What if I told you that most problems could be solved? If you think of a specific problem you have at the moment, chances are that it has not been solved yet because your mind was not ready for it to be solved. Let me elaborate.

We all face multiple problems every day. I am not talking about small problems that are more like choices – e.g., I ran out of bread, how can I get another one? Should I run to the store or bake it or order online delivery? I am talking about more substantial problems, let’s say needing to find a new job, resolve financial problems or problems within the family. Whatever they are, we still have them because we mentally are not ready to solve them.

However, you can train your mind to think differently, which will result in you solving any kind of a problem. Here is how:

• Stop seeing a problem as a problem. When we see it as a problem, our minds see a block or a wall. Therefore we focus on it being “the end of the way” and give up. Instead, train your mind to see it as a challenge that is temporary and needs new skills and/or resources to be addressed.
• Imagine the problem has been resolved. Do not focus on how it will be resolved, this will come later. For now, just imagine it has been several years from today and this problem no longer exists. For example, if today you are worried about finding a new job, visualize yourself already having a new job and feel it. Really see yourself succeeding in a different role. It is like imagining yourself on the other side of the river – until you do, you will not think of the way how to cross that river.
• We see things as problems when we allow our mind to see them as such. Teach your mind to not give too much value to a problem, teach yourself to see it having lower impact. When we panic we tend to see a problem as something bigger than it is, impossible to solve. Think about your past self and rewrite your story. For example, for many years I thought back about the time when I was 26 and faced losing a job and how stressed it made me feel. Given that I pay half of the bills, I focused on the problem back then, sending me into a state of permanent panic for a while. However, now I look at it and think, it is just a job. People lose and find jobs every day. If I had more pressure I just needed to be more creative about the solution. But when you reflect you ‘graduate’ to the next level and things that stressed you in the past no longer stress you because you learn to be more resistant.
• Many people before us had the same problems and many of them have solved them. Most of our problems are not unique. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, think about what you can learn from others who faced the same challenges. What did they do?
• See yourself differently. Stop seeing yourself as a victim of an unjust world. Instead, see yourself as someone who takes charge and does impossible things and wins in life.
• See your situation as a story. Imagine someone will write a book or make a movie (or both!) about your current challenge and how you went about resolving it. What kind of a character would you like to be in that story? Someone who turned their life around? Someone who did not just solve their problem but also helped others? Someone whose solution to the problem created a social change? Someone who brought people together? Someone who did the impossible? How would you like your life story to evolve? What would it be?
• Building on a previous point, think about yourself as a character. If you are a fighter (in a general sense, not in a professional sense), how would you dress, what music will be your soundtrack? As a winner in life, what would your home look like to restore your energy? What support do you need in place? What tools can you have to make your life easier?
• If you have children or dependants (besides pets as I don’t think they think like humans), think about how solving your problem will impact them. For example, let’s say you have some financial problems and you have two children. If you see them as someone who depends on you then it will contribute to your feeling of guilt, adding more pressure to an already stressed self. No! Instead, imagine how you solving this financial problem will empower them to think that everything is possible. Imagine how what you do tomorrow will make them proud, that they will learn from what you do and do the same thing in the future if they face the same problem.
• Do not count on anybody but yourself to solve your problem. This will give you absolute control over the situation. When you shut down your brain and rely on others to solve your issues, you are not growing or developing. Also you give the control over your life to others – why would you even do this? No comfort is worth it. You will respect yourself more if you learn to solve your problems by yourself.