Talk it through with Aurelius
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Aurelius · Work & Leadership
Knowledge + Guidance

Why am I always the one who fixes the impossible tickets?

Here is the plain fact: you are fast and you are good, so the hard problems find you. This feels like proof of your value. It is also how you became the only path through the wall. Look closer and you will see the trap is not their doing. No one forced you to be the last line of defense. You chose, each time, to just fix it — quietly, quickly, without a word to anyone about how. That choice built the habit everyone now depends on. This is not a complaint to file against your team. It is a pattern you can break, one ticket at a time, starting with the next one that lands on your desk.

◆ How this problem reads on the two dials
GuidanceKnowledge
More coaching
A little to learn
1:1 with AureliusWith others (a Pod)
Mostly you & the coach
A little with peers
The person already has the skill; what they lack is a different set of habits, so this leans heavily toward coached action over new information.
How the two dials adapt to you →
What’s really going on

You trained them to. Every time you solved it without complaint, you taught them you are the solution, not the system. The fix is not to complain louder — it is to stop being available as the shortcut. Teach, document, refuse. Choose which fires you walk into.

🔒 What you’ll build togetherUnlock by starting
A moveNext time you solve an impossible ticket, write down the fix in plain steps before you close it out.
A movePick one category of ticket this month and hand it to someone else — even if they're slower at first.
A moveBefore touching the next hard problem, ask yourself: who else could learn this if I stepped back?
A moveSay no once this week to a ticket that isn't truly urgent, and name why.
A moveCount how many hours you spent fixing other people's problems last week. Look at the number honestly.

What changes unlock by starting

  • Fewer tickets default to you without a fight.
  • At least one other person starts solving problems you used to own alone.
  • You recover hours each week for your own work.
  • People start respecting your judgment about what needs you, not just your speed.

Related problems

One object, two jobs: a public answer to a real problem, and — the moment you start the chat — Aurelius’s live plan for your version of it.