Many of us have been encouraged over the course of our lives to be active in problem solving. This is to say that if we perceive something unpleasant in our lives, our internal response is typically set to take some sort of action. An active response to problem solving in fact would probably occur to most of us as being the only reasonable response. There is however another possible response to problem solving.

Thinking exists that advocates taking no effort against problems whatsoever, and being mostly passive instead. This response can also be referred to as letting go. Letting go as a philosophy advocates no engagement of problems whatsoever. What this entails in not taking physical action of any sort while also not planning for any sort of solution.

A typical response to passive problem solving is concern about the problem never being resolved. What this type of thinking overlooks however is the concept that spiritual intervention can solve problems. While thinking like this probably isn’t especially mainstream, it certainly does have its advocates.

There is a form called ho’oponopono that embraces the notion of not trying to actively solve problems. The origin of the ho’oponopono method took place on Hawaii, where ho’oponopono has been used across generations. Hooponopono is known as a means for problem response. According to ho’oponopono, struggling with problems negates the possibility for spiritual intervention: a different and better approach instead according to ho’oponopono is to eliminate entirely the resistance one often interjects into the problem solving process.

What is sometimes referred to as traditional healing has gained considerable popularity and interest over the years. Ho’oponopono can also be fairly categorized as traditional healing, and it like other forms of traditional healing is gaining popularity. Might this mean a new focus in problem solving from engagement to letting go? While this prospect may not seem especially likely, it certainly can’t be entirely disregarded. For more information about ho’oponopono, visit God Help Me.

Many of us have been encouraged over the course of our lives to be active in problem solving. This is to say that if we perceive something unpleasant in our lives, our internal response is typically set to take some sort of action. An active response to problem solving in fact would probably occur to most of us as being the only reasonable response. Another approach to problem solving however does exist.

A notion exists that a person shouldn’t take effort against a problem at all, and in fact should respond passively to any problems that may arise. Letting go is another way of referring to this process. Letting go as a philosophy advocates no engagement of problems whatsoever. What this entails in not taking physical action of any sort while also not planning for any sort of solution.

The obvious response to the idea of letting go in the face of a problem is that the problem will never be solved. This perspective however neglects the possibility of a spiritual solve to dilemmas. Though this sort of thinking may not be entirely mainstream neither is it without supporters.

There is a form called ho’oponopono that embraces the notion of not trying to actively solve problems. The ho’oponopono technique originated on the Hawaiian Islands and has been practiced there for generations. Ho oponopono is known as a means for problem response. According to ho’oponopono, struggling with problems negates the possibility for spiritual intervention: a different and better approach instead according to ho’oponopono is to eliminate entirely the resistance one often interjects into the problem solving process.

What is sometimes referred to as traditional healing has gained considerable popularity and interest over the years. Ho’oponopono can also be fairly categorized as traditional healing, and it like other forms of traditional healing is gaining popularity. Might this mean a new focus in problem solving from engagement to letting go? This may seem like an unlikely scenario, but the possibility for such a change is certainly there. For more information about ho’oponopono, visit I Need Help.

What’s typically the most significant problem for the majority of people? Here the guess would be not having enough money. This is to say, most people would probably consider a lack of money as their most significant difficulty. Another way of expressing this problem would be to say a lack of resources. After all, money in and of itself has very little inherent value. Money’s greatest value is as trade for some resource or another: food for example, or shelter, or transportation, etc. So when a person says then that they don’t have sufficient money, what they’re actually saying is they aren’t able to obtain some resource or extravagance that they want to obtain.

The actual role that money plays is relevant to know because it can serve to impact one’s true priorities. It’s quite common to find citizens of advanced societies making it a personal goal to acquire the greatest amount of money that they can. But it’s not actually money that these people covet: it’s the goods and services that money can be exchanged for. Money is not the same thing as survival, and it’s certainly not the same thing as being content. As an exercise, a person might stop referring to money altogether and instead refer to those things that they would like to exchange money for. This may change a person’s outlook as they consider money to begin with, as well as reducing frustration when money seems as though it’s not available.

