Almost every goal you pursue will have its obstacles. If you want to succeed, you must master the art of problem-solving. These tips will send you in the right direction.
Motivate yourself. Say YES I CAN. The challenge should bring out the best of you in this situation. Slow it down, think that process though. Develop that swagger in saying there’s no way you’re going to fail at this. If you develop that mindset, you’ll get it done.
Diagnose the root cause. The quickest way to solve any problem is to find its root cause. What is at the very source of the issue? It usually takes some time to determine this. However, the time is well spent because once you know the root cause, then you can address it and move on. With people, they often oppose you out of fear. You need to determine exactly what it is about the action you are taking that makes them afraid and address it with them. Here’s a hint, it usually isn’t the first thing they tell you.
Let failure fuel and fear you in a positive way. Most people will avoid any challenge, because they’re scared of failing. Running from that challenge IS failing! Everyone fails at times. It’s not how many times you get knocked down that counts. It’s how many times you get up in life that matter. If you fail the first, second, or third time, don’t give up. Pick yourself up, and learn from why you’ve failed, and move on in positive direction. Learn what made you fail at overcoming these challenge, or challenges.
Listen to your gut instinct. This is the nagging little idea in the back of your head that doesn’t really seem logical, but ends up being the solution anyway. In almost every case, you try to dismiss it by reasoning that it couldn’t possibly be the right thing to try. However, once you give in,you find that it leads you exactly to the solution you desired. Listen to your gut. It often knows what to do.
Maintain being positive and confident. Overcoming a challenge, you have to believe you can really do it. You have to find out all the ways you can overcome it, and put it to full use and effort. People overcome all kinds of challenges every day. Challenges aren’t nearly as hard as presented most the time. Depends exactly what this challenge is. It’s our own mental stability that’s the difficult part. When you get into the mind frame of doing it mentally, you’ll actually be able to do it. You can’t do it, until you get there mentally.
Think the best, not the worst. What can really be the worst thing that happens if you don’t overcome this challenge? Do you lose something extremely valuable? Are you afraid you’ll be mocked? Labeled a failure? The most successful people have been labeled these things at one point or another. How do you think they overcome challenges in their life? They’ve been through the process of not doing it before. Instead of staying down, they use these parts of their life to help overcome them in the future. Don’t let anything stick to you, then you’ll be able to overcome all challenges you face in your life.
Change your attitude toward the situation. Sometimes we are the problem. Evaluate your attitudes and see if a change in the way you are looking at the situation might help to overcome the obstacle. This is especially useful in situations where the obstacle is another person. You might need to change your attitude toward this person in order to get their cooperation. It is going to take some maturity, but the results are often astonishing.
Sleep on it. You have had numerous stubborn problems where you spent hours trying to solve it with no success. Then you gave up, went to bed, and awoke the next morning with a new idea that fixed the situation almost immediately. Sometimes we just need to give our brains some time to rest and work on the issue. It is often hard to walk away, but sometimes this is the best thing to do.
Recruit the assistance of others. Get your friends, family, and co-workers involved to help think of ways to overcome the obstacle. Remember, two heads are better than one. Often, these people will have a different perspective on the situation that will lead to an immediate breakthrough. Also, they can serve as champions or cheerleaders to help move you past the present obstacle.
Never give up. Don’t quit! Remember a quote from Vince Lombardi, “Winners never quit and quitters never win.” This is so true! You may have to back up, turn around, or take a completely different approach, but you can never stop trying to get past the present roadblock. Perseverance is what will lead to success. Refer to people that attack problems with this level of tenacity as bulldogs. They persist until they find a solution no matter what odds are against them. This is the only way to success!
