How to solve problems quickly and effectively. How to find an effective solution

Tip 1: Don’t ask “Can I…”, ask “How?” So what?"
Many people, when faced with difficulties, ask themselves:

can I do this?
is it even possible to do this?
won't it get worse if I try to change something?
These thoughts are understandable. The greater the task and the more threatening the problem, the stronger the doubt. We are not confident in ourselves whether we have enough strength and ability to solve this problem.
In principle, thinking about the limits of your own capabilities is not a bad thing. Only when it comes to the moment when it is necessary to begin to act, the activity of such people for some reason slows down or they simply give up until the problem becomes complex, which in fact it was not.

Try to approach the problem from a different angle. Not the kind that makes you feel like you're up against an insurmountable wall, but the kind that opens the door to different possibilities for solving a particular problem. Better ask yourself:

What should I do better?
what should I do to solve the problem?
What exactly do I need to solve the problem?
who or what can help me?
what could be the first step in solving the problem?
Although questions of this nature do not solve the problem itself, you are still moving in the right direction. And if you think more about possible solutions than about the limits of your capabilities, this will give you strength and awaken the feeling that you yourself can build and organize your own life.
If you constantly replace the thought “Can I…” with “How?” and “What?”, you will have a good starting point for proactive problem solving.

Tip 2: Learn to find the positive aspects of your problems.
If we have some problem, then we would probably like best to postpone it for another day or completely forget about it. We view problems as annoying and just want to get rid of them like garbage. At the same time, we forget one thing: every problem constantly gives us opportunities to grow as a person and learn from it.

Accordingly, a useful step in solving problems is to regard them as learning tasks and strive to learn to love and solve these problems. This is probably even less theoretical than it sounds - since virtually every person does this in certain areas of activity.

Anyone, for example, who begins to study any sport or musical instrument immediately faces great difficulties. People who look at a goal that has not yet been achieved come into conflict with themselves and their abilities. They are unhappy that they are not so good, they spend a lot of energy on self-criticism. At the same time, their passion quickly wears off and they give up.

It’s different for those who love what they do and are trying to expand this love. Despite some failures and mistakes, they still enjoy their studies and thus find strength for further struggle.

For further solutions to problems that seem very difficult to you, the following questions may help you:

What is positive about this problem (for me or others)?
What will I learn from this problem (task)?
What experience will I gain that I would not have had without solving this problem?
How will my horizons and abilities expand when solving this problem?

Tip 3: If you understand the essence of the problem, you will already solve half of it
Many people, without understanding the problem, often choose the wrong ways to solve it. As a result, these paths lead to a dead end, since they were completely inappropriate to the problem at hand.
Let's say you have a conflict with a work colleague. You ask yourself what the problem is and come to the conclusion that your colleague is jealous of you because you get more money for the same work. And no matter what measures you took, they would not lead to a solution to the conflict, since hatred in this case is not a problem, but a consequence.

Indeed, in reality it is not easy to understand the essence of the problem. We readily forget that problems almost always have several causes and factors. Of course, it would be much simpler if we were dealing with unambiguous cause and effect. Typically, a problem is a system that includes various factors and actions.

So try to remember that most things are much more difficult than you think they are. This is a useful thought that protects against hasty and rash decisions.

So, try to resist thinking that you already know exactly what the problem is. Once again, start from the beginning, feel the problem, look at it from different points of view, analyzing it this way:

This is how I would describe the problem:
What else can we talk about besides this:
and if you think about it, you can come to the conclusion...
who and what is involved in the problem...
what else could have an impact...
what has already been done to solve the problem, and what it led to...

Tip 4: Be open to different opportunities
This tip has a lot to do with tip #3. If you accept that problems are more complex than they seem at first glance, it becomes easier to understand that, as a rule, there is more than one solution that leads to a solution to a problem - and it is definitely not the first one that comes to mind.
The desire to quickly find a suitable solution to the problem is understandable. But it just as quickly leads to fixation on one possible solution. In some cases, this can lead to nowhere and make the problem worse. It often happened that people were so focused on the chosen solution path that they did not even notice that the problem had already been solved at an intermediate stage.

you think about the problem much more intensely;
you don't go too far in one direction, but stay mentally flexible;
In fact, you have various options available to you, and you will not doubt if the chosen path will lead to success.
So, don't close yourself to other solutions. Use creative methods to come up with different ideas. Write down all your ideas, and even those that seem crazy to you - who knows, maybe the solution to the problem lies in them.

