Yes, you should minimize your problems. Here's why.

The Daily Drip

16 weeks.

That's how long my physical therapy program is supposed to last.

That's how long it will be before I can really run again.

It might sound like a lot--but it might not.

It's times like these when it's easy to be frustrated, that I remember how lucky I am.

I'm lucky that this is a solvable problem. I'm lucky to be in a place where this is a stressor instead of food insecurity or poverty. I'm lucky to have any legs at all.

Somehow, we mixed up the word "minimizing" with "pretending it doesn't exist."

I'd like to use a psychological tool here, called "reframing."

When we look at our problems and zoom out, we're able to see their actual size relative to larger problems. Go ahead, you can zoom in, too. The idea isn't to pretend the problem doesn't exist, that's called lying. The idea also isn't to make the problem feel bigger than it is, because yeah, well, that's also lying.

The idea is to understand a more accurate picture of the problem and it's relevance.

I'm also a believer in minimizing problems to help us "reframe" our situation and stay motivated to push on.

This varies from problem to problem and from person to person. It's your job to know yourself and adjust reframe your problem to suit your motivation habits.

If you're a person who gets overwhelmed by huge problems (that's me), then yes, you should absolutely minimize the problem.

If you're a person who needs a problem to be enormous before you actually take action (also me, sometimes) then you should absolutely maximize the problem.

Reframing is directly tied to your motivation and behavior. It's up to you to dial in, zoom out, or make the psychological adjustments you need to make.