Have an issue you think is beyond your capability? It can be a tough mental block to overcome, as even well-balanced individuals struggle with gargantuan challenges when they are placed upon their shoulders.
Denver area builder Lloyd Claycomb was once in your shoes, as he had to take down his own Goliath when he was trying to carve out a place for his business in the Denver building scene.
In the end, though, he persevered. He has repeated this process plenty of times over the thirty years he has been an entrepreneur, which goes to show that problem solving is a muscle of sorts, one that can be built through conditioning.
Part of it lies in not cowing to fear; if he decided to dodge these issues instead of taking the bull by the horns, he would have never gained the following he has enjoyed among past customers and vendors in the Denver construction community.
Want to become a better problem solver? The primer in this article will aim to change your approach to any challenge in life that doesn’t have an obvious answer.
1) Analyze and dissect the problem you are confronting
Don’t jump in blind when you are attempting to resolve an issue. Take the time to define the problem in painstaking detail.
Sometimes, you’ll stumble upon the solution through pure chance, but the time investment put in to discover facts about your problem will often yield insights that will pay off big time.
When you are well-read about a specific issue, the discomfort you feel about it will go away for the most part, as it simply isn’t rational to feel that way when you have a good idea how to proceed.
2) Take it on one piece at a time
Eating an elephant is not something you can do in one sitting. As you might deduce, the human stomach can’t handle all that flesh in one go. But when you filet the beast into dozens of steaks and put them away in cold storage, the day will come when you will have achieved this ambitious goal.
The same goes with big work projects. Don’t think you can punch it all out in one super session – that’s how e-sports fanatics die at their desks.
Instead, slice it into phases that will allow you to make real progress, while still permitting you to have a life.
Before you know, you’ll be finishing it up and sending it off to the client, all because you planned your work intelligently.
3) Execute, execute, execute
Stop playing around on Reddit and get to work. No more excuses. Procrastination is the biggest dream thief there is, and its worse than it ever was, thanks to the internet.
Block time-wasting sites if you have to, and just get going. Even if you are not feeling particularly inspired, the words will come once your fingers start moving on the keyboard.
Action has a power behind it that can change your life, but you won’t ever harness if you don’t get started.