Tip 5: Courage to think creatively
This advice has already been partially used in tip #4, but it is so important that it should be specifically addressed in a separate question.
So, “thinking creatively” means coming up with extraordinary ideas, ideas that are often not understood or accepted by others, and having the courage to have crazy ideas and pursue seemingly false paths.

You cannot learn this in one day, but there are still a number of auxiliary tools through which you can begin to develop this quality in yourself, for example:

Ask people who have no idea about your problem at all for their ideas. Often even naive and simple-minded people come to brilliant ideas that we ourselves could not come to due to some existing ideas.
Just turn your problem around. And ask instead of “What can I do to make the relationship better?” - “What can I do to make the relationship worse?” This allows you to see problems in a new light. Although it sounds crazy, this is how people often come up with ideas that they couldn't find in the first question.
Give free rein to your fantasies and associations. Frame the problem differently. Open a dictionary or lexicon on any page and randomly select a term. It doesn't matter whether the term is relevant to your problem. Write down all the associations between this term and your problem.
Please note: it takes practice to come to a completely new thought. Don't expect too much from yourself right away, but just be open and curious about exploring this type of thinking. And everything will work out!

A lot has been written about the classification of problems, about the methodology for solving them, various algorithms for “solving problems” have been painted and painted, but nothing really changes. If there are problems, then there are methods to solve them

A lot has been written about the classification of problems, about the methodology for solving them, various algorithms for “solving problems” have been painted and painted, but nothing really changes. If there are problems, then there are methods for solving them, well, it cannot be that humanity has not encountered problems since its inception. There were many of them and they were somehow resolved. Now we have no problems with the fact that the saber-toothed tiger, who wants to eat us, prevents us from leaving the cave for food. Problems are being solved.

The first thing you need to know (and many people already know this, but I’ll just remind you) is that if a person himself does not want to solve his problem or problems, then they will not be solved. You can only help a person solve it. And this statement has been tried - tried, tested and re-tested, but the fact remains: if a person (or a group of people) does not want to solve a problem, then it will not be solved and no one will help solve it. There is, of course, an even more difficult case when a person or a group of people do not realize at all that they have real problems and, accordingly, they will sit in them, and they (the problems) will ruin their life. Therefore, in order to solve a problem or problems, it is necessary to first recognize and detect them.

And here is a method, whether you want to call it an exercise or something else, but it works:

• The first thing to do is take a piece of paper and a pen and write down a list of problems that you have or in your field of activity, regardless of whether you think it is one that can be solved or one that cannot be solved, just write it down .
• Second: from the entire list, choose the problem whose presence you are most easily aware of, that is, the problem that seems to you or is perceived by you as the smallest. People often make the mistake of trying to do something about their biggest problem.
• Third: you have chosen such a problem (you want to mark it somehow in the entire list or write down its wording below the entire list), and now write down (of course, you will need to think about it) what you can do to solve this problem . That is, it is realistic what you can do to solve this problem.
• And fourth: do it!!! That is, solve it, this little problem.

Let's go over it quickly:

1. You make a list of problems (for example, you have 5):
   - I have a problem with my teeth, I need to go to the dentist, but I’m afraid;
   - Apartment without renovation for 15 years;
   - no one would take out the trash can, the kitchen stank;
   - there is no additional source of income, but I want even more money;
   - My son doesn’t want to study and we can’t do anything about it.
2. You see that the trash can is the least of your worries (and you don’t need to include here “my son is a blockhead, not only does he not want to study, but he also doesn’t take out the trash, he doesn’t understand that the trash needs to be taken out” - it stinks to you now, and not him - you have a problem). So you write down this problem as the smallest one or mark it on your list.
3. Write down what you can do with it. You, not a blockhead. And you write “Take it out into the yard into a garbage container” (or a home garbage chute, or somewhere else where normal people throw garbage, and not to a neighbor under the apartment, since this will be another problem).
4. Easily or grittingly, gritting your teeth, you take out this bucket of garbage and bring it home without garbage and perhaps wash it (if something stinks in there). And it’s one less problem, and then you don’t persecute your son for it - it doesn’t exist.

