Classy Problems is a daily post of thinking in motion by Dan T. Rogers. Each post stands alone as a thought-provoking piece, yet together, they create a puzzle of ideas. They invite you to see things from a different angle, rethink what you thought you knew, and explore what’s beyond your current understanding.
Classy isn’t just a read: it’s a practice. Read, listen, and join us for Classy Problems Live, a 15-minute, live virtual conversation held Monday through Thursday at 12:15p PT, where we gather to reflect on the Classy Problems post of the day. No need to prep. Just connect, explore, and reflect.
People Keep Asking Me
People keep asking me:
What am I trying to accomplish
with Classy Problems?
My response:
What I consistently make time for
is my intentional demonstration
of who I’m choosing to become.
That’s the most succinct answer
I have. It really is.
It’s not the first time
I’ve had to explain
a disconnect like this,
so here’s why:
I’m a deeply spiritual person.
I refer to that spirit as theboss.
theboss made it clear
I was supposed to be
a part of the mission
to redeem work.
The word. The place. The way.
The call I received
was crystal clear.
It didn’t come with
a lot of details.
Which is fortunate.
Because details
tend to keep me stuck.
(More on that later)
Writing and sharing the daily posts
was the next indicated action.
Vital to the mission.
Vital to what I’m trying to become.
Remember that part?
That was in my “succinct” answer.
The writing
is my intentional demonstration.
The way I show my alignment
with what I claim to believe.
Classy Problems has a
modest following.
The people who get it, get it.
That’s good enuf for me.
I’m trying to do my part
in answering the call
to redeem work.
A member of our community
recently suggested
adding stories to the posts.
Up to that point,
I thought the posts would be
more helpful if I left myself out.
I wasn’t trying to be virtuous.
I didn’t think it wasn’t necessary.
I was writing from
my own transformation.
Capturing what I was learning,
how I was learning it.
Trying to cut the clutter for others.
I know how often
details keep me stuck.
Don’t get me wrong.
Details matter.
They make life, life.
In my development process,
the details get in the way.
Letting go of the details
is a post-survival skill for me.
I wrote with that intent:
Strip it down.
Deliver the insight.
Move on.
Let me slow down here…
I wasn’t trying
to be efficient or fast.
My learning is slow.
Inelegant.
Brutal.
I show up flushed, flawed,
and drop the F-bomb.
Development is brutal.
It requires leaving the known.
A seed breaking through the surface
is beautiful to us.
To the seed?
It’s a crisis.
If I go too long
without some kind of suffering,
I know I’m running
from truth or avoiding growth.
I don’t make the rules.
I just track the patterns
and pass them on
for your consideration.
Letting go of the details
still sucks.
The letting go
eases my own suffering.
It keeps me moving
toward becoming.
Back to the original question:
What am I trying to accomplish
with Classy Problems?
I love stories for
entertainment.
I love information for
engagement.
The more the better.
The more better.
Give me the structure,
the reasoning,
the actions.
I’ll find the connections.
That’s how I’m wired.
I wrote for people
wired like me.
Clean, abstract, non-personal.
I was committing
the efficiency over effectiveness offense.
A classic case of
survival thinking
in a post-survival moment.
No story. No personal angle.
All value. All signal. No static.
Or so I thought.
I was different in conversations
and in our trainings.
I would share in the story.
A moment where I was stuck
in the details of life.
Some people leaned in.
Some
looked for the emergency exit.
Those who stayed?
They’d say the story helped.
That it connected.
Even when someone
in our community said,
“Hey, these would land even better
with a story…”
I still didn’t make the connection.
It turns out the personal parts
weren’t a distraction.
They were the doorway.
That realization
made me more
than a little uncomfortable.
It means letting go of a version of me
that believed more helpful
meant less personal.
This is the next version of next.
The next version of next of me
and of Classy Problems.
It’s where I name the stuckness
of the too much toomuchness.
What I couldn’t see.
What the system underneath
revealed.
Then, just like before,
I’ll zoom out
and share my understanding.
Hopefully clearer than before.
What I consistently make time for
is my intentional demonstration
of who I’m choosing to become.
Sometimes the story is the signal.
It’s more than details.
It’s the connection.
Are you leaving out details
that lead to connection?
