Name it. Then we can think.

Name it. That is one of the most useful instructions I know.

If something troubles you, what is it? Disappointment? Fear? Resentment? A sense that you have agreed to something you do not believe in? Each answer points towards a different question. “I feel terrible” tells you very little about what needs to change.

The same applies to work. “We have a problem” is the beginning of a conversation. Which problem? A decision no one has made? A promise someone cannot meet? A product that solves something the customer does not care about? Until we identify it, activity can become a very elaborate method of avoiding it.

Naming is an act of attention. It asks me to distinguish one thing from another and say what I mean. It gives thought something definite to examine.

A name can also be wrong. I may call something love when I mean dependence, loyalty when I mean habit, or confidence when I mean that I have not checked. Precision requires honesty, including the willingness to correct myself.

Once the thing is named properly, I can ask what caused it, whether my judgment is sound, and what I want to do. I can learn from it. I can choose.

That is where a better life becomes possible: when I begin to understand the particular things I value, want, fear and enjoy.