The consideration of personal outlook is one aspect of the ho’oponopono problem solving method. In the ho’oponopono method, it’s believed that any and every problem comes from the self. An expression sometimes used among ho’oponopono practitioners is ‘There is no out there’. The key then to solving a difficulty, including financial or resource difficulties, is to start problem solving from the self. From this point, change in a person’s actual experience can and does take place when ho’oponopono is implemented. Learn more about problem solving by visiting Ho’oponopono or God Help Me.

Ask one hundred people to define quality of life, and you’re liable to get one hundred different answers. Part of the variation in expressing quality of life surely is that people place emphasis on different things. For some people, having fulfilling relationships with others is key. Some people find that reaching professional goals is especially significant. There are equally experiences within an entire culture that are often thought to represent a high quality of life: stimulating experiences, satisfying social relationships, being of good health, etc.

Another way to think of quality of life however may simply be the presence of ego satisfaction. A person who possesses those things they believe are important may consider themselves to be content. The person lacking things they believe are important may see their lives as inadequate. The natural follow-up to this is whether or not the pursuit of one’s ego desires is a worthy goal. Generally speaking, in Western civilizations achieving ego desires is celebrated. The person who consistently fulfills his or her ego desires is often seen in Western culture as a success; and on the contrary, the person who has a poor record of seeing their ego desires achieved may be thought of as a failure.

It is not absolutely accepted however that ego desires are something to be pursued. Some belief systems in fact consider the ego to be almost clueless as to what in life is genuinely beneficial and worthwhile. Ho’oponopono is a process that considers the ego to be nearly entirely inept at understanding and interpreting life meaning. Within ho’oponopono then there is a strong emphasis on refusing to be led by the ego, and on making an effort to let go of desires. Practitioners of ho’oponopono believe that true contentment is achieved, and only achieved, through consciously making a connection to higher understanding.

Though ho’oponopono may sound rather complex, it’s actually a quite simple process. It’s a near certainty that anyone with the desire to can engage the ho’oponopono method. As things stand today awareness of ho’oponopono is spreading remarkably quickly, and more and more people are making practice of the method a regular part of their lives. Find out more about the ho’oponopono method at God Help Me.

It’s pretty fair to say, I think, that these are troubled times for lots of people: maybe even for most people. Naturally there’s always one sort of difficulty or other to deal with in the course of life: financial difficulties, difficulties with relationships, health difficulties. In today’s environment, however, you can add what seems to be a worldwide financial collapse to these life typical difficulties. Put it all together, and circumstances today can rapidly take on the appearance of being almost too overwhelming to deal with.

The first question in times of difficulty such as these is, naturally, can anything be done to change things for the better. At times, the steps that can be taken to improve a particular situation are easy to understand. There are other times when it appears as though circumstances are beyond a person’s individual control, and that there’s nothing that can directly be done to improve a particular scenario. Today’s world may seem to be one of those situations when there’s not much an individual can really do, except perhaps to hope that factors will eventually get better.

There’s one outlook however that claims any difficulty can not only be improved, but can be solved entirely. This same outlook claims that a problem — any problem — is not an external event but actually originates from the internal state of a person. In other words, there is no out there to speak of. This sort of an idea would strike some people, if not the majority of people, as unrealistic and even bizarre. Be that as it may, the outlook I’m speaking of is gaining increasing notoriety and more and more people are coming to practice it. It’s a method known as ho’oponopono, and it’s been practiced on the Hawaiian Islands for generations. Though ho’oponopono presumes a higher state of being, it has no ties to any particular religious belief.

Ho’oponopono is simple to do, and can be done anywhere, at any time, by a person of any background. Though the method may sound fantastical, it’s easy enough to determine whether ho’oponopono is in fact legitimate: try it. More about the ho’oponopono method can be found at Need Help.

Where do problems come from? Most people would probably say that problems come from a variety of places: from our jobs, from other people, from financial institutions, etc. There’s an outlook however that says all problems come from one place and one place only; and when I say all problems, I mean problems that affect both a particular person and problems that seem to only affect others. Where does this outlook say that all problems come from? The individual.

A person might take the notion that all problems come from the individual as an issue of perspective; in other words, problems are only real if a person actually considers something to be a problem. For example, losing a job might be considered a problