How to Find a Solution to Your Problem
1. Is this a problem - or is it a fact of life?
You can do something about problems. You can't do anything about facts of life. If you can't change it, you have a fact of life, not a problem, No need to stew over it.
As Reinhold Niebuhr's Serenity Prayer states,. "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
2. Is this problem really the problem?
It is easy to be sidetracked by the painful symptoms and neglect the deeper, more important, issues. Make sure you are dealing with the main thing. Recurring negative situations usually have a common thread. It pays to look deeper and discover it..
3. What is the bottom, bottom line?
What do you want? What outcome do you desire? Why is this a problem in the first place? Think it through. People think "to" a difficulty, but seldom "through" it. Instead of focusing on what's wrong, put your energy into discovering how to make it right. I heard a leadership consultant say you should ask "why?" five layers down.
4. Have you prayed about it?
God grants wisdom to face any uncertainty. If it's big enough to worry about, it's big enough to pray about,. If your problems are deep-seated and long standing - try kneeling!
5. What are ten possible solutions?
Most of our problems have at least ten possible solutions - the trick is to think creatively and discover them! I have used this process many times with good results. Write them down! Don't quit until you have ten. Refuse to settle for just one or two. Expanding the solutions can remove the blinders from your eyes. You will be able to see the whole thing in a new way.
6. What do your wisest friends say?
If you listen to wise people who love you and heed their advice, you will spare yourself a ton of regret.
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