It's Time To Choose by Jim Risser

After you've came up with a number of ideas, it's time to pick one of the ideas as a solution to your problem.  This is time when we analyze, judge, and debate ideas to find a viable solution. This is the time to make up your mind and choose. sdafdsa

Choosing a solution can be difficult.  Choosing a solution can be fearful as it is a call to action, an uncertain step towards successfully overcoming your problem or abject failure. At this point we may have second thoughts as to our commitment to solving our problem; we start to think that maybe the problem isn't so serious, that maybe it will go away on its own, that we'll only make it worse if we try to fix the problem.

There's a lot of emotion involved in choosing a solution. There's no such thing as a "rational decision" or "logical choice." We use our internal rating system to rate our choices as "good," "bad," and everything in between. We make up our minds based on the emotions that we have attached to our experiences, knowledge, beliefs, and convictions.

Based on individual life experience and genetic makeup, we will all give a different emotional weight to the same idea. A person with more experience may find one solution "bad" while another individual with less experience may find the same solution "perfect." This is why it's a good idea to get others to give you feedback on your ideas even if they're not involved in the problem or the process.  In the field of emotion intelligence this is called "Reality Testing."

Since we have our own individual realities based on our own lives and being, it's a good idea to get another's perspective. What may be "reality" to us may be something totally different to someone with different experiences. While one person sees a problem as the end of the world, another sees it as an opportunity. By sharing and debating our ideas we can get a better grasp on "reality."

Have somebody play Devil's advocate -- have them break the solutions down and pick at them.  What's wrong with this idea? What are some of the pitfalls? What are the chances of it succeeding? Find people who have had the same or similar problem.  What solutions worked for them? What solutions didn't work?

As stated before, choosing a solution from your list of ideas can be difficult even paralyzing. It may take all the courage you can muster to move through this step in the problem solving process. You may be sailing in uncharted waters. It may be that this problem is new and terrifying for you. But no matter what solution you choose and no matter how the solution turns out, you have a new experience from which you hopefully learn and grow.

Even through my most dire of problems I have survived. I feel stronger and more knowledgeable for having experienced each problem.  I am more confident, secure and hopefully wiser for having gone through my trials and tribulations. History is full of stories of people who have experienced the worst of problems and survived, often times going on to accomplish great things.

I have learned to enjoy new problems because my only other choice is to go crazy with worry. By worrying and dwelling on the problem we miss the moment of the present. The present is all we have. The past is gone and the future isn't here yet. If we live in the present moment we can enjoy life. We have to realize that this is something we can't do anything about right now. We can plan, prepare, and pray but after that what's the sense of worrying? You might as well enjoy the present moment. Live life.

"Life, give me more!" is my motto. I'll face my problems head on with courage, fortitude, and faith. I know I'll get through that next problem somehow, some way. Hopefully I'll learn from the problem and become a wiser person.

Meanwhile in the present moment I enjoy life. Life is precious to me and I don't want to waste it. So I enjoy the present moment by being in the present moment. I ask myself, "What is there to worry about right now, right here?" The answer is usually nothing, so I enjoy the moment. It could be my last moment.

Next: Try Your Solution

Ideas! Ideas! Ideas! by Jim Risser

Brainstorming and mind maps are tools used to generate ideas on your own or in a group. With these tools we want to think of anything and everything. No idea is too ridiculous since it might trigger a genius idea.

I found mind mapping to be helpful at times. I learned mind mapping when I started to get serious about college. I realized that I needed to learn how to learn.  So I did research about how to study. Mind mapping links bubbles of ideas together like a spiderweb.

Mostly I just brainstorm on the computer, making an outlined list. I like outlining because of its simple, ordered format.  In Word it's easy to tab to add sub-thoughts, related ideas, and references. It's almost like mind mapping in the sense that you are linking ideas.

Recent research on brainstorming found that more ideas were generated when participants brainstormed on their own and shared their ideas later. So it's up to you to come up with ideas. You have to come up with your own system for creating ideas and solutions.

Brainstorming is like the worldwide web - you don't know where you'll end up. You start a search for "homes" and an hour later you're reading about the meaning of colors. Just like the "worldwide" web, there are no borders in brainstorming. Let the ideas flow from you. Free associate. No idea is a bad idea.

Be open minded to the radical, impractical, and crazy. How many impassible ideas have been become reality. You never know. Look at geniuses who have succeeded when others called them nuts. Suspend judgement and just write that idea down. You will judge your ideas in the next step. This is the time to have fun and go wild.

Sometimes I'll  sketch out ideas with paper and pen. Or I'll make a computer graphic. Some problems demand that we draw plans, create pictures, or make models. I've always admired the work of model railroaders. I love the detail and realism of their modeling.

How you come up with ideas is up to you. Some people already have their own systems to generate ideas. Those who need a system should try brainstorming, mind mapping, and anything else that could help.  But ultimately it's your own system.

Remember the "E" in DICTATE is for Enjoy. Generating ideas is a chance to enjoy the problem solving process.

Have fun!

Next: It's Time To Choose

"D" is for Defining the Problem by Jim Risser

"Isn't it obviously what the problem is," you think when someone doesn't see the problem that you do.  Some problems are obvious and easily defined. Some problems are so complex that they're called "hydras" after the monster Hydra that had nine heads; cut off one of it's head and three would grow back (Hercules killed Hydra by using a torch to cauterize the neck as he cut off each of the monster's heads).

First off lets define what a problem is.  Here's the dictionary definition: An obstacle that keeps us from reaching our goal.  Put another way, it's what's between you and what you want.

You ----[Problem]----What you want.

What is it that you want? To get to work on time?  To have your child listen to you?  To be rich and famous?

What's keeping us from what you want? Traffic? Puberty?  Inability to get noticed? There could be many things keeping us from what we want.  Defining the problem isn't always an easy answer.

We must investigate, examine, and analyze to define our problems.

What exactly is keeping you from your goals, wants, and needs?  What is the obstacle?

Is it physical? Like a stalled car blocking the road or someone standing in your way. Or is it a person or persons like your boss not giving you a raise? Is it a situation like lack of money, broken computer, or lost phone?

What are the consequences of this problem?  There are of course the emotional affects, but what will happen if we don't reach our goal? For example, what are the consequences of us waking up 20 minutes late for work?  Maybe we won't get a good parking space.  Maybe we only miss eating breakfast.  Or maybe it's not a problem at all, you're the boss.

With any problem there is an emotional weight that we attach to it.  That is, we have our own internal rating system. In this system rating our decisions are weighed based upon our emotions.  We judge our problems just as we might rate a movie on a scale from one star to four stars. If the movie affects us positively we give it four stars.  If the movie disgusts us we give it no stars.

So it is that we rate the emotional affect that a problem has on us. For example, on a scale from 1 to 10 we might rate sitting in traffic gridlock while late for work an 8 because we might get yelled at by the boss.  A bad haircut may rate only a 5 to some while the cable going out a 10 for others. Just as we might rate a song differently, we rate the same problem emotionally different.

Emotions can cloud our judgement.  Emotions can keep us from seeing the real problem.  Emotions need to be examined through introspection.  Look inside yourself to examine how the problem affects you, what you want, and why you want it.

Another question to ask is whose problem it is? Who owns the problem? For example, if someone is drumming his or her fingers on the table making a noise that annoys us, whose problem is it? It's no problem to the person who's doing the drumming; he or she may be oblivious to your feelings or reaction.  So the problem is yours--you're the one who's annoyed.

Problems won't always be easily defined.  It takes reflection and study to define some problems. Really analyze your problems to make sure your solving the right problem.

Next: Ideas! Ideas! Ideas!

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