Category — Stress Management

 We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them- Albert Einstein

Everyone faces problems. Sometimes simple and sometimes more complicated. Solving a problem is sometimes easy, sometimes difficult and many a times, seems impossible.

If you often find yourself in the situations where in, you are not able to resolve a problem effectively, then you need to revisit your approach towards problem solving.

This article will be more relevant to you and anyone who want to develop or enhance their problem solving skills. Note that problem solving not only require decision making ability and action taking, but it needs further efforts in other areas as well such as analyzing patterns and documenting the solution to avoid re-occurrence.

In this article, I am going through  life cycle of a ‘complex’ problem and we will see a step by step guide to solve it satisfactorily.

I have based this article not only upon my personal learning per se, but also collated information from learning from my friends, colleagues , corporate life, software engineering and of course by gathering information from various people who are good at problem solving.

So let’s begin with the problem itself.

So, you have a problem.

A problem which could be troubling you since quite sometime now, or a problem which has suddenly appeared in your life . It could be related to your work, family , health or related to any other sphere of your life.

What’s important here is the problem is for you. It’s now you who is responsible to address and resolve it.

What would be your approach? Wouldn’t it be nice if you were made aware of a checklist or a flowchart so that you can deal with the problem much effectively and bring upon more pleasant results.

Here we go.

Step 1: Accept that you have a problem

This is really important. Lots of people don’t accept that they have a problem. Note that knowing that they have a problem and accepting that , both are different things.Knowing about a problem will make you aware, where as accepting that you have a problem initiates an action towards it.

When you don’t accept a problem, there won’t be action from your side. When problem is not acted upon in timely manner, it often grows and multiplies.

Problem - Step by Step, I am attacking you

By denying that you don’t have that very problem, you are fooling anyone but yourself and allowing the problem to grow.

Step 2: Are there anyone else having the same problem and can they help you?

This is a step most of us underestimate. There are chances that some of your friends or colleagues or anyone for that matter could have experienced the similar problem that you are experiencing now.

Just ask them and most of the time, they might have already solved the problem and pass on the solution to you.

This might sound as common sense to ask someone’s help, but it works and saves your time and energy.

People don’t utilize this simple method.Rather , they push themselves hard to solve the problem themselves.

Step 3: Start with basics and fundamentals

People often resort to random guesswork when they face a problem. Upon not getting quick solution, they enter the panic zone too early and panic curtails their ability to explore other solutions and take the right action.

Instead, always start with basic investigations. Check that fundamentals are still right. Are there any clues that fundamentals are disturbed? It could be an issue with some vital parameters.

Let’s take analogy of doctor and his process of diagnosing a complex disease. A good doctor would always start with basic tests and go up further. Many a times, problems are found in basic tests itself. A timely treatment cures the disease.

Step 4: If basics are fine, then look for the trigger that caused the problem

Once you are certain that basic investigations didn’t reveal anything obvious, then you may look for triggers or clues that would have created the problem.

To find out the triggers, you need analyze the patterns with questions such as,

• Did I do anything different last week, last month or last year?
• Did I ignored a minor clue thinking that it might not be a big issue?
• Did anyone else did something different to a system over the period of few days or months.
• Is there any trail?

When you start comparing the standard behavior with changed behavior at granular levels, you will surely find a trigger or clue.

That’s nothing but the root cause of your whole problem.

Identifying the root cause is important than treating the problem itself. Because people often treat symptoms instead treating the root cause.

Now, since you have identified the root cause, it’s time to think about an appropriate solution.

Step 4: Look the problem from a various angles and come-up with an optimum solution

Coming up with effective solution doesn’t just requires an immediate action,but analyzing the impact of the solution.

• What happens after 1 week of your solution implemented, one year and so on.
• Is this the permanent solution?
• Will this solution affect other areas of your life adversely in any way?

Think about all these and once the solution seems appropriate, proceed to action.

Step 5: Take action

Take concrete action immediately. Don’t delay further. We already know that problem often multiplies itself if unattended.It’s only your timely action, that eliminates problem from the root and your goal should be to avoid the re-occurrence of the same problem.

Step 6: Document your problem solving process

Why you need to document ?

