Solving Your Life Problems
Hello rebellious readers,
Got our first human guest post (Valentino the cat was technically the first guest post) from Farouk Radwan. I commented on one of his guests posts on another blog and he visited my site and asked if he could write one for me on Solving Your Life Problems.
The topic intrigued me because we tend to complain endlessly about our problems, but take little action to rectify them.
Let’s give Farouk a warm, disobedient welcome!
Imagine you had the ability to solve each life problem you face.
You’d be happier and more self confident, right?
The problem with such assumptions is that life problems aren’t always simple and solutions can be difficult to find, not because some problems can’t be solved but because we try to solve them the wrong way or maybe we don’t try at all.
My suggestions for solving your life problems:
Are you trying to escape your life problem? I am not only referring to people who escape to drugs or bad habits but also to people who use less harmful escapement methods such as claiming to be busy all the time with their work in order not to face important life problems in other areas of their lives. Are you escaping? If yes, then know that you might consider going in the opposite direction of the escape if you want to live a happy life.
How much time are you allocating to your life problem per day? Let’s suppose that you have a problem with your social life, how many hours per day do you dedicate to solving this problem? Surprisingly, many people answer, “Zero.” How can you solve an important life problem without allocating any time to it?
Dedicate time even if you don’t have a plan: After reading the previous point something might come to your mind like, “I don’t allocate time to solve my problem simply because I don’t know what I should do about it.” Even if you are completely clueless about what you should do, you must still allocate a fixed amount of time per day to think about this problem. Talk to a friend, brainstorm with others who have similar problems or sit in a quiet place that allows you to find creative answers. If you commit to the time, sooner or later you will come up with an action plan.
Fight to commit to the plan: I am not saying that life is simple or that this plan will be the magical solution to your problems. You will still have to fight and to force your way through the bad moods until you manage to see some real progress that results from your efforts. People who solve their problems aren’t the ones who feel good all the time but they are the ones who work on their solutions even if they feel really bad.
Acceptance can be the solution: Never forget that acceptance can sometimes be the best solution to some of your problems but don’t ever fall into the acceptance trap. If you have a certain disability then learning how to accept it may be the right solution, but if you dislike the fact that, for example, you don’t have enough money then you will only be fooling yourself if you decide to accept this fact because you can do something about it.
My real life situation
Back in 2004, my main goal was to achieve financial security. I heard about the stock market from a friend and I started learning how to invest money. In 2005, I thought that I was on the right track because I was already making money but in 2006 I lost five years worth of savings in a stock market crash in a few months.
I was down at that time but realized I am the only person who can help me get out of this financial mess. I started my web site 2knowmyself.com, gave it six hours per day even though I had a day job at that time.
I faced numerous rejections, so many I can’t even count them all. But with hard work, persistence and determination I managed to become a dot com millionaire by the end of 2008. All because of the website.
I hope this shows you that giving time to face your problem can be the best way to help you solve it.
M. Farouk Radwan is a full time blogger. He is the founder of http://www.2knowmyself.com, a website that contains more than 600 self help, psychology and personal development articles. Farouk started his career as a computer engineer and then shifted his focus to blogging which later became his primary source of income and turned him into a dot com millionaire.
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Hi Farouk,
First of all, thanks for being my first human guest poster. I’ve seen your guest posts all over and have left comments on many of them. I can attest that you walk your talk.
I really love the section about the busyness syndrome to escape your life problems. I see hyper busyness all around me. It’s an epidemic. The unsettling part is that it’s become a badge of prestige to be so busy you don’t even know who you are anymore.
My best days involve doing the opposite — jumping into the things I love to do. If I don’t want to do something I try to say no from the beginning. That way I don’t feel the urge to cancel.
Agreeing to do things I don’t want to do creates problems I didn’t have before agreeing to such things. (Problem avoided.)
Many thanks! G.
Its an honor to be the first guest poster at your blog Giulietta 🙂
I fell in the same trap as well, sometimes we deceive ourselves by making ourselves really busy without realizing that we are escaping that way.
i am glad you liked the post and i hope your readers like it as well
keep up the good work dear and keep in touch 🙂
Wow, Farouk, this was great… and timely! I love your suggestions here! I have recently come to a similar solution for some things that I have been struggling with. How nice to see a success story of yours about working a day job and having success. That is great to hear!
thank you so much Amy for your comment and nice words
really nice to meet you 🙂
Julie,
Congrats on the great start to guest blogging! Nice choice!
Hi Amy,
Good to see you here again. Farouk’s got it right. If we want to solve a problem we need to work/play on solving it. I’ve got one I’m going to hurl myself into.
Thx, G.
thanks Julie
Glad to see you here 🙂
Giulietta, thanks for allowing someone into the guest chair. I needed this post today. I enjoy your blog, and I promise I will be better about commenting. I hope you have a good weekend. xo
Hey Andra,
Appreciate you stopping in. Happy to hear Farouk’s post spoke to you. The more I think about dedicating time to solving a problem the more I realize it’s key. I can see where this has worked in my own life. G.
thanks for your comment and nice words Andra 🙂
There is something amazingly powerful about owning your problems and taking the bull by the horns.
The other day a friend and I were joking that, you never have nothing in life … you always have your problems. And the beauty of your problems is that they are all yours.
Everybody has problems, so the trick is expanding yourself to take on whatever life throws your way.
Hey J.D.,
Expanding yourself to take on the problems life throws your way makes a lot of sense. I’ve learned something from every problem. Thanks. G.
thank you for sharing your experience with us JD
Glad to see you here, keep in touch 🙂
Giulietta, So glad that you have Farouk Radwan for your first guest post.
Farouk,
I received several good insights from your post.
Yes, I hide behind my “busyness.” Yes, I often tend to shunt aside certain problems – though not all – and even pretend they don’t exist. I have a couple that I shove into a separate compartment in my mind – a big problem that concerns someone close to me, and since I don’t how to handle it/him, I choose to ignore it – most of the time.
On the positive side, I do fight/commit to a plan. I believe that most problems can be resolved with determination, focus, and persistence.
Your own story is inspiring and highly motivating. When people ask what can be achieved by blogging, I’ll be able to point to you as an example.
Hi Penelope,
I agree that most problems can be solved with enough determination. Folks tend to give up to soon. Thx, G.
I am really flattered by your nice words Penelope
really glad you passed by, its really nice to meet you:)
I think sometimes our “life problems” are subtle, under-the-surface issues that we might not be aware of. We stay busy because the noise drowns it out. Thanks for the post!
Hey Angie,
I like what you say about the noise of busyness drowning out our problems. That’s a neat topic in and of itself. Thx, G.
Hi, Taking back my life, thank you for such a nice post you have here,
Hi Hanna May,
Glad you enjoyed Farouk’s post and are taking back your life!
G.
Sure Giulietta, I’m hopping for your another great article..
Hi Everyone,
I am new here. Glad that one of the first thing I read about here is how Farouk made it as a blogger. I am inspired and will keep at it. Would love comments and help from anyone here about my quest.
Hi Jimmy,
Glad you could stop by. I went to your site. Got some good quotes/articles there! Thanks, G.