First Step: Sit Down With The Problem

This step could also be called, “Invite your problem over for tea.” Most people try to run from, hide from, or ignore their problems in the hope they’ll go away. Do these strategies ever work to solve problems? I don’t have to tell you that the answer is a thudding “No.” Well, if to ignore or try to deny our problems doesn’t work, doesn’t it make sense that the first step we should take if we want to do something that works is the opposite of what doesn’t work?

This is so ridiculously simple that most people have never even thought of this as a viable strategy before. They think, “Well, maybe if I just deny a little harder, or ignore a little more, or run a little faster...maybe that’ll work.”

Hello? Of course that doesn’t work. Remember the “Ockham’s Razor” principle of science – the principle that says that the simplest solution is usually the best one. Well, it applies here, as well. Therefore, Step One to solving every problem you’ll ever face is to simply face the problem.

That means: take a deep breath. Sit down in a chair. Don’t go to bed and lie down (yet). Your problem will still be running around in your head until and unless you go through these steps in order.

Therefore, it is essential that the first thing you do is sit down and understand that you are going to do one of the most courageous things a human being can do: face your own problems. (Why do you think people love to give advice and try to solve everyone else’s problems? So they don’t have to look at their own!)

By the way, this first step is BY FAR the hardest one of the four. It represents nearly 95% of the secret to solving every problem you’ll ever face — simply having the courage to face it.