There are many checklists for problem solving which tend to focus on things like ‘listing resources’ and ‘defining the problem’. In many cases, these problem solving solutions will help you to come up with an answer and can certainly increase your chances of getting a positive outcome. But that said, these sorts of steps are very much ‘considered’ approaches that require time and thought to carry out. What do you do when those don’t work? When you really can’t solve the problem?
Brute Force
‘Brute force’ is a term used in hacking to describe the method they use to bypass username and password combinations. Here they use a problem to simply try thousands and thousands of combinations until they find the right ones.
Sometimes the same kind of strategy can be applied to your problem. Sure, you can’t find the ‘right’ solution or the ‘easiest’ answer… but if you just go all out in terms of effort and output… could that be enough to solve the problem?
Restart
Sometimes your attempts to solve a problem can actually make matters worse. If you’ve been working on a project or anything else for long enough and have made no progress, then often the best course of action is often to hit the reset button and just start again. Sure, it’s undoubtedly upsetting to have ‘wasted’ so much previous effort but that doesn’t mean that it’s not the right thing to do. Don’t keep banging your head against the wall!
Compromise
In other cases it might be time to start thinking about contingencies and compromises. In other words, you can’t win… but how can you ‘not lose’. Thinking of an exit strategy, or a way to make the problem matter less can often be a better use of your time than trying to solve a problem that can’t be solved.
Get Help
Finally, you might sometimes have to put your hands up and say you can’t solve the problem. In that case, you should maybe consider instead getting someone else to solve it for you. This might mean just getting your colleagues, your friends or your extended network of contacts to help. Or it could mean paying someone to complete the job for you. There’s no shame in letting someone else take care of a problem for you – it doesn’t mean you’ve failed – it just means your solution was to outsource or delegate.
Eva Gregory is a Law of Attraction expert, speaker author and mentor to spiritual entrepreneurs – coaches, healers and holistic practitioners. Her passion is helping spiritual entrepreneurs go from chaos to clarity, and from clarity to cash flow by learning how to tap into their own inner guidance and merge it with proven practical business strategies to create enlightened businesses of purpose, passion and prosperity. She is author of “The Feel Good Guide to Prosperity” and “Life Lessons For Mastering the Law of Attraction” co-authored with Jack Canfield. Get your FREE REPORT, “Massive Success For Spiritual Entrepreneurs” here. Learn more about how Eva can help you at www.EvaGregory.com
