ALL Problems Are Created by Your Mind (Day 3)

I first heard this idea in a Michael Singer lecture five years ago. He said to underline the word all, because the mind will immediately try to come up with exceptions.

The mind always has a problem. That’s just how it works. At least, the personal mind — the one that’s constantly chattering, planning, evaluating. It’s never quite satisfied.

But if you really stop and drop into this moment — not the plans, not the regrets, not the stories — you’ll notice something. There’s nothing actually wrong. There might be a situation unfolding. Something to do. Something uncertain. But the moment itself? It’s just happening.

Don’t take my word for it. Pause for a second. Right now, wherever you are — is there actually a problem? Or is there just an unfolding experience?

So we live in a strange paradox. Our minds are constantly scanning for problems, trying to fix things, improve things, get ahead of something. Yet in the direct experience of now, there’s often nothing wrong at all.

The Mind’s Endless Game

As I’ve gotten more curious about my own mind, I’ve started to see just how much it’s wired to fix things. It’s always trying to solve some current issue so that, at some point in the future, I can finally relax and be happy. It imagines this peaceful version of me who has no more problems — if I can just get through whatever it’s focused on right now.

What the mind doesn’t account for is the next wave. Because even when I solve the current problem, there’s always another one waiting. It’s like a conveyor belt. Solve this, another appears. Solve that, another one’s on the way.

When I was younger, I believed that once I figured out the big thing — the thing my mind was obsessed with at the time — I’d finally be content. “Once I’ve made it in poker,” “once I’ve got enough money to live freely,” “once I’m fit and full of energy”… then I’ll be able to relax. I’ll have arrived.

I played out that loop a few times and it never quite worked. So I changed strategies. I started meditating, looking inward, trying to quiet the mind instead of constantly obeying it. That led me to a ten-day silent retreat. No phone, no distractions, just sitting with myself to see what was really there underneath the noise.

And something did shift. I had some moments of deep stillness, where everything felt incredibly peaceful. But honestly? Most of the time, my mind was still doing its thing. It just had a different environment to do it in.

When I came back to the world, it didn’t take long before the mind jumped back in, trying to solve problems again. The problems weren’t as surface-level anymore — they felt deeper. What’s my true purpose? How do I find more peace in a fast-paced world? But they were still problems. Still framed around the same idea: if I can just figure this out, then I’ll be free.

This is the trap. The mind always has a problem. And yet, right here, in this very moment, there is no problem. So… how do you live with that?

Living in the Middle of the Tension

I don’t have a complete answer. I’m still in it. I’ve read what the teachers and gurus say, but that’s not what this is about. I’m more interested in what I’ve seen for myself.

Two things stand out. First, the more present I am, the more peaceful and alive I feel. When I’m fully here — not thinking about tomorrow, not replaying yesterday — I actually feel good.

Second, the more I live in the future, the more anxious or unsettled I become. It doesn’t matter what I’m working toward or how “positive” my plans are — if I’m living for something that’s not now, it creates a tension in my body that never really goes away.

This has been tough to sit with. I’m someone who likes goals. I like moving forward, building things, working toward something meaningful. But I’ve started to see that living today purely as a stepping stone to some imagined tomorrow keeps me stuck in the very pattern I’m trying to escape.

Doing the Thing for Its Own Sake

What I’m starting to learn — slowly, clumsily — is that peace doesn’t come from achieving the goal. It comes from how I approach the day I’m living.

Instead of doing things today so that I can be happy in the future, I’m trying to make today the point. Not in a romantic “live like it’s your last day” kind of way. Just in a quiet, grounded way — where the act of doing the thing becomes enough.

This might sound subtle, but for me, it’s been huge. My mind has always seen today as a project. Something to get through or optimise so that future-me will finally be proud, successful, happy, whatever. But I’m starting to notice that when I just focus on showing up well today — not chasing anything, just being in the task, in the moment — I actually enjoy it more. I feel more alive.

And that experience? That’s the thing I was chasing all along.

Some Lessons Can’t Be Taught

It’s taken me over a decade of personal development to really feel this — not just understand it, but feel it. You can hear someone say this stuff a hundred times and nod along. But until it lands in your own experience, nothing really changes.

The mind will keep doing what it does. That’s not a problem either.

It’s just good to notice it sometimes — and remember that maybe, right now, there’s actually nothing to fix.

Adam