The issue is not to consider that Problems ARE (or CAN BE) Opportunities, it is to understand that Problems MUST BECOME Opportunities.
There are important differences between all this.
It is naive to walk through Life looking at all things through lenses tinted with positivism. Making the effort to consider that all the adversities and difficulties that the path presents are opportunities, does not generate an automatic change of reality. Problems cause effective setbacks, pain and suffering. This is not fiction or the product of weak minds.
On the other hand, changing those lenses tinted with positivism for others always tinged with hope, does not cause changes in facts or situations either. Thinking that Problems "can be" Opportunities only supports the "status quo".
Something completely different is to consider that every Problem can BECOME an Opportunity.
The possibility of Conversion is a call to action. And if it is worked properly, every Problem can be transformed EFFECTIVELY into an Opportunity.
Why can every Problem become an Opportunity ?, simply because Problems are Events: events that have origin, development and end. There are no Problems whose "structural" nature transcends very long or uncontrollable periods of time. On the other hand, and by denomination, there are no Problems that are unsolvable, since it is true that if a Problem has no solution, then there is no Problem!
Now, does Solving a Problem automatically become Opportunity? No. For this to happen, the effort and the ability of Conversion are necessary. If it were otherwise, the dynamics of the world would be different and there would be no differences between men. If everyone easily turned their Problems into Opportunities, what kind of world would it be today?
Turning Problems into Opportunities is not easy, but it is a process that is within everyone's reach.
Step # 1.- Acceptance (“Everything you resist, persists”)
The first thing that must exist when a problem arises is the complete and honest acceptance of the facts that it causes.
Problems present themselves as unexpected events or situations that do not meet expectations. In this sense they have an irrefutable particularity: they are facts. One can effectively react immediately (when the conditions lend themselves to it) and reverse the situation, but this also involves two concrete things: a) the problem generated facts, b) it took a certain time for it to be altered or corrected. In both elements the Acceptance is implicit.
The biggest mistake when facing a Problem is not accepting the existence of the facts and, on the contrary, resisting them.
Once they are produced there is no power over them. There is possibility to control the reactions, but the facts do not. This does not mean that the results should be taken with pleasure or that they do not cause discomfort and frustration, but moving from these natural emotions to a state of Resistance, prevents the solution from becoming an Opportunity.
The logical and natural acceptance of the facts has positive effects on the emotional state, at least different from those produced by the Resistance. And an emotional situation in which a certain calm and healthy resignation prevails, increases the lucidity and capacity of use of rational faculties.
Accepting things as they are is a sign of wisdom, of mental coherence, never a sign of resignation or irresponsibility. Facts can be changed with other facts, it is true, but this does not mean that they did not exist.
Healthy Acceptance, the product of a high mind, may eventually lead to the most precious state in the emotional universe: Peace. Before her any problem is dissolved, every possibility of solution and construction of Opportunities takes shape.
Step # 2.- Work with Time for, not against.
Facing a problem, solving it and eventually turning it into an Opportunity demands "taking time", the necessary time to accept the situation and reflect on its implications. If the reactions are not part of thoughtful considerations, they should not be performed.
Most Problems have solutions in the Reason domains, and Reason is capitalized when time works in your favor. The effects of a Problem in periods of time "under control" are less expensive than solutions taken in the heat of the facts. In this, as in many things in life, time works for or against. People who have the ability to turn Problems into Opportunities put their time on their side.
Step # 3.- Do not quit! The Problem "already showed your cards", now you play.
There is only one reasonable reason to abandon the effort to solve a problem and turn it into an opportunity: the fact that the Opportunity is outside the Problem and its eventual solution.
Many problems and adversities are a signal to abandon the path that is being traveled, but this conclusion should be an effect of the Conversion effort, never the starting point.
No Problem should have the power to get the effort to turn it into Opportunity abandoned prematurely. This mistake immediately nullifies all possibility, and it is precisely the fault that most people commit.
By generating concrete facts, the Problem also offers the possibility of a more accurate and successful reaction.
Before the problem occurs, everything exists on the plane of possibilities; instead, once it is manifest, it shows concrete facts on which to work and prepare the answer. There is certainly a separate "science" in the effort to "prevent" problems and adversities, but this unfolds at the level of the hypotheses, while the effective Problem exposes facts that eliminate all speculation. The situation is empirically known and can be approached with intelligence.
When the Problem “shows its cards”, the response movement can be much more forceful and effective: the Opportunity germinates there. The second, third, fourth responses to a Problem are becoming more and more quality, and may eventually lead to the solution. There are complex Problems that demand successive answers, but if they are framed in the Acceptance, they work in time in favor and clear knowledge of the facts, they have a good probability of being successful.
Persevering in intelligent responses to a problem is a virtue when it does not happen under the rule of uncontrolled emotions and the tyranny of Time.
When should I abandon the process of solving and converting a problem? When after the invested work it is perceived that in the Solution of the particular Problem no important Opportunity will arise. That moment it is evident that the Opportunity is, rather, in abandoning the efforts and "looking the other way".
Problems are not exclusively signs that force you to change the direction or way of doing certain things, they are in many cases indicators of STOP. Subtle orders to drastically change everything: purposes, objectives, goals, destinations, etc. In these situations the Problems can not only constitute Opportunities, also allies against the mistake, and even blessings that avoid greater penalties.
Many people learn to live successfully by leaning on the Problems they encounter and face. They make them profitable traveling companions, and they make the old adage come true: "… everything that happens, happens for something, and is always for the good."
Step # 4.- Adopt a Holistic vision of the Problem.
Problems are like the trees in a forest, and as such are part of a whole, a reality greater than themselves.
However, the problems have the ability to reduce people's peripheral vision, to the point of focusing only on them. This error prevents the conversion process from flowing properly.
It is appropriate and convenient to focus on solving the problem, but never on the problem itself. The solutions and the possibility of turning them into Opportunities emerge from the contemplation of all the elements that make up “the forest”. Visualizing the whole, analyzing it as such and not only for the parts that compose it, means adopting a Holistic vision of the problem.
There is no tree that has in itself the ability to condition the fate of the forest. Thus, there is NO problem that can condition a person's destiny if they approach it from a holistic perspective. When something is wrong, many other things are right. There is no rational reason to allow a particular problem to produce a "domino effect" that alters everything that is found without harm. In fact, the exact opposite should happen: the whole determine the arrangement of the part. Everything "good" must weigh on the solution of the problem. Thus another virtuous phenomenon occurs, that of Homeostasis.
When people do not adopt a holistic view of their lives, they tend to see only the Problem. Or they see everything else under the distorted optics that the inconvenience produces. Chances are that an objective balance of their lives reflects well-being, but the problem (or problems), stain that reality with a negative and hopeless vision.
When seeing the Problem and Life itself with a holistic vision, it can be verified that existence transcends any type of eventuality, much more those of “negative character”, because finally the mere fact of being alive is the possibility par excellence and blessing perfected.
None of this is a sophism or a poetic interpretation of things. Problems exist and have serious effects on people! There is no room to argue otherwise. But the other side of the medal is also real: every problem has a solution and can become an opportunity!
Whether people adopt one view or another on the subject depends on their desire to be Productive and Competitive, on the decision they have made to be the owners of their own life and not puppets of the circumstances, on the determination to become the Best Version of themselves and not a model to sculpt eventualities.
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AUTHOR'S DATA
Carlos Eduardo Nava Condarco, a native of Bolivia, lives in the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, is a Business Administrator and Entrepreneur. He currently works as Manager of his Company, Business Strategy and Personal Development Consultant, writer and Entrepreneur Coach.
Author of the book: “Entrepreneurship is a way of life. Development of Entrepreneurial Awareness ”
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