And here’s the math here: let’s take and designate one problem as a unit, a unit of your nerves, attention, time, energy, mental activity, worries, energy and other things. In our example there are 5 problems, that is, 5 units. Due to the fact that you have them, they do not add up to one another, but rather multiply, since they are all yours. And we get 5 (units) of problems multiplied by 5 problems (units) and we get 25 units of negative emotions, nerves, and so on, and the feeling that you have not 5 separate problems, but 25! And all this puts pressure on you and rather you have the feeling that everything is a problem and there is no way out of it.

And so you wanted to cope with the biggest one - where do you get the strength if you essentially have 25 problems that are pressing on you with all their might?

And then you took out the trash can and now you have 4 problems, and 4 times 4 is 16, that is, 9 units of negativity or tension less. These are the 9 units that are now yours, and which you can now use to solve the next problem on the list and for some other, more constructive or useful and pleasant things.

Then look at the list further. And you find that the next problem that is easiest for you to look at is that you need to get your teeth in order and you write down what can be done about it and then go to the dentist (perhaps having quickly found out before that where the most humane in dentist in the world) and get your teeth in order. Now you have 3 problems, and 3 times 3 equals 9 units, which is 7 units less. And so on down the list: find the easiest one from the list, write what you can do with it and now you have 2 problems or a total of 4 units (and the rest of the original 25 are released and give you more opportunities to do something and more courage to solve other problems, the like arises). And then you are left with one problem, which most likely will no longer be a problem, but will be a task that needs to be completed.

There is one caveat here: as the number of problems decreases, you may be tempted to abandon all the others. Don't do this, the right thing to do is solve them. Naturally, when you release the units “locked” in problems, a new outlook on life will appear and you will re-plan something in your life and something will simply cease to be your problem (for example, a hurricane in the USA will stop bothering you or you will find out that your son knows what he wants and is interested in specialized training, and now the goal will appear - to find those people or institutions that will help your son develop his abilities and talents in the field of activity for which he has a craving).

Take these 4 steps, they help a lot and it’s natural that it may take a few minutes to take out the trash can, but creating and promoting your business (or another one) will most likely take more time.

If problems start to arise, just do these 4 steps.

As for solving problems that concern not you personally, but, for example, the team (staff, country, and so on), then on the contrary, everyone needs to eliminate the biggest blockages together, but this is a separate topic.

You will succeed!

Every day, each of us is faced with all sorts of tasks, difficulties and problems, the solution of which requires a huge amount of mental, energy, time and sometimes financial costs. Most problems need to be resolved urgently and extremely.

Each individual problem may have its own level of complexity and significance. Thus, it is quite possible to solve simple problems without having special knowledge and skills, but more complex ones can be dealt with only if you have specific information.

But, be that as it may, there are some fundamental principles, guided by which a person can cope with any difficulties that arise on his life’s path, and it does not matter at all what sphere of life they relate to: business, work or interaction with other people. In addition, these principles will help not only resolve problems, but also do so with minimal investment of time and effort.

And in this article we want to introduce you to precisely these principles.

Principle one: the problem must be understood

First of all, the problem you have received must be understood, i.e. you need to clearly define for yourself what its essence is, and what you are dealing with in general. You must come to the understanding that, by and large, the problem is simply a difficult situation or some unpleasant circumstance, and, as they say, something needs to be done about it.

Think about what caused the current situation, which of your actions turned out to be ineffective or erroneous. It is important to find out the cause, which will help avoid recurrence of the problem in the future. Next, try to think ahead and clearly determine what the consequences of the problem might be. And only after you have an objective vision of the situation, will you have the opportunity to resolve the situation.

Principle two: you cannot solve all problems at once

It often happens that problems pile up en masse: several problems may pile up at one moment, or it may happen that problems simply accumulate. Always remember that problems, firstly, need to be solved as they arise, and, secondly, not allowed to accumulate, otherwise this can aggravate the situation and create a serious emergency.

If this could not be avoided, then you should not allow the syndrome to appear, and start trying to solve all the accumulated problems overnight. Solve your problems one by one: first, write them all down on one sheet of paper, then prioritize, assessing the importance and urgency of solving a particular problem. After this, you will have a ready-made plan to overcome difficulties. And be sure to solve problems one at a time, focusing on a specific goal.

Principle three: act according to plan

The basis of successful activity is almost always an action plan. And problem solving is successful activity in all its glory.

Once you have a list of your problems and you know what needs to be addressed first, what needs to be addressed second, etc., break down the solution to each problem into several steps. Try to “cut the elephant into pieces” by dividing the problem-solving process into separate steps.

