Problem Solving
We’re faced with big and small challenges every day in our lives. Often times obstacles get in the way of our success and it’s how we deal with those obstacles that decide whether we keep going or if we quit. These challenges come not only mentally, but physically. Allow me to explain…
Let’s say you want to achieve the goal of starting a business. You’re going to have a lot of obstacles if you want to get that going. There are so many challenges: funding, time, technology, staffing, knowledge, skills, location, research, etc… Despite being one of the hardest projects you can take on, people start businesses every day.
When confronted with obstacles, people will make one of three choices: find a way to fix it, find an alternative, or give up. Those are really your only three choices. If you try starting a business but don’t have the money, you can either find a way to get the money, find another business that doesn’t require as much money, or give up.
When setting goals, these choices decide your outcome. Unfortunately, when confronted with a lot of obstacles, most people will get overwhelmed and quit, which is the worst choice possible. As I said before, failure is not an option and will likely cause that downward spiral. I think I drilled that 4 step cycle into your head enough, so I’ll shut up about that for now.
Taking an alternative is sometimes a good option. If you find it too challenging to start a brick and mortar business, a good alternative might be to start a business online. That’s choosing an alternative and it may have less or easier obstacles. Sometimes if your goals are far out of reach, you have to change your goals, and that is ok.
“There’s no reason to have a Plan B because it distracts from Plan A”
- Will Smith
Don’t always resort to the alternatives. The best option is to destroy those obstacles. The most successful will choose this path every time. Those with strong wills, motivation, and maximum belief, will do everything they can to succeed. Is it because they are stronger or have more potential than you? Not at all. It’s because they have an intelligent way of dealing with those obstacles and they are confident that there is always a way to meet their goals.
“For every problem you can’t solve, there is a smaller problem that you CAN solve.” - Ron Shatto, my college instructor.
That’s a quote that you can’t forget. Ron was talking about computer programming at the time, but I have applied that too many decisions throughout the years. It has changed the way I think about problems, big and small. It’s not hard to understand, but it can take some practice. If you break down a problem and ask why you can’t solve it, there is always a smaller problem that you can solve.
A lot of the toxic thinking that I see in people is that they will give up so easily that they actually search for reasons why they can’t do something. They are sabotaging themselves with their negative beliefs. Has anyone ever asked you for advice only to turn down everything you say by giving excuse after excuse?
“How do I find the right guy?”
“Well you should start meeting people. Hang out with friends more.”
“But I don’t have many friends.”
“You should try joining a club or a discussion group.”
“But there aren’t any groups that interest me.”
“Have you tried searching online? Or maybe try online dating?”
“There’s only losers online and creepy guys.”
Wow, just go do something rather than just coming up with so many excuses. Do you know somebody like this? Is it you? Stop and look at some of these obstacles and then apply the idea of breaking down the problem into smaller, solvable, problems. Let’s pick an easy one:
“You should try joining a club or a discussion group.”
“But there aren’t any groups that interest me.”
Let’s stop and think about why this is an obstacle.
Problem: There are no groups that interest me.
Why? -> New Problems:
1. Because I don’t have many interests.
2. I haven’t looked in the right places.
3. There really isn’t a group that interests me.
Why? -> New Problems:
1. Because I don’t have time or haven’t found anything I enjoy.
2. Because I haven’t looked hard enough or don’t know where to look.
3. There’s not a lot of groups around here.
Now we can begin to find possible solutions:
1. Devote some time to develop new interests. Try new things! Learn!
2. Research or ask around. There are many places to join groups.
3. Consider starting a group! Online or offline, to meet people.
Now this person can find a group or start a new group, meet people and make some friends, or possibly find “the right guy.”
Here’s an activity for you. Take a blank sheet of paper and write down a couple of problems you are facing right now in your life. Start with one problem and draw a box around it. You’re going to make a tree map and extend it level by level until you find a solution to your problem or find a small problem that you can solve, then work back up from there.
Example:
