When it comes to problems in life, people often find themselves plagued by the same issues on a regular basis. When you find yourself staring the same problem in the face that you’ve dealt with over and over, it might be time to look for a more creative solution. Resilient people look for solutions so they don’t repeat past errors.
The reason we often face the same problems over and over is because the traditional solution isn’t truly a long-term solution. This means that you may need to get creative on a regular basis to ensure that things evolve to handle issues in ways that have meaning for the current situation.
Here are some tips to help you be more creative with the problems that crop up in life:
• Reverse engineer the problem. Sometimes, working backwards is the way to find the best solution. Working backward allows you to view the problem from a different perspective, this can then get your creative juices flowing.
• Having someone who is unfamiliar with the problem help you solve it. Sometimes, when we’ve been dealing with an issue for a long time, we actually become blind to solutions that might be evident to others who are not so involved. Try running the problem by someone completely uninvolved and un-invested; like your spouse, to get a fresh perspective.
• Consider the fact that it might not be a problem you can solve. Sometimes, when something becomes a burden to us, we feel the need to solve it. Sometimes accepting something as part of “life” can be the best way to deal with it. When you begin to accept a situation as part of your everyday life, you give yourself the freedom to provide the resources needed to manage the issue, rather than trying to solve it altogether.
Different problems require different solutions and different perspectives. Resilient people look for creative ways to deal with life’s situations. There is no single strategy to overcoming problems. The key to finding the right solution lies mostly in the willingness to be open to different answers as well as being open to different ways of finding those solutions.