A reflection on problem management

Seeing a problem as a problem can be the real problem.

Let me explain: In the course of our lives, we are often confronted with obstacles. We can choose to bypass them, to overcome them, to confront them, to change direction. There’s no shortage of options.

Once we’ve chosen one of these options (assuming it enables us to free ourselves from the obstacle), the way is once again clear. We can move forward.
A little further on, however, another obstacle stands in our way. More imposing, it seems insurmountable. But we do what we do best: we take the time to analyze the situation rationally and make the decision that seems best to us. The obstacle can be overcome again.
Sometimes, it can take months or even years to find a solution. Sometimes a solution can be found in a matter of minutes.

If we accumulate too many problems to solve, and do so too frequently, life simply becomes a huge knot to untie. We end up spending most of our time trying to resolve issues rather than actually living.

Problems seem to be a part of the process and give our lives a frantic rhythm. It’s rare to be completely free of them even for a few days.
Our minds seem desperate to build a new one as soon as the last one is gone.
Would our lives then consist of confronting problems that cyclically interfere with our progress towards our goals?
I doubt it. The problem seems to lie more in our perception.

Two individuals may or may not perceive a situation as a problem and may or may not give it much attention, depending on their worldview. This is an aspect that I find particularly interesting. Let’s unpack it:

Numerous factors shape our interactions with the world.
At a fairly fundamental level, there are our genes and the development of our brain. On a broader level, there’s our upbringing, our life experiences, and thus the values we’ve acquired. These parameters define our beliefs, which modulate the importance we eventually give to a problem.

The problem is an illusion from our minds. Although we tend to perceive it as something concrete, it is only a problem if we choose to perceive it as such.
Now it’s time to think about how we can improve our problem-solving skills.

The model I’m proposing is actually quite simple. I draw a small part of my inspiration from one of the ideas advocated by the Stoic school of philosophy, and I find that it makes particular sense in the context of confronting problems in a general sense.

– When we have control and concrete tools to implement a solution to the problem, it is intriguing to address it because the problem is tangible in the physical world.

– When we have no control over the possibility of a solution to the problem because it depends on random or logical external factors, it’s our internal parameters that need to be modulated.

Changing our beliefs, and thus our perception of the world, is the only way to solve problems over which we have no control, as they are impossible to solve in the physical world. It’s interesting to note that the problems over which we have no control are often the obstacles that seem the most imposing.

So, we have to choose the problems we can solve and remove from our minds the problems over which we have no control. In this way, we can progress in a positive environment and accomplish remarkable feats in the world, all while wearing a smile on our faces.