Beyond Comparison
I am impressed
when I see others do it.
Motivated by it.
Their wins.
Their clarity.
Their pace.
I’m comparing.
Grading.
Measuring my version
against theirs.
I call it perspective.
It’s insecurity.
Lack of clarity.
Missed that I slipped
back into survival math.
Where everything is
a competition.
When everyone is
a scoreboard.
I was ranking myself
in a game I didn’t agree to.
Falling behind.
Feeling behind
someone who shipped
before I decided
what I was making.
That’s the loop.
External comparison in place of
internal competition.
Wanting their progress
instead of my proximity.
I’m not in competition with them.
I’m in conversation with myself.
The right question at that time is:
Am I becoming
the next version of myself
on purpose?
Internal competition
is about witnessing.
Noticing my patterns.
Choosing the shift.
External comparison
creates pressure.
Internal comparison
reveals progress.
What version of you
are you comparing to?
Capture the Learning (CtL)
It’s strong and clear.
The moment.
The breakthrough.
The feeling.
I will never forget it.
I move on.
Fast.
Put into play.
I call it momentum.
It’s a leak.
The insight already started to fade.
I had a realization.
With no reflection.
No retention.
No record.
Like leaving a powerful conversation
without writing down what it revealed.
The loop of the pattern of
insight without integration.
Clarity without capture.
The right question in these moments is:
What can I learn from this experience?
Feeling?
Breakthrough?
Moment?
Then captured learning
becomes reusable.
Sharable.
Trainable.
It moves from insight to instruction.
From personal to transferable.
What is captured, compounds.
Learning is about retaining.
Practicing.
Passing it on.
What are you living
that could be captured?
When I Complain About Classy Problems
I know it sounds like humble bragging
when I complain about classy problems.
Too many options.
Too much opportunity.
Too many people who want in.
I say I’m overwhelmed.
Am I?
These aren’t survival problems.
They’re post-survival.
They’re the problems that only show up
after the essentials have been provided.
I call it pressure.
It’s a privilege. An opportunity.
I can’t see the loop
of confusing complexity for pain.
Mistaking burden for contribution.
I thought I wanted relief.
What I needed was restraint.
Like editing a post
that has too many good ideas
I can’t stand to let one go.
This loop looks like difficulty.
It’s discomfort.
The suffering of scaling signals.
What helps me reframe is remembering:
Classy problems don’t need to be fixed.
They need to be considered
a design constraint.
They are showing me
what the next version of next
needs to include.
They show up when things are working.
The presence of classy problems
is an indicator that the system
is developing.
Are you naming a problem to solve or
designing a classier system?
Perfectly Reasonable, Totally Impossible
Sometimes I wonder
if I’m just not built for it.
Not the work.
Not the mission.
Not the goals.
The weight of it.
It’s not the pressure.
It’s the inherent double standard.
Be confident, but not arrogant.
Be empathetic, but not emotional.
Be driven, but have a balanced life.
It’s all stuff I want.
It’s all perfectly reasonable,
and totally impossible.
It never feels like enough.
There’s always another hurdle
that I trip over.
I catch myself thinking:
“Maybe I’m the problem.”
Like I should’ve figured it out by now.
Like I’m missing something
everyone else just… gets.
Like I’m the only one
pretending it’s working.
Even if I can’t name it exactly,
I know the pressure is real.
I know it costs more than I admit.
Why and Why Not
Sometimes I wonder
if I’m just not built for it.
Not the work.
Not the mission.
Not the goals.
The weight of it.
It’s not the pressure.
It’s the inherent double standard.
Be confident, but not arrogant.
Be empathetic, but not emotional.
Be driven, but have a balanced life.
It’s all stuff I want.
It’s all perfectly reasonable,
and totally impossible.
It never feels like enough.
There’s always another hurdle
that I trip over.
I catch myself thinking:
“Maybe I’m the problem.”
Like I should’ve figured it out by now.
Like I’m missing something
everyone else just… gets.
Like I’m the only one
pretending it’s working.
Even if I can’t name it exactly,
I know the pressure is real.
I know it costs more than I admit.
Nearness Without Proximity
I ask WHY to get grounded.
To find the center
of what matters.
I tell myself it’s clarity.