Because, by successfully diagnosing a problem and resolving it, you have found out a working way to resolve this particular problem.

Document the steps somewhere . Be it on paper, ipad , diary anywhere which is easily accessible.

Documenting creates a knowledge pool of working solutions for you. It enhances your wisdom. You gradually become a trusted source for expert advice.

Hope you enjoyed this lengthy article about whole life cycle of a problem and the steps that are involved in solving it successfully.

If you found value in it, please share this post with your friends and relatives.

Also, let me know what did you feel about this post by adding comments

Till next time, take care.

No  matter what you do or where you live , having a good health is the foundation for living a wonderful life. If you don’t have good health, you will not be able to enjoy anything including the rewards of your own hard work. So, taking care of your health should be an integral part of your daily routine.

People lose their health for earning wealth. Later, they lose all their wealth for regaining their health

Especially, in this modern world where people are getting busier by each passing day, it has become really critical to listen to your body and give attention to your health.

It's fun time folks !!

Fortunately, by adopting few really simple healthy habits, you can maintain good health, provided these habits  form a part of your daily life routine.

In this article, I am sharing few healthy habits for life which can make profound positive effect on your health and keep you fit and fine. Needless to say, to form any habit, you need to repeat them on a constant basis until your actions turn into habit. I am also tips/tools for forming the habit.

1. Drink right amount of water

This point comes on top for sure. Most of us work and live in air conditioned environment. With less physical movements and because of teh effect of air conditioning, you won’t make feel thirsty even though your body might be craving for water. So , don’t wait until you feel thirsty. Just make sure you drink water in frequent intervals.

Benefits of drinking water:

• Water does wonders. For more details, read this.

How to form this habit:

• Keep a water bottle handy near your desk or workplace and sip water regularly.
• Put up paper notice on your desk’s board reminding you to drink water.
• Set up an alert in your mobile reminding you to drink water every 2 hours.
• Use Microsoft outlook to schedule automatic alert every 2 hours reminding you to sip water periodically.

2. Take a walk

An easy to miss habit. Thanks to lifts and elevators which are easing your trouble of walking. But in reality, they are snatching away an easy opportunity of walking from you.

Never mind. It’s up to you, how much you use/adopt to technology. Try to walk whenever you get an opportunity. Don’t sit for long time continuously.

Benefits:

• Walking improves your blood circulation.
• It brings flexibility to your body muscles.

How to form this habit:

• Avoid lifts/elevators when possible. Walk.
• Take an evening walk/morning walk.
• Walk with your kid.
• Take a walking break for every 2 hours in your working routine.
• Walk for no reason. They all yield same benefits

3. Smile

Smile increases your face value.

Smile makes you feel good. And you work well when you feel good. Not only that, your feel good factor has indirect soothing effect on your surroundings as well So, smile. Be friendly.

Benefits:

• Soothing effect on your inner self.
• Makes you a better human being.

How to form this habit:

Just smile. That’s all

4. Wake up early

This one seems easy, but little difficult to implement (ask me). But, it has compound benefits. Waking up early can benefit you in multiple ways.

Benefits:

• You can do your creative work in the early morning.
• Reach office early by avoiding traffic. Experience the stress free driving.
• Plan for the day well ahead of time.
• Do exercises/yoga.
• Study. I have always observed that, morning time study was more effective for me.

Time for early waking up varies from person to person , but if you would like to enjoy as much as benefits , then I feel 5am looks good time to wake up.

How to form this habit:

Look at this article which helps you to wake up early.

5. Get enough sleep

This is again a very important. Get 6-8 hours of quality sleep daily.

Benefits of healthy sleep habits:

• Refreshed you,every morning.  Ready to face the world with better energy.
• More focus.
• Less fatigue.

How to achieve this habit :

• Set up a deadline for gong to bed.
• Switch off internet/TV early.
• Listen to soothing music before you go to bed. This will allow you to sleep peacefully relieving you from stress.

6. Blink eyes

People who work on computers on daily basis, it’s especially important to take care of your eyes since you are continuously exposed to monitors. Blinking  your eyes frequently helps your eyes keep moist and lubricated. Your eyes will be less stressed and you can avoid lots of issues related to eyes like burning or itching etc. Believe me, no eye drop is equivalent to tears. Nature rules.

