Friday, December 8, 2006

Recipe For Solving Frustrating Problems In Life And Business

“Life doesn’t have meaning unless we learn how to handle our problems” – M. S. Peck

How do you perceive problem? Do you see it as an avenue to grow or do you regard it a way of perpetual suffering? What is your attitude when you are having problem? Do you brace up and face it or do you shrink away from it? Do you seek solution or do you wallop in self pity and wish the problem would grow wings and just vanish into thin air? Confronting problems is the hallmark of successful people.

Problems are part of our human life that cannot be merely wished away or run away from. The more problem you are able to solve in your life; the more knowledgeable you are to help others solve theirs and this translates to you making lots of money. Problems require conscious efforts on our parts to effectively and positively turn them to goldmine. Yes, problems are goldmine! Of course, that depends on your perception of the problematic situation. Just like two prisoners looking out of a prison window; one saw a brighter future beyond the four corners of the prison wall while the other saw nothing beyond his present predicament and incarceration. Expectedly their fate was the manifestation of their thoughts; one came out free and the other died in prison.

Many people shy or run away from taking certain decisions, actions or activities because of problems they might likely encounter. But what such people don’t realize is that problems bring about situations and circumstances for our growth. Those very things we want to avoid in life are the things that nurture us and shape us into the persons we should be.

Some problems are quite normal such as been temporarily out of cash or job and others could be more frustrating and chaotic, this could be you are facing bankruptcy and the bank threatens to take over your home and other possessions.

The question now is how do you handle such problem or chaotic situation? The following tested and trusted principles would go a long way in assisting you to come out of any problematic situation triumphantly:

Have A Possibility/Positive Mindset About The Situation/Problem

Your ability to solve any problem facing you depends largely on the state of your mind regarding the situation at hand; If you are pessimistic about the outcome of what you are passing through then you can be sure the result wouldn’t be otherwise. One of the prisoners mentioned earlier on never saw himself getting out of the prison alive and he never did.
Let’s assume you are having poor sales problem, until you begin to visualize yourself making more sales you won’t make any progress and if you perpetually think of the poor sales then the situation would get worse. Are you experiencing downturn in your relationship? Then change your mindset and perception of such relationship and you will begin to experience a blissful relationship. Is it lack of money? Don’t dwell on your lack rather begin to visualize living in financial abundance and in the long run the situation would change, as it would get to a time that the idea to make the money would pop into your head or you are linked with people and circumstances that would bring about its manifestation.
A few years back, I was preparing for my professional exam along with a course mate who always made a remark that if we should fail it won’t matter because it was our money that we spent. Then I didn’t know the concept of positive mindset or that I could change my life by changing my thought. At a point my mind began to take in everything she was saying and when the result came out she failed all her papers while I struggled to pass two out of four papers. This means we should be careful the people we hang out with. They could have tremendous effect upon our lives and we need to sieve and analyse data/information emanating from them.

Don’t ever believed the situation or problems confronting you cannot be solved; always have it in mind that solution to such problem exist even if you don’t know it at that moment. If you believe the solution is possible then you will somehow come in contact with people who know the solution and are ready to share it with you. Whatever the problem is, you should never allow it to stop you from taking the right decision. If you desire to go on vacation don’t allow problem of cash to stop you from taking that decision. Be positive and optimistic why taking the decision and be open to all ideas that would come to you on how to get it done.
Dr. Robert Schuller was able to build a debt-free crystal cathedral worth millions of dollars because he believes in possibility and had a positive mindset toward his dream or how to raise fund for the project. “As a man thinketh in his heart; so he is”. Your reactions to a problem which could be positive or negative goes a long way in determine the outcome of such problem whether it would be solved or not.
Hence the first thing towards solving any problem is for you to believe that the problem is solvable no matter what.