I can use it as a form of
hesitation.
“I need more information.”
I avoid WHY NOT
not to be thoughtful.
To be careful.
WHY NOT
opens up my thinking,
opens up possibilities.
I just might have to
change my mind.
My course.
My plan.
My will.
This is the loop of using intention
to avoid possibility.
Staying in the known.
Perfecting the plan.
Avoiding the open door.
Sticking to the roadmap
when the destination has changed.
Pausing on purpose, not on purpose.
On lack of desire to explore.
The right question is to ask
“Why?” to align with what matters.
AND
“Why not?” to loosen what limits.
To loosen my limits.
One gives me meaning.
One gives me movement.
Together,
they let me leave the known
without losing myself.
I thought we were aligned.
Same goals.
Same direction.
Same page.
Then I felt distance.
Drift.
Disconnection.
I told myself
it was timing.
Or bandwidth.
Or logistics.
I called it proximity.
It wasn’t.
We were in repetition
without alignment.
I pulled back.
Afraid of being “too much.”
Afraid of overdoing it.
Afraid of repeating
what should already be clear.
Like cancelling the meeting
because we “just talked,
we’re in a good place.”
Even though things still feel
misaligned.
This is the loop of avoidance
framed in a lie
I sold myself
as trust.
The right question is:
Am I practicing alignment
that makes nearness
possible?
Alignment is a moving target.
It takes repetition
before it finds resonance.
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Classy Problems is a daily post of thinking in motion by Dan T. Rogers. Each post stands alone as a thought-provoking piece, yet together, they create a puzzle of ideas. They invite you to see things from a different angle, rethink what you thought you knew, and explore what’s beyond your current understanding.
What is a classy problem? A classy problem is when we’ve been afforded the opportunity to figure out what to do. Time to figure it out. Time to practice. Time to discern. When faced with the time to figure out a classy problem, it is more effective to focus on what NOT to do than trying to figure out what to do. In a word: restraint. JOIN US in exploring the distinction between what to do and what not to do in the pursuit of clarity.
THE INTENTIONAL COURSE: Explore our upcoming virtual courses held every week and choose the path that resonates most with your journey. Each session provides a supportive space to reflect, learn, and develop alongside a like-minded community.
Through facilitated sessions, participants focus on one concept at a time, allowing for flexible implementation and deeper learning. The Intentional Course fosters a supportive community where participation is key and offers valuable interactions through small group discussion for shared experiences enhancing comprehension and personal development. This course is offered for fun and for free with no strings attached.
SPIRITUAL GANGSTER: at The Sober Curator is a haven for those embracing sobriety with a healthy dose of spiritual sass. This space invites you to dive into meditation, astrology, intentional living, philosophy, and personal reflection—all while keeping your feet (and your sobriety) firmly on the ground. Whether you’re exploring new spiritual practices or deepening an existing one, Spiritual Gangster offers inspiration, insight, and a community that blends mindful living with alcohol-free fun.
Spiritual Gangster Line-up:
Stoicism & Sobriety – Ancient Philosophy for Modern Recovery with Sober Curator Contributors Derek Castleman and Tony Harte
The Card Divo – Quick & Sober Tarot Readings with Sober Curator Contributor Senior Daniel G. Garza
Classy Problems – Clarity, Restraint & Mindful Decision-Making with Senior Sober Curator Contributor Dan T. Rogers
SoberCast with Six – Astrology & Tarot for the Sober Life with Senior Sober Curator Contributor Analisa Six
Sobriety in Flow – Yoga Beyond the Poses with Senior Travel Sober Curator Contributor Teresa Bergen
Thirsty for Wonder – Recovery Coaching & Spiritual Companionship with Sober Curator Contributor Anne Marie Cribben
Spiritual Substance – Mindfulness, Science & Soul with Senior Sober Curator Contributor Lane Kennedy
Recovery is hard 24/7, 365 – Please know that resources are available
If you or someone you know is experiencing difficulties surrounding alcoholism, addiction, or mental illness, please reach out and ask for help. People everywhere can and want to help; you just have to know where to look. And continue to look until you find what works for you. Click here for a list of regional and national resources. If your life or someone else’s is in imminent danger, please call 911. If you are in crisis and need immediate help, please call: 988.
