Most of the time, you see problems as barriers. They get in your way and prevent you from having a productive and happy life. You see them as a source of annoyance and inconvenience. When you see problems that way, your goal becomes elimination of the problems. It is impossible to live your entire life without problems. Problems are opportunities to participate in life. If there were none, our lives would be meaningless and boring. When you don’t have a problem to work on, more than likely you will create one. Problems do have a purpose in your life.
Problems seem to follow the same law of physics that gases do. They expand to fill whatever space is available. For example, if all you have to do is send your unemployment application to Michigan Works, you could take all day finding a pen, filling out the application, and finding a stamp to mail it. But if you had to take the application to their offices, you would make time to do it. Filling in the application becomes a smaller problem. If Michigan Works found you another job, your application and the visit to their office takes on a new meaning. Now you have be sure you can get to the job and get there on time.
Think of your problems another way. The unemployment in Michigan is partly due to businesses moving to other states, affecting the state economy. The rate of unemployment in the United States is due to businesses moving overseas, affecting the U.S economy. To pull the whole concept together, you have to realize that the World economy is partly dependent on the U.S. economy. All of sudden, Michigan is merely a dot on the map. There are bigger problems that dwarf your own personal problems.
The surest way to flatten your own problems, no matter how large, is to take on a bigger one. For example, when you happen upon a car accident, you normally don’t think of your own safety in saving someone else’s life. Getting around the accident site was no longer a problem to you. It was saving the driver of that car that concerned you more. You ignore your own bumps and bruises to solve the bigger problem. Bigger problems are never in short supply, and they prompt you to continuing solving them.
This post is brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Training of Michigan, providers of professional development and management development courses and information in Michigan. We would love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter @MarkWillDCT.
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