Let getting rid of an unpleasant situation become an exciting game for you, for which you have step-by-step instructions. Stick with it and don’t doubt that there is only one winner in this game - you.

Principle four: get rid of fear

Very often, fear gets in the way of solving problems. It even happens that a person is afraid to even write his problems on a piece of paper, so as not to face the real state of things. But, as you know, the only way is to meet him halfway.

Stop being afraid and thinking that something terrible is happening. Calm down and have a positive outlook. Start to imagine the problem in a different way - so that it becomes for you not a reason for despair, but an incentive for development. And don’t forget that what separates successful people from losers is their thinking. Challenges are an opportunity for them to become stronger. Allow yourself to become a successful person.

Principle five: learn from the experience of other people

Believe me, you are not the only person in the world who has problems. And many people have problems that you never dreamed of. But this does not at all diminish the importance of your problems, because... These are YOUR problems, not “someone else’s.”

However, you can use the experience of other people to solve your problems. How to recognize him? Yes, very simple. You can ask any of your friends, family or acquaintances if they have encountered your situation. You can ask your questions online and come across helpful sites, articles, or forums. You can even find a movie where a person solves problems and try to put into practice the methods from the movie.

As you can see, there are opportunities, and they are all around you. Your task is to see these opportunities.

Principle Six: Stay Calm

Decisions made based on emotions can often lead to negative results. Understand that when it comes to problem solving, impulsiveness is not the answer. This does not mean that you need to put your fist to your head and become a philosopher of your life, but you need to approach the resolution of your difficulties wisely, and this means that, first of all, you need to remain calm.

This also includes the fact that there is no need to be very upset, sad and grieving because of problems. Problems are a part of life, and they, like joys, tend to pass, they are simply perceived painfully by us. So treat troubles as a new turn on your path, and remember that a black streak will definitely be followed by a white one.

Principle seven: do not neglect support and help

Sometimes people, when faced with problems, try to solve everything only on their own, because... either they don’t want to let someone in on their affairs, or they are afraid of appearing in front of someone in an unfavorable light, or for some other reason. However, there are problems that can only be dealt with together, because family or friends can help with advice, carry out some errands, use their connections, etc.

For this reason, you should not neglect the support of others, and your reputation can be relegated to the background for a while. Of course, you shouldn’t humiliate yourself, but you can and should turn to someone for help if necessary.

Principle eight: do not increase problems

When faced with problems and thinking about ways to solve them, you need to try to calculate all possible prospects. The fact is that rash actions or “vague” ways to resolve a problematic situation can be potentially dangerous. In other words, they can give rise to other problems, which should not be allowed under any circumstances.

Always think beyond the long term, calculate your options several times and think about your every step. This is where the popular truth: “Measure twice, cut once” is most suitable.

Principle Nine: Take Action

Actions are the basis of any result. If you don't act, nothing will happen. Based on this, you must understand that if you just sit, do nothing and wait for the problems to resolve themselves, at best you will remain in the same situation, and at worst, the problems will worsen and cause other problems and fuss.

Planning alone is also not a solution, because, in fact, it is a theory. Once a plan is made, you need to take action and start attacking your problems. And the more decisive your actions are, the weaker the opposition to troubles will be.

Principle ten: believe in yourself

And the last thing I would like to say is that you always, everywhere and in any situation, no matter how difficult it may seem, must maintain faith in yourself and your strength. You must be above circumstances, even if they do not depend on you. You must perceive yourself as the master of your life. You must not just believe, but know that after solving problems, a new turn awaits you on the path to a bright future and life with fewer problems.

And one more thing: stop calling problems problems, because this alone makes a person begin to perceive what is happening in gloomy tones. Let problems become simply situations or circumstances that require a little more attention from you.

HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH PROBLEMS: Are you able to solve your problems effectively? How stress-resistant are you? How do difficult situations generally affect you? To answer these questions, as well as understand which qualities help you cope with difficulties and which ones hinder you, we invite you to take our self-knowledge course, from which you will learn enough about yourself to start working on yourself and learn to perceive everything that happens with your head held high. Go ahead and start getting to know yourself

We wish you success and perseverance!

Fragment from the book by Richard Newton. From words to action! 9 steps to making your dreams come true. - M.: Mann, Ivanov and Ferber, 2014.

With this book, you will draw up an action plan, create a visual diagram of achieving your goal, breaking the difficult path into clear, short and achievable stages, and begin to systematically move towards your dream, be it your own business, a new profession or professional skills in playing a musical instrument.

