How to Solve Every Problem

 How to Solve Every Problem

What makes solving problems difficult is that we often don’t know everything that we need to solve in order to be able to move forward.

Every problem you face will always present you with at least 3 obstacles².

To be able to overcome the problem you have to identify the 3 chief obstacles and solve them, otherwise you won’t be able to fully³ remove the problem from your path.

Usually we just solve 1 or 2 obstacles, since they are the obvious parts, but we tend to miss the less obvious parts, which stops us from completely removing the problem from our path.

It was a tough lesson

I learned⁴ this lesson the hard way.

I was working with a new employee at the company, she wasn’t having any progress on her sales and we had run into a wall on what to do about it.

We kept working on trying to find her more leads and improve her ability to ask for the order, since they were the obvious problems we had.

The problem was that it wasn’t enough, it wasn’t working.

We sat down and identified all the problems she had, it turned out that she a third problem we hadn’t thought about before.

She had these 3 problems

1. Finding⁵ leads

2. Confidence in her body language

3. Asking for the order

As you can see we identified the three problems and then ranked them in order of importance. The order follows the progress her sales do, first leads, then building a report ending with asking for the order.

We started on number 1

Since leads were the largest obstacle¹ we sat down for 1 hour and discussed different solutions. I went through several different techniques with her and we looked for leads together.

After 2 hours of hard work we had filled her pipeline⁶ and she felt confident that she could keep it stocked⁷.

We solved number 2 and then the third

Once she has leads we could start working on her confidence in her phone calls and once she had done that she got a lot more opportunities to ask for the order.

Quickly she started making sales and today she is one of the best employees I have.

Identify and prioritize

Start by identifying the 3 key obstacles and prioritize the list in the order of importance and what needs to be done first. By doing this you will quickly get a good overview⁸ of your problem and what you need to do in order to solve it.

Start with the most important

Once you know what needs to be done, start with the most important task and make sure to completely solve it. Then move on to the second and so on.

This way your problems will start to quickly dissipate⁹ and you can continue with your development.

The importance of finding all three

By identifying all three obstacles you make sure you can focus on all the most important tasks and can make a smart prioritization. Without it you do not know if you are focusing on the right things and you will move slower towards your success.

Conclusion

To every problem focus on your 3 most important obstacles and try to find solutions. That way you will quickly move towards your goals and be able to solve anything that comes your way.

1 obstacle   

n.障碍，障碍物，妨害

参考例句：

• She felt that her family was an obstacle to her work.她感到她的家庭妨碍她的工作。
• He is in the full flush of success;nothing was an obstacle.他的成就如日中天，锐不可当。

2 obstacles   

n. 干扰；障碍

参考例句：

• I think most of these obstacles can be surmounted. 我认为这些障碍大多数都是可以克服的。
• There's no formidable obstacles in the world. 世上没有无法逾越的障碍。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

5 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

6 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

7 stocked   

vt.提供货物（stock的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The shop is well stocked with goods of all kinds. 商店里各色货物，一应俱全。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He stocked his shop with tinned goods. 他为自己的商店补充罐装食品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 overview   

n.概观，概述

参考例句：

• The opening chapter gives a brief historical overview of transport.第一章是运输史的简要回顾。
• The seminar aims to provide an overview on new media publishing.研讨会旨在综览新兴的媒体出版。

9 dissipate   

vi.消散，消失；vt.使消散，使消失，浪费

参考例句：

• Don't dissipate your efforts.不要浪费你的精力。
• The body must dissipate heat as fast as it produces.人体散发热量必须和产生热量一样快。