In our modern and complicated lives, we regularly face “problems” that either inconvenience us or create difficult dilemmas. But what really constitutes a problem? And how should we deal with them?

A matter or situation regarded as unwelcome or harmful and needing to be dealt with and overcome

This suggests to us, in simple, that problems are bad circumstances that require some kind of resolution to achieve a preferred outcome. We can, therefore, break a problem down into 3 key stages: difficulty, solution and consequence. A structure that is unsurprisingly related to that of many simple books aimed at young children, which have relatable issues and offer optimum solutions.

Needing much effort or skill to accomplish, deal with, or understand

The difficulty, this is the first hurdle, and it is the one where most people fall. Recognising the issue in the situation is the first stage to rectifying the problem at hand. We often only notice social matters, like racism, sexism and ageism, however, deeper more rooted problems in people’s relationships, finances and political systems are brushed over at first and then are gradually accepted as the norm. More often than not we only realise that this is a problem when someone else points it out to us, this is due to them comparing norms with you.

A means of solving a problem or dealing with a difficult situation

Once we have recognised a difficulty we must come up with a solution. Finding a solution is, of course, the hardest part of a problem, imagination, skill and past experience are necessary to success when tackling the identified difficulty. We often learn solutions from other’s past experiences, whether they were positive or not is less important. Without an insight into what works and what doesn’t, we are left to create our own hypothesis and we are forced to test it on ourselves. The best solutions are often those that take a step back from the situation and take an alternative view, this is commonly known as “thinking outside the box”.

A result or effect

Now that we have attempted to solve our difficulty with our solution we end up with a consequence. The word itself implies negativity, which is unfortunately how some of our problems end. A positive ending is all we hope for when we encounter a problem, and the journey it takes us on is always a learning curve that will undoubtedly benefit us at a later date. Good or bad outcome, getting to the end of a problem is always rewarding because it allows us to move onto the next stage of life.