In a blog post from the Southern Ohio Medical Center an important point was made concerning how we deal with problems. The post suggested that people tend to prefer to tackle the problems of others rather than facing their own issues. There is a certain ease to advising others how to solve their problems instead of having to work on the issues in our own lives.
Those looking to invest in themselves and their future success need to escape the temptation of being a problem solver for others. We need to prioritize our own issues first and foremost because how can we advise others when our own life is not under control?
Identify Your Problems
Dealing with your problems begins quite simply by admitting that you have issues that you need to fix. Take a step back and truly assess your life and the challenges that you have ahead of you. It is important to be brutally honest with yourself and create a list of your problems. This will give you a visual representation of the things you need to solve.
Once you have your list go through it and double check that these problems are yours to solve. For example, if there are issues in a personal relationship being caused by the actions of another then this may not be entirely your problem to fix.
Once you determine that you need to solve the problems in this list you can start to prioritize the most important. Those which are causing a block to your future happiness and success need to be addressed first.
How to Deal Emotionally With Life’s Challenges
Clinical Psychologist Jennifer Kunst Ph.D. says that our personal lives face daily challenges that affect our emotional strength.
Kunst also suggests a number of strategies which can help you face your problems in life:
- Face Reality: We must not avoid our problems instead we have to embrace the reality of our lives.
- Be Patient: We must not try to rush to a solution just to make a problem disappear. Practicing patience prevents us from making an error which causes more problems than it fixes.
- Be Grateful for What You Have: Too often we find ourselves finding fault with life without acknowledging the good things we have. Take a fresh perspective by being grateful for the good things as this will fortify you to challenge the problems.
- Accept the Ups and Downs: Life can fluctuate. You will face success and failure but whichever comes along accept it with grace. Learn from your failures and work to turn them into successes.
How to Solve Your Problems
There are so many different problems that we can find ourselves facing in everyday life so there is no sure fire way to solve them all. Some problems can be solved with greater ease than others and some can be accomplished on your own while others may require help from someone else. The main key, however, is to assess each problem on its own merits and make a plan of action.
It is important to remember that sometimes even with the best laid plans you may not solve a problem right away. This is why flexibility is required so that you can bounce back from a failed attempt and take a different approach to fixing the problems you face.
Final Thoughts
Taking responsibility for our own lives is crucial if we intend to invest in creating a better life going forward. This means learning to fix our own problems and not relying on the help of others.