Problem solving is part of everyday life. And you have to be prepared for them, especially when you're working towards achieving a big dream. The more ambitious and complex it is, the more often you will encounter difficulties, and serious ones at that. As your ambitions grow, you will become increasingly dependent on your ability to confront circumstances and learn from your mistakes.

Fortunately, insurmountable problems are extremely rare. And many of them can be considered far-fetched, since we create them ourselves when we start to panic and lose control of ourselves. When faced with a problem, we sometimes don't give ourselves enough time to think about why it's happening and how we can change the situation. And most importantly, we don’t draw conclusions and don’t learn.

Not giving up and working hard to achieve your dreams requires both courage and a willingness to put in serious effort. In this chapter we will try to help you understand that problems are nothing special, they can be solved in one way or another. We'd like you to treat them as normal, so we'll show you how to draw conclusions and learn. By following our advice, you will significantly increase your chances of success and learn to take into account your own experience.

Sources of problems

Challenges are obstacles and difficulties that must be overcome in order to achieve a goal. As a rule, they arise for various reasons and are often the result of our own mistakes and failures. There are several factors that usually lead to problems. To identify them as early as possible, we advise you to regularly ask yourself the questions listed below.

• Am I really doing what I need to do and getting results? There is no point in deceiving yourself by evaluating your work unreasonably positively. Do you see real, measurable results from the work you undertake? Very often we do not achieve our goals and encounter problems because we are not fully immersed in our work. But if you allow yourself to be lazy and indulge your weaknesses, you are unlikely to make serious progress towards your dream, and problems cannot be avoided either.
• Do I understand what resources will be needed to take the next step?

When we start working on our dreams, we don’t have a complete idea of ​​what exactly we will need along the way. Therefore, you should constantly ask yourself what resources will be needed in the next step. Most often we miss some details at the very beginning - and it is important that everything you need is at hand at the right time, and not sometime later.

• Do the people who help me and work with me understand well what needs to be done, what we have already achieved and how the situation has changed? Almost always, the weakest link in a project is communication between participants. For some reason, we think that those around us fully understand us, although often we do not even give them complete information about what we expect from them. In our opinion, they know the same thing as we do, therefore, in general, everything is known and understandable. We believe that colleagues and partners know how the situation is changing and what needs to be done in the new conditions. It is very, very important to check and double-check that everyone knows and understands everything, especially if you feel that communication between participants is poor. This way you can avoid at least some problems. The fewer assumptions you make, the better the information will be conveyed about what is truly important and relevant.
• Am I developing paranoia? Some people think too much about what might happen. Sometimes we want to avoid failure or mistakes so badly that the thought of it completely paralyzes us. And in general, if you think a lot about potential troubles, you can provoke problems that would not have arisen with a more calm attitude to what is happening. Fear of failure often prevents you from giving your best to your dreams. So don’t allow yourself to worry too much and think about possible difficulties, better work harder!

How to avoid problems

One simple and effective problem-solving technique can help you avoid many of them. From time to time, be sure to ask yourself two questions that we have already discussed earlier in this book.

1. What is most likely to go wrong, and what can you do to avoid it?
2. What can improve your chances of success?

Whenever you achieve significant results and add new data to the map, ask yourself these questions, remembering to take into account the real situation, changes that have occurred in your project since work on it began, as well as potential changes. The further you move along the path to your dream, the more detailed you will be able to answer these questions, because you will begin to better understand what else is needed in order to make your dream come true, what techniques work more effectively and where failure may lie in wait.

In addition, the experience you gain will help you spot new opportunities and increase your chances of success. Use them to avoid some problems. You will become more confident as you gain new experiences.

How to solve a problem

The main thing in solving a problem is to understand what it is and not give in to fears and anxiety. There's nothing worse than panicking and trying to change something you don't fully understand. This way you can ruin everything without finding any solution. We offer you some tips that will help you overcome many difficulties that arise during your work.

