Central vs. Surface

I’m not a psychologist, and the last thing I’d want to pretend to do is have intimate knowledge of how to help people fix deep rooted issues. But I do understand the difference between problems that are on the surface and one that runs central to behaviors.

Surface: “I’m sorry for that outburst, I am having a tough day again.”
Central: “My emotions frequently get the best of my interactions with people.”

Surface: “Sorry I no showed for the gym again, I hit traffic.”
Central: “I constantly fail to plan well and therefore miss opportunities to improve.”

Surface: “I always eat out for lunch because I find it hard to prepare it ahead of time.”
Central: “I have time management issues that prevent me from bigger goals.”

Surface: “I always snack on bad food at night.”
Central: “I still feel the need to buy junk food despite knowledge it will work against my current goals.”

We are all littered with both surface and central issues that could use some fixing. What I typically find helpful is to take inventory of all the surface issues that I face in life when my actions don’t align with my goals.

Some common culprits are:

• Poor planning — Time?
• Self sabotage — Keep bad food in the house?
• Commitment Issues — Bail on healthy plans?

Just as it would be silly to constantly polish the hood of a broken down car, so too would it be counterproductive to focus on driving faster to fix your chronic tardiness. If you find yourself in consistent misalignment with where you want to be, it may be time to find out what’s consistently driving that.

It’s easier to fix than you think.

-Dave