What Is The Problem?
In 2006, deep in the Montana wilderness, a crew of elite firefighters known as the “Hotshots” faced a blaze that turned deadly. They were some of the best, trained to act quickly, stay calm under pressure, and make life-or-death decisions in a moment’s notice. But this fire didn’t follow the script. The winds shifted. The line they cut failed. And in minutes, the blaze was barreling straight for them.
The crew did what any human being would do....they ran. They dropped their tools and sprinted uphill, trying to outrun the fire.
All except one man....their crew chief.
Instead of running, he did something that looked insane. He stopped, bent down, and lit a fire.
He burned the dry grass in a tight circle around him and called for the others to join him. Nobody did. In the middle of chaos, they couldn’t make sense of it. They had one thing on their minds: escape.
But what he created was called an “escape fire”, a maneuver used when all other exits are gone. By burning the fuel around him, he left nothing for the wildfire to consume. It passed over him. He lived. Most of his crew didn’t.
I’ve thought about that story more times than I can count. It’s not about fire. It’s about emotion and instinct. It’s about what we do when panic takes the wheel. And most of all, it’s about how often we respond to the wrong problem.
The crew didn’t die because they were weak or stupid. They died because the pain was so loud, the fear so strong, that it drowned out their ability to see a deeper solution.
That’s the risk with emotional decision-making: it always wants relief now. So we immediately solve for what hurts, not what caused the hurt. And when we do that, we waste time, energy, and sometimes....everything falls apart.
How often have we done the same?
We say we’re stressed, so we take a vacation, but why are we stressed? Because we’re overcommitted. Why? Because we didn’t say no. Why? Because we wanted approval. And that....the vacation is the bandaid... the approval is the problem.
We treat symptoms like causes. We patch what’s bleeding without checking what made us bleed.
It’s easy to do. Pain doesn’t make us stupid, it just makes us desperate. It compresses our focus to what feels urgent and makes us blind to what’s actually matters.
In those moments, the most powerful question I know is the simplest one: Why?
You can't just ask it once. Ask it five times. Ask it until you get past the obvious, past the emotional, past the thing you want to say. Somewhere around the fourth or fifth “why,” the real issue surfaces.
You’ll find it’s rarely about the calendar. It’s not really about your boss. It’s not even about your spouse. It’s about fear. Or pride. Or scarcity. Or insecurity. The root almost always lives beneath the first answer.
I’ve had to do this work in my own life more times than I like to admit. I’ve blamed jobs I never gave a real chance. I’ve haven't taken risks because I was scared. I’ve rearranged my schedule, restructured my goals, and restarted businesses all because something felt off....when the real problem wasn’t external at all.
Sometimes the real problem was me.
The hardest part isn’t solving the problem. It’s identifying the right one.
The Hotshot crew made the same mistake many of us make daily. They ran from what felt dangerous instead of looking at what was survivable. They reacted to the fire, not to the fear. And their reaction was fatal.
Most of us don’t face that level of consequence, but that doesn’t mean the cost is light.
When you solve the wrong problem, it feels like progress, but it never brings peace. And that’s how you know it’s the wrong one.
Real progress produces peace....even if it’s hard. Even if it hurts.
You might think you’re dealing with a time issue, but it’s really a trust issue.
You might think the friction is between you and someone else, but it’s really between the life you built and the part of you that never felt seen in it. Once you see that, you can stop running.
You can stop putting out smoke and start removing the fuel underneath it. Just like that firefighter.
He stopped. He lit his own fire. And he lived.
You can too.
Today’s Forced Challenge: I want you to FORCE yourself to attack at least one of these challenges:
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The Five Whys Drill: Pick one problem causing tension in your life right now. Ask “why?” five times—on paper. Don’t stop until the answer either repeats or reveals something uncomfortable.
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Emotional Audit: For 24 hours, track every time you feel frustration, anxiety, resentment, or self-doubt. Write the trigger. Then write the true fear beneath it.
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Silent Clarity:Take 30 minutes this week...no phone, no talking, no music...and sit with just one question: “What am I pretending not to see?” Write the first thing that comes up.
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Mirror Question: Look yourself in the mirror and ask: “If I keep living exactly like this, where will I be in 5 years?” Don’t flinch. Don’t soften the answer.
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The 1-Sentence Lie: Write down one sentence you’ve been telling yourself that’s not true, but that feels true. (e.g., “I don’t have time.”) Then write the truth underneath it.
I LOVE THE 5TH CHALLENGE^^^
The fire isn’t always the enemy. Sometimes it’s just the signal...loud, hot, and impossible to ignore, that something deeper needs your attention. It’s easy to chase relief. It’s harder to slow down and search for the cause.
If you want real change, lasting change, you have to stop treating the smoke and start digging for what’s fueling it. Clarity doesn’t always come in the moment, but it always shows up when you’re willing to ask better questions and sit with the answers long enough to hear the truth underneath them.
“Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it’s the only one you have.” — Émile Chartier (Alain)
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