There are two kinds of people in the world—people who find problems and those who find solutions.
Solution finders are always rewarded better than problem finders. Whether that be as an employee or people that own their own business – if you can find solutions the money follows. So, how do you become the type of person who finds solutions?
Listen up to this podcast as I outline a methodology.
Podcasat Transcript
Solutions or Problems
There are two kinds of people in the world—people who find problems and those who find solutions.
The funny thing is that a lot of people who are good at finding problems, if they put their minds to it – they could actually find the answer if they just thought a bit harder or took some time to do the research and put in the thinking.
It’s like a default mechanism that becomes a habit. “Here’s a problem… Oh there’s a problem. Oops…another problem.”
Take a good, hard look at the last 20 or 30 emails, texts, posts, or conversations that you’ve had with your team or your boss or your partner or even your friends.
Are they all focused on identifying problems or finding solutions? Watch out for this as it will drag you down.
Solution finders are always rewarded better than problem finders. Whether that be as an employee or people that own their own business – if you can find solutions the money follows. So, how do you become the type of person who finds solutions?
First, recognize that you might just feel unsure of your own ability to come up with the answer.
You might be looking for outside validation before you implement the solution. The funny thing is, if you stop looking for validation and just try it, you’ll cure yourself of this problem.
Another reason you might be a problem finder rather than a solution-finder is because you lack motivation.
Look at it this way, finding problems is the easiest skill in the world.
The whole population knows how to do this and do it well.
But only a small subset of the population can solve problems and find solutions. (hence the pay gap).
If you aspire to be better than most, finding solutions is a superpower you can leverage whether you want a raise, a new job, more sales, more visibility, power and of course more money.
Actually there is also another reason you might be a problem finder rather than a problem solver, and it actually may not be your fault.
Sometimes there are just a LOT of problems going on at once, and you haven’t given your brain enough of a rest to find the solutions.
Remember that solutions require creativity, and creativity requires a certain type of environment.
Back in the day when I was a corporate heavyweight exec type – I used to make a year’s worth of decisions in just a day. Honestly, It was exhausting.
At the end of the day, I would want to just lie down on the couch and just stare into space.
I was at the point where I couldn’t find the solutions. I could only find the problems.
It wasn’t until I took a run or a walk or a stretch that my brain had time to reset and tap into its creativity again.
If this is you, please do yourself a favour and let your brain reset to create an environment that allows for ideal problem solving.
Come up with your own techniques but whatever it is give your brain a refresh.