7. Eat right

Eat at proper time. Don’t let your digestive juices go waste and attack your own stomach. Stick to an eating schedule and adhere to it. Improper food habits and starving often results in digestive issues such as acidity, gas and even more serious health complications. Just eat at proper time. Listen to your body.

Benefits of healthy food habits:

• You will maintain good health and make less trips to doctors.
• Prevention is better than cure. This is so true when it comes to diseases. Healthy food habits makes you real strong and immune to diseases.

8. Reduce stress

Stress has been a biggest challenge/threat to modern day life. It’s an unpleasant side effect of ‘busy’ ness.

Most of the people face some kind of stress in their work/home/environment. However, what makes a difference is how we respond to stress. Luckily, stress can be managed.

Benefits of reducing stress:

• Reducing stress from your life has amazing effect on your mind, body and on people surrounding you.
• Being stress free makes you a healthier person. When you are healthy and cheerful, you are in a better position to take care of your loved one and respond in positive manner to your surroundings.
• Reducing stress adds years to your life.

How to form this habit:

• Try to minimize debt/loans. This will help you becoming financially stress free.
• Have effective communication in work/life. This will help you to bridge the gap and build healthy relationships
• Wake up early. Become stress free from traffic and chaos.
• Try adopting minimalist lifestyle. This will free you from unnecessary commitments. Be simple. Live simple.
• See the things, as they are. Take things in practical way.
• Never assume. Instead take decisions based on facts and analyzing pattern trends. Decisions taken under emotional circumstances often result in emotional stress.
• Cultivate hobbies and increase your happiness quotient. Life is not all about work. It’s about work/life balance.

I hope, I have shared some practical ways to develop and nourish few really needed healthy habits for the modern day you. Have I missed anything? Please feel free to add in the comments. Let us all benefit

Looking forward to your comments.

Photo credit : evilerin

“Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

‘Wait’, is an uncomfortable word for most of us. We are conditioned by the fast paced modern world to expect quick results, swift decisions, and fast resolutions and so on….

Actually, there is nothing wrong in this. After all, computers were invented to do quickly what humans were not able to do. Cars were invented to run faster and make life easier. Airplanes were invented to fly at unimaginable pace to take you from one part of the world to another.

With the beautiful examples of above, let me come to the essence of this article.

Most of us feel and believe that everything should happen quickly. We strive to make sure that things happen fast and any delay is intolerable. Proactivity is taught everywhere in schools and colleges to combat waiting period. We are told not to wait. We are told to hurry. We are conditioned to be aggressive.

However, sometimes we don’t see the progress for our efforts and become depressed. We feel disheartened about the result of something. We fill ourselves with negative thoughts and start losing hope.

Why?

Because, we lack an amazing principle, a game changing truth that most of us overlook, hate and feel uncomfortable.

Patience.

Have you tried doing any of the below?

Did you ever tried to make a tree grow overnight?

Did you make rain to fall bit faster just because you like to see things faster?

Did you ever tried to breathe faster just because you like speed?

You did not. Nature has its own speed. It knows its rhythm. We never can speed up some things. And we should not. Some things happen in life on their own pace.

Making things happen is absolutely brilliant, but not all aspects life can be measured by the speed of your progress. Some are measured by quality of your progress and the direction of your journey.

To accomplish something tangible, concrete and satisfying, you need to have patience. Patience is a virtue. Indeed. Do your part, and have patience and faith. Things will progress. Don’t hurry by underestimating the background process which is running for you. You can’t see everything. You need not know everything. You will get what you want if you have patience and faith. I repeat again.

Just do your part, perform your role, contribute your efforts and wait.

Don’t panic. Don’t lose heart. Don’t curse yourself or anyone. Things will come your way because you have patience, faith and you are solid at heart.

Remember, life is connecting the dots and patience connects them. Don’t try to skip a dot. Every dot is beautiful. Waiting is one of such dots. While you wait, enjoy the silence, enjoy the lull. Anticipate the good and be ready for the outcome.

Next time, when you are stuck in uncertain situation or a confusing state of mind, just ask yourself. Have I done my part satisfactory?

If yes, then just wait.

