What is a “problem?” We tend to think of problems as things we’d rather ignore, go away, or simply not have in the first place!

Or we tend to think, “If I just had more money, then I wouldn’t have any more problems” or “If only I could find the right person to be with, then all my problems would go away…” Or we look at famous people or celebrities on TV, and say, “Boy, I bet THEY don’t have any problems…”

The fact is, however, that no matter how much money we have, who we’re with, what job we do, how famous we are, or even how happy we are, there are always problems in our lives. In fact, many people mistakenly believe that “happiness” means “the absence of problems.”

But life, in a sense, is a series of always-evolving problems. Think about it. Let’s say you’re broke. That means your problems include: “How am I going to pay my bills? How can I make more money? How am I going to get out of this mess?”

Let’s say you solve those problems and you’re making some money. Now your problems might be: “How am I going to pay my increased taxes? What kind of car should I get? How can I make more money?”

And let’s say you manage to solve these problems. What might your problems be now? “Should I get a new home or stay here? Which stock should I invest in? How can I make more money?” (Yes, that last question seems to stay with us no matter how much we’re making!)

Do you see what I mean? All of life really comes down to solving problems.

But, if you think that the only way you’re going to be happy is if you don’t have any problems, that means you’ve set up your life so you can’t be happy. Therefore, if your strategy for “being happy” is “to have no problems,” you’re setting yourself up for inevitable failure, unhappiness and frustration.
Does this mean we should just accept all of life’s problems and not do anything to solve them? No way!

We just need to realize that life itself is a series of problems and growth in life means moving from one set of problems to a BETTER set of problems.

This is neither a pessimistic nor fatalistic way of looking at life, because once you realize this basic truth, you can use the method below to solve any problem you’ll ever face for the rest of your life.

And here it is, in four simple steps:

Step One: Sit down and face the problem.

Step Two: Write down every question associated with the problem that comes to your mind.

Step Three: Go and do something else.

Step Four: Let the answer come to you (and then thank your subconscious mind for providing an answer you hadn’t thought of before).