. Fucking ADMIT. Five green squares just in the nick of time.
Wordle is fun and excruciating. Should you play? I don’t know, I don’t care. I’m writing about this because it’s a perfect problem-solving metaphor. Sometimes the words come easy, and sometimes they take all day. The situation I described wasn’t anomalous. I often get stuck and start plugging in words that don’t exist, letters that aren’t available. It got me thinking how often I do this in my non-Wordle life. How often my vision is tunneled by what I think I know, the solutions I’m only familiar or comfortable with, the feeling that I’ve exhausted all opportunities. How many times have I really convinced myself that Wordle made a mistake today. How many times have I been blind to a better answer, a different perspective, or an uncomfortable thought.
Stepping away was what helped me with the game. When I’m in it – like, really in it – I can’t see things for what they are. I see the same solutions over and over. I’m stuck on using an L for some reason. Stepping away and clearing my head – not only from the problem but from my “solutions” (which were my actual problem) – opened me up to a new approach
When you’re stuck and forcing it, take a time out. Clear your head so you can actually forget about it. We tell ourselves our stories all day. Yours are yours; mine are mine. Our stories are composed of where we grew up and how we grew up, things that happened to us last week and things that happened to us 30 years ago. Our stories are super helpful – they’re how we make sense of life – but they can be detrimental when we’re seeing problems and solutions solely through the lens of our stories. A fresh perspective – from someone else or from simple clear-headedness – can unlock new solutions to old problems. Can change an L into a D. And if that’s not right, can be the building block to another new solution.
This is coaching in a nutshell. If it resonates with you – in Wordle or in life – let’s talk about it. Sign up for a free consultation with me here or keep learning about coaching on my site.
Go get ‘em this week.