State Clearly In Writing What the Problem Is
With the right mindset towards the problem you can then confidently go ahead to define clearly on paper what the problem is. Understanding the situation clearly is the first step towards solving it. You will be able to analyse the present situation of things and visualize the outcome or your expectations -the exact situation you desire which is still futuristic at that moment. It is essential that you refuse the temptation to do this mentally for best result.
Take your pen and writing pad or put on your computer and open the word processor and begin to type as the words come to your mind; don’t try to edit just type on. And any of these methods you prefer is okay as long as you refuse to do it mentally. One major reason for this is that as you write or type you will be passing the message to your subconscious that would be working on it underneath. But most importantly is the fact that you can always go back to your note or computer for clarification, further analysis or reference. Similarly, you will begin to have a sense of relief and peace of mind by the time you have fully poured your heart about the problem on paper or word processor.
I am always relieved and have a clear head to proffer solution each time I clearly defined my problems on paper.
In the poor sales example I gave earlier on; first of all you should have the mindset that you could do something to improve your sales. In other words, you must hold the picture of making more sales vividly in your mind and you should believe that you can possibly achieve this if you do the necessary things. You then go on to write down the exact problem you are facing, during this time you will definitely stumble on the causes and how to go about improving your sales.
And if it is a lack-lustre relationship; the right mindset is to desire for a blissful relationship and you will then describe in writing (or typing) what the situation is and how to go about it.

Look At The Problem From Another Perspective
You must look at the problem from all the perspectives or areas that are open to you at the moment. In the poor sales scenario, put yourself in your prospects shoes and ask yourself if you would buy from yourself judging by your present personality, communication skill, and product presentation etc. Also evaluate your product and see if you could buy it as it is. What about the price at which you sell? Can you buy at such price? Looking at the problem from another perspective will reveal the causes of the problem to you from a perspective you never thought possible before. Not only this, it would enable you to foster solution that would improve the situation.You can then go and ahead and group all similar causes together and this would enable you to brainstorm and come up with clear possible solution. If it is in a relationship, putting yourself in the other person position will reveal if you are the cause or not.
Some times you might need to reframe the problem to enable you get clearer picture of it. For instance, if your problem is “poor salary” you might reframe it to be “how do I improve my skills and knowledge about my job to enable me earn more money”. By doing this you will put your mind (subconscious) into action.

Identify And Write Down People And Other Idea Source That Could Offer You Valuable Assistance In Solving The Problem
Two heads are always better than one; hence you should seek the alliance of right thinking and problem solving people that could assist you in solving the problem confronting you and tap into their wisdom. You should identify people that had such or similar problems in the past and approach them for assistance. Find out how they were able to overcome such problem in their lives. You might to seek out the assistance of the top ten sales people in your field and tap their knowledge. Most of them would be more than willing to help out; all you need do is ask them.
However, due to peculiarity of every problem vis-à-vis individual difference in approaching situations, there could be other circumstances that might make your situation a little bit unique from the people you have approached for assistance and their solution might not be hundred percent applicable to your situation/problem. Never mind! The fact still remains that you would have, in the process of asking as many such people as possible, gained insight on how to perfectly solve the problem and seek out other idea areas.

Write Down All The Steps You Need To Take To Solve The Problem
You must at this point write or type out, as the case may be, series of actions that you must take to solve the problem. Ask yourself: What, Who, How.
Do you need to improve your communication skills in order to communicate effectively and meaningfully to your clients and spouse? What course or skill do you need exactly to improve your relationship and performance? How do you enrol for such training and what would be the duration? Do you need to take your spouse out more often? Must you apologise to him/her? You must arrange all the steps in sequential order so that you don’t put the cart before the horse. Do you need more money? Do you need to go to school first; obtain more degrees and go back to work?

Analyse All Options And Choose The Best
You must review all causes of the problem in relation to all possible solutions you have come up with and carefully choose the best option. For instance, poor salary or lack of money could be the problem. One option might be to look for another job that pays higher salary and another option might be doing something on your own part time such having online business. Yet another option might be to approach your employer for increment in salary. Etc.

Take Action!
At this stage no more story, swing into action and begin immediately to implement the best option you have chosen. Do bother about having all the materials or facts in place before you take action. If you do, you will never get started and the problem might become more complex and demands extra efforts to get solved. Delay could be very dangerous, ACT NOW!

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