“Ideas can be life changing. Sometimes all you need to open the door is just one more good idea” – Jim Rohn.

Life is beautiful and actually most of the life’s challenges are simple. It’s we, who make them appear complicated by misunderstanding missing to see their details. If we pay attention to their details, we will discover that these challenges are actually simple and life can be easier. Life has so many wonderful things to offer us. It has success, fame and much more. It has hidden treasures. Life is beautiful. It’s just that we need to observe life’s details and discover the hidden treasures.

Unfortunately, most of the people don’t try to discover life. They just sail along with the life. They instead, create a layer of self limitation around them and try adjusting themselves to the situation.

They chase happiness but fail to recognize it when it is already in front of them. They live life in fear and their life lacks the most important ingredient of life, self satisfaction.

How can you discover the hidden treasure that life has to offer you then?
How can you be more productive at work?
How can you become rich?
How can you stay rich?
How can you accomplish more and live a content life?
How can you live a wonderful life?

Is there an answer for these questions? If so what is it then?

Answer for above questions lies in an idea. A winning idea is all it takes to unlock the hidden treasure that life has inside it. Once you unlock, magic begins and all treasure is yours. A winning idea can help us to realize our true potential. In fact just a bunch of powerful ideas can change our life.

What is an idea basically? How do we define and bring it into our life?

An idea can be a completely new concept for doing things or a new method of enhancing existing process. It can also be just a thought which acts as catalyst for other ideas. An idea can hit your mind in just a flash or it could be residing in your mind since decades. Your success or failure depends upon whether you implement that idea or not.

I have such 23 ideas written and organized into an eBook and explained the ideas chapter by chapter. eBook is short, yet easy on the eye with minimum graphics and printer friendly.

This book is all about couple of winning ideas. I tried to share few ideas which you can use,implement and experiment in your daily life and benefit. Most of the ideas are simple, achievable and amazing. Some ideas are innovative and some offer new way of doing existing things. In a nutshell, this book is all about achieving success and living a content life.

Below are the ideas that are discussed and explained in detail by chapter by chapter in the book.

1. Eliminate fear from your life

2.Discover your true passion: Let your passion enrich your life

3.Discover the potential of your talent and make your living life out of it

4.Have enthusiasm for learning new things

5.Learn effective communication

6.Create a habit of waking up early

7.Develop a habit of reading great books

8.Work when you are work

9.Relax

10.Don’t work for money

11.Meet and learn from people who run business of any form

12.Avoid getting trapped in debt

13.Honesty pays

14.Life is fast, its a myth. Take time to enjoy every moment of life

15.Remove stress from your life

16.Better late than never

17.Health is wealth

18.Visit museums and understand history

19.Donate

20.Experience happiness by creating something of your own

21.Develop a hobby and nurture it

22.Offer free service

23.Focus on 3 things: Learning, health and family

To get the eBook for free, you just need to provide your email address below and you will get the eBook sent to your email.

This is a guest post by Dia Thabet from 2 Achieve Your Goals. To guest post on this blog, check guest post page.

Do you have a negative habit that you want to overcome?

Each one of us has a bad habit that we wish to overcome whether it is smoking, drinking alcohol, not exercising, sleeping too much, or any other negative habit. You should always try to improve yourself and overcome negative habits as they can harm your growth as a human being.

To learn how to overcome a bad habit, follow the quick guide below:

1. Raise your awareness

First, you have to recognize and be aware of what negative habit you want to overcome. After all, how can you get rid of a negative habit if you are not aware that you do it constantly?

Recognize what kind of negative habit you have. One of the best ways to recognize and become self aware is by understanding and knowing yourself. When you know yourself more, you will be able to recognize your negative habits.

2. Replace the negative habit

You can not overcome a negative habit, unless your replace it with something else. For example, if you decide to quite smoking without replacing the behavior with something else, then most likely you will go back to smoking in a matter of days, weeks, or months. Instead, every time you feel like you want to smoke, go outside and take a long walk.

3. Start today

To overcome a negative habit, you need to start today. Many people wait for the right mood, tomorrow, next week, or next month to start eliminating the negative habit. The chances are if you stay waiting for the right time, then that day might not come. You have today to live, so take advantage of it.