• If you feel like you are overreacting to an incident, try to calm down. What can help here? Go somewhere where you can relax, treat yourself to something nice, take a walk or something similar.
• Try to explain to someone you trust what happened. After discussing the problem, you will not only calm down, but you will also immediately discover some mistakes that you would not notice if you began to dialogue with yourself. Describe the chronology of events as accurately as possible. Do not miss any details, even minor ones, and most importantly, listen to the questions and comments of your interlocutor.
• If you are working on a team, be sure to discuss what happened with everyone on the team. Listen carefully to their point of view in order to compare with your considerations, pay attention to discrepancies in assessments. During such conversations, the cause of the problem is easily identified.
• When starting work, you probably made various assumptions and assumptions. Be sure to check that they are correct, especially for those parts of the plan where you experienced failure. We all tend to make assumptions without checking their truth. Troubles most often arise because we start from the wrong premises at the very beginning of our work.
• Having dealt with what is happening, do not rush to blame yourself or someone else for the failure. Finding someone to blame is unlikely to help find a constructive way out of a difficult situation. Direct all your efforts to get the most positive result possible in the current situation. Think about the best way to move forward and solve the problem quickly.
• Take the time to discuss everything with your team, internalize the lessons learned, and draw conclusions from them. What can I do to avoid this in the future? Don't assume that everyone, including you, will come to the right conclusion if you don't at least discuss what happened. The more concerned you are about a problem, the more important it is to draw conclusions and discuss them with your team.

Give up everything that doesn't work

Successful people know how to quickly figure out what doesn’t work and give up on an unsuccessful idea in time. Teachers and parents probably warned you how important it is to be able to quit a hopeless business - as long as you don't give up on your dream. Change the wrong tactics, give up the wrong path, but don’t give up on your dreams. Every day we make mistakes, as a result of which we understand what is effective and what is not. Mistakes, to a much greater extent than successes, help humanity develop.

As you work to achieve your dreams, prepare for the fact that everyone involved in the project will make mistakes. If you learn quickly, adjust your tactics, and begin to move forward more successfully, mistakes will turn out to be positive for you. To be defeated once does not mean to fail completely. But the inability to take into account negative experiences and change behavior certainly leads to failure.

It is also important to pay attention to what problems you usually encounter. Suppose that from time to time you use the wrong tactics, but have not yet realized this and, accordingly, have not drawn any conclusions. If you feel like the same problem is happening over and over again, or if you see a pattern in a series of troubles, then you haven't noticed or recognized the repeating mistakes. If so, try to apply the problem-solving techniques we recommend and reflect on how you approach things in general. Talk to other people and, as soon as you understand what you are doing wrong, stop doing it. As Albert Einstein said, “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a new result is insanity.”

Don't be afraid to change your approach to work and see what happens. Most often, no radical changes are required: small improvements lead to great results and increase the chances of success.

Don't give up on your dream

Don't give up on your dream just because you're faced with a problem and don't know what to do now. Be patient, both with yourself and with others. Give yourself time to understand what is happening. Jonas Salk* said: “There is no such thing as failure, only a lack of perseverance.”

*Jonas Salk (1914–1995) - American researcher, virologist; known as the developer of the first polio vaccine. Note ed.

As you work towards your dream and learn more, you will begin to have a better idea of ​​the outcome and a clearer vision of how to achieve your goal. We strongly advise you to adjust your map whenever you learn something new and important. Improving your map and defining your dream more clearly is great practice. But giving up a dream halfway is no good. By doing this, you will only increase your own fears, undermine your self-confidence, and then it will become more difficult to develop. The more often you give up on your goals, the less likely it is that you will be able to achieve any of what you dream of.

How do I know if I'm doing everything right?

You can understand that everything is going as it should, that you are persistent enough and are successfully coping with problems:

• You talk calmly about the problems you face. When you are calm, you work through a problem from a rational rather than an emotional point of view and are more likely to find the optimal solution.
• You don't lose your sense of humor. If you are still able to laugh at your own mistakes, this means that you have accepted them, drawn conclusions and moved on.
• You understand well what you need to do differently now to avoid problems like the one you just encountered. You can't wait to continue working on making your dreams come true.
• As problems arise, you feel more and more confident and you no longer doubt that you will cope with them.
• The same problem does not occur over and over again. Even if difficulties appear, they can be considered new.

When a problem hits you like a tsunami. It may seem that this situation is isolated and standard solution methods are not suitable. This is partly true: other people's advice, which is generously scattered by colleagues, relatives or friends, is often too general and therefore not suitable for any specific case. We invite you to look at problem solving differently: from our article you will learn five steps in which you can deal with any problem. We will also talk about four basic principles that you can apply to solve any problem situation.

