NO PROBLEMS TO SOLVE, NO SUCCESS

You want to be a success, look for challenges to deal with. This principle is not a favourite with people because no one wants to be burdened, everyone wants a smooth sail. But let’s look at it from this perspective: to be successful at anything you are doing is learning how to deal with the problems that comes with it. If you think about this you will realise that you cannot say you are a success at anything if you didn't have a challenging situation to deal with.

Imagine meeting a gynaecologist or an engineer who has had his qualification for over 20 years but who has never practised his field. You cannot call him a successful gynaecologist or an engineer, can you? Of course he can be successful at other things but you definitely cannot call him a success at this one thing. Or imagine also working without handling anything above your scope of knowledge, or not having a problem solving situation to deal with at time. To be a success at something you have to know how to solve the problems/challenges that come with it.

First off, identify the problem or identify that there is a problem. People often go through a cycle of stress, depression and desperation not knowing what to do and that the solution lays just a reach away. While going a normal routine also, something not planned for comes up that unbalances you, something not in your plan. The response should be same, identify what that thing is. You cannot solve something if you do not know what it is. Do not be vague, give it a name.

From here on you can do two things: you can either decide to focus on the problem or distance yourself from the problem and forge ahead to find a solution. You can also act like nothing happened. People have different reactions when faced with problems; some are frightened to the extent of quitting, some blank out the problem and act like it is not there, while others face the problem headlong. The thing is if you do nothing about it, the situation remains. If you decide to focus only on what is at stake without doing anything about it you only waste your time, energy, resources because you keep going over it again and again.

Deciding to not think about the problem and focusing instead on how to solve is not denying the existence of the situation; it is simply called moving ahead. Dwelling on the issue at hand would not make it go away anyway so why keep at it? The problem remains a fact that is most unlikely to go away no matter how long you brood, it is better to forge ahead and find a solution.

Consider also that time is of essence and time lost is time that cannot be regained. Don’t waste time; instead be quick, think quick, take actions to nip the problem in the bud and don’t give it room to grow and entrench itself. The sooner you begin, the sooner you will find a solution to resolve the matter before it gets out of hand. When you focus on the problem too long you are using up more time than you can afford to lose.  Best therefore to use time wisely.

Try to do it yourself. The natural response of man is to seek for help without trying first. While putting time into consideration, and while it is okay to seek help from sources outside yourself, consider also coming up with the solution yourself. If you are having troubles coming up with a solution yourself then ask for help. But try first.

The amazing thing is that once you decide to take that step to solve a problem, it makes you a stronger person. You gain the mastery when you practise doing something over time, you gain experience each time you resolve a problem. Something that used to be daunting to you will no longer have the ability to do so because you know how to deal with it.

From here on, it will take greater problems to test your limits. Getting bigger challenges should not in any way restrict you because you have your experience to act as a guide in finding solutions to resolve matters.

There is no problem bigger than you once you relieve yourself of fear, doubt, and procrastination. Our ability to cope is stronger than we usually give ourselves credit. This goes beyond the ‘power of positive confession’ to man’s natural instinct to survive if he wants to.

(to be continued in Steps to Solving a Problem)