4. Focus on the benefits

One of the best ways to make sure a good and positive habit stays ingrained in your personality is to focus on the benefits that you will gain in the long run. For example, if your want to start exercising, then it would be beneficial if you focus on how strong, flexible, and healthy you will be.

Focusing on the end result has been proven to help make a positive habit stay with the individual who wants to overcome bad habits and replace them with new positive ones.

5. Visualize

Studies show that the more the individual visualizes himself performing a positive habit, the more likely he will be able to keep it. Athletes, singers, actors, and all of the successful people perform visualization in one way or another. It is a powerful technique that you can use to your advantage, so never underestimate the power of visualization in regards to overcoming a bad habit and gaining a new one.

In this post, I am listing 10 best personal development blogs on the internet. These blogs have awesome articles about personal growth, productivity and things getting done. Some blogs offer free e-Books and have personally read those books and found them really informative.

Why don’t you check these and benefit from these blogs then?

Let me know if I am missing any other blogs. You can always bring them to my notice in the comment section. Here I go.

LifeOptimizer.com

Key Areas: Personal effectiveness, productivity, time management and innovation

Author: Donald Latumahina

PositivityBlog.com

Key Areas: Motivation, Optimism, Self Discipline, Relationships

Author: Henrick Edberg

Free e-Book: 7 Timeless Habits of Happiness

EndingTheGrind.com

Key Areas: Change your life, Live Your Passion, Online income business

Author: Steve

ZenHabits.net

Key Areas: Simplicity, Getting Things Done, Life Enrichment

Author: Leo Babauta and Guest Writers

Free e-Book: Focus

StevePavlina.com

Key Areas: Productivity, Getting Things Done, Finding Life Purpose, Motivation

Author: Steve Pavlina

CelestineChua.com

Key Areas: Personal Excellence, Inspiring quotes and Wallpapers, Brainstorming techniques

Author: Celestine Chua

DumbLittleMan.com

Key Areas: Tips for Life, Money Management, Personal Development, Management, Life hacks

Author: Jay White and Guest writers

LifeHack.org

Key Areas: Productivity, Communication, Money, Technology, Management

Authors: Tucker Cummings, Julie McCormick, Debbie Bowle, Craig Harper, Leon Ho and guest writers

PickTheBrain.com

Key Areas: Personal productivity, Motivation, Self Education, Psychology and Philosophy

Authors: Erin Falconer, Ali Nuke, Mr. Self Development and guest writers

Free e-Book: 90 Days Confidence Booster

2KnowMyself.com

Key Areas: Behavior and personality development, Career and interview skills, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Motivation, Neuro Linguistic Programming

Authors: M.Farouk Radwan

I hope you enjoyed this resource of best personal development blogs. Let me know if you have come across any other awesome personal achievement blogs. Share it in the comment section so that others will benefit from it

New generation faces a great threat in their life. Stress is thy name. Many feel that stress is natural and normal. I feel it’s not.

Let me give you an example. You have a flight to catch at 8 pm and you are on the way to airport. This morning, you were totally fine without any stress but now this journey to reaching airport seems so stressful to you because you are running out of time, there is a heavy traffic jam out there. Somehow you reach the airport in time. Now, question here is what caused you the stress? You didn’t do anything wrong. Think again. Did you plan this properly? You didn’t. You could have left home bit early or you could have taken a less traffic route or you should have properly estimated the journey time considering whether it’s a week day or weekend. Your stress factor might have been nil if there was a well defined plan.

Stress is something that we create by ourselves most of the time. Stress is the result of our own improper planning. Practice good planning, consider all the scenarios when you plan something. Spend quality time in planning. When you plan well, you execute well. Hence you will be stress free.

Sometimes stress can hit you due to unforeseen events. Again, it depends on you how deal with stress. You can break into tears and increase chances of getting a high blood pressure or you can control your situation and face it with courage. I suggest you to choose the latter. Maintain your cool, you will be able to solve many problems easily.

Be aware that stress can be route cause of many diseases. Learn relaxation techniques to keep stress at bay.

Health is the real wealth. Removing or learning to coping with stress is the key for achieving the real wealth called health.

I hope this post helped you to learn few useful stress management tips and dealing with stress.