Step 1: State your problem clearly

A clear formulation of the pressing problem is already half the success. Most people who say they have problems will never be able to answer what exactly they are. For example, “I have problems in my relationships” is too abstract a formulation that makes it impossible to determine what exactly is not working for you in your relationship. Try to specify the problem so that it is easier for you to choose a method for solving it. Otherwise, you will have to try many methods before you find the right one. You may need to concentrate: we have found a simple way for you that will help you understand yourself and understand from which side you need to approach solving problems.

Step 2: Analyze your problem

You will be able to solve the problem faster and easier if you know for sure what caused it. It is most effective to act on the root of the problem: if you are fighting the consequences, not the cause, the result is unlikely to please you. In this case, we can draw an analogy with an illness: you will not be able to recover (or the recovery process will be delayed) if you treat the symptoms - for example, you take pills for a toothache instead of making an appointment with the dentist. It is clear that such an approach will not only not get rid of the problem, but will also aggravate it. Analyzing the situation will help you both in the present and in the future: if you understand why a problematic situation arose, you will be able to avoid it in the future.

Step 3: Understand What You Are you can do to solve the problem

If you want to solve a problem, you first need to decide on your own capabilities. It is advisable to pin them down on paper and make a list: even the most limitless possibilities can seem insignificant and small if you do not notice them. Take the trouble to make a list of what you can do to solve the problem, and then place it in a visible place: this will help you concentrate fully on the main thing, without paying attention to small matters.

This approach will help you rediscover all those possibilities that you have long forgotten about. For example, if your child is planning a masquerade party, but you cannot afford to buy an expensive costume, remember your talents, old interests and hobbies. Perhaps, as a child, you were fond of sewing, appliques, came up with various outfits, or simply loved to draw? If so, then feel free to get down to business: of course, it is likely that you have forgotten some details, but your hands probably remember the main thing. If you haven’t discovered such talents in yourself, don’t despair: you can use your communication skills and involve a friend, sister or neighbor in creating a fancy dress costume: in return, you can offer your help in what you know.

Step 4: Determine What You Are you can not do to solve the problem

This seemingly useless step is still worth doing in order to understand what you really shouldn't worry about. Not everything is within our control, but
very often people still worry about what they cannot influence - such torment is not only useless, but even harmful. You hardly need to worry about your flight being delayed due to a problem with the plane's engine: you're not an aircraft mechanic, right? If you worry often, read our article: the advice from it will definitely help you stop worrying about every reason. Decide on what you cannot influence in any way, at least for your own peace of mind. Think about who besides you can influence the problem, but without fanaticism: if you have financial problems, you should not rely on the existence of a rich millionaire uncle who is eager to leave you a huge inheritance.

Step 5: Make an action plan, choose a method and solve the problem

Most problems need to be solved in a clear sequence, so you will probably need to create a precise plan of action. In addition, it is worth accustoming yourself to perceive a problem not as an insurmountable difficulty, but as a task that needs to be solved: in this way you will make your work a little easier, since psychologically the “task” is perceived less painfully than the “problem”.

At first glance, there may be a great variety of ways to solve any problem, but there are only four main ones. So you can:

1. Change your actions. For example, let’s take the case of a fancy dress costume: the holiday is planned in a week, but you don’t have money for a costume and won’t have it in the near future. If your usual actions are to borrow money again, you should change your tactics a little. For example, you can, as already mentioned, try to make a costume yourself or ask other people for help. As a result, you get the costume one way or another, the child goes to the masquerade, the problem is solved.

2. Avoid the situation. In the case of a costume, this approach can be expressed as follows: you announce that you do not have money for a costume, so the child will not participate in the masquerade. Since you no longer need to allocate money for a costume, the problem is solved for you, but hardly for the child. This is the most radical method, and it is not suitable for all situations.

3. Change the situation. This is a more flexible solution to the problem than the previous one. Considering the same case with a costume for a party, you can suggest that your child visit a free exhibition or have a family picnic on the weekend instead of a costume party. The problem will be solved if you show maximum flexibility and can choose the right solution that will suit everyone (if your problem concerns someone else besides you). If you are limited in time, our advice will help you quickly find the right solution.

4. Approach the situation differently. A compromise option. In this case, it is proposed to change your vision of the current situation: in essence, you are solving the problem within yourself, without influencing what is happening in any way. In the case of a masquerade and a costume, you can accept the fact that you will have to spend a certain amount to purchase an outfit, get the right amount of money and not think about this problem anymore. This solution option will probably seem strange and even ineffective to many, but it is great for cases when you really cannot change the situation, or the problem lies precisely in your thoughts that need to be put in order.