From Confusion to Clarity.. 

Can we be honest? 

Have you ever wondered like why do I have to keep going thru things? Why can’t I catch a break?! It seems sometimes like you can never catch your breath... I know that feeling all to well lol. I know I’ve asked myself that question more than once I’ll say:) But how would we be now? If we never went thru anything hard. We shouldn’t ask for no pains or struggles in this life. We should ask for the strength to get thru them knowing we will have them. Along with the level head to make it thru.

I wanted to talk about Problem Solving. I’m reading the Book by John Maxwell “Developing the Leader within you 2.0”. I feel that the value from understanding the importance of Problem Solving can be overlooked. When we look at people in some area of life that you look up to and admire. I can guarantee that they had to go thru adversity and learn how to problem solve thru it. They didn’t sit there and sulk in the moment ( For too long at least). They got back up, reflected and studied how to get better or fix the issue. Most do not fully see this truth that life is difficult. Instead they moan about the size of their problems, their burdens as if life were normally easy. As if life should be easy. So lets start framing how we view and navigate thru our challenges. You have to face the problems you can’t run.

Our Decisions are often based,
On the Proximity to the Problem.

• There’s certain problems that we may not put much priority on, because we think “I’m not having to face that yet”. Even,”I’m young still, it’s fine I got time”. Or, ” It’s their fault I’m like this”. Whatever we tell ourselves… But what some of those reason’s we tell ourselves is doing is. It’s US trying to ignore and distance ourselves from the problem. So we can put it off. That only delays the inevitable. The more you disconnect yourself from the problem, is the more you could even make things worse. I know facing some of these things are not easy, and your like how the hell am I going to get thru this! But to be a great leader in your life. You have to take the initiative. You have to reel yourself into facing the problems. Being close to them to then be able to get rid of them. When you face a problem, sometimes it forces you to think outside your normal box of thinking. Especially if it’s new challenges. But obviously we shouldn’t force bad challenges into our life. Don’t invite problems in. But as they arrive like YOU and I know they do. Then stay focused, face them and figure out what to do. You ACT.

Your plate is always going to be full. 

• There is a funny but accurate quote in this chapter of the book where John mentions he was told once from someone, ” If you can smile whenever anything goes wrong, your either a nitwit or your a repairman”. lol… Maybe a little of both can be good lol. Sometimes ignorance can be a good thing. It can keep us from putting bad thoughts in our head of some imagined outcome we can sometimes have. That can keep us from navigating thru problems. If your leading in your life, moving forward will always create new situations. New surprises we’ll say. So know their coming. Your always going to have something come up. So when problems arise its your responsibility as a leader to solve them.

How we respond can make
our problems worse or increase. 

• I know for myself that when I would have a problem show up, and then start to do some of these things I swear it many of times made my problems seem worse or even multiply. I would do things like feel sorry for myself, blame others for my situation or gave up on a core value of mine. Thinking like that never helped me see clearly enough to fix the problem. So after going thru these issues and realizing what I was doing to myself and making a point to stop doing. It helped me be able to stay level headed and focused, on leading my life and figuring things out. I had to take responsibility for my emotions/actions and give the best effort I can.

Problems can be stepping stones. 

• Think of someone you know or heard of that came from nothing. They lived in poverty. They may spent years waiting to come to America legally. Whatever the dire situation they where born in. Then look to where they are at today. They didn’t sit in their problems or complain. They took lead in their life, and continued to battle. While being patient in getting thru the hurdles they faced. So why did they reach such high achievements and so many other people don’t or haven’t yet. They looked at the problems they faced as stepping stones. We need to pay attention to pay attention to how we respond to problems. You need to learn how to respond correctly if possible. You need to observe yourself immediately and start to see how you normally respond. Then you need to see where maybe you can respond better. People aren’t going to always problem solve for you. So you need to learn to get better where you can to lead better where you can.

If you don’t know ask..

• Asking for help or asking the right questions can make all the difference. We are not made to know everything. Nor will you ever. So why do we sometimes think that facing a new problem. That we are always going to figure it out on our own? It’s not possible. Yes I believe you should do your best to learn what you can and potentially solve what you can. As long as you know its done correctly. But if its a problem way bigger than you seek help. Don’t try and be the smartest person in the room. You never know what kind of opportunities can be opened thru problems and asking for help.
• But another key aspect to asking though is, the right kinds of questions. So that takes understanding the problem. So then you can come up with the right questions. We could make things more difficult if we aren’t asking questions to get to the root. What are some questions to maybe ask:
• Who knows the most about what I’m facing?
• Who knows the types of answers I need?
• What questions do I maybe need to ask myself first? Those are just a couple for examples.

To Wrap Up.

You can be a leader in your own life. Leaders aren’t only at work. Or what we may see on TV. YOU are a LEADER. Take lead in your life face the problems head on. Know their coming and prepare. Be so good at being a repairman/repairwoman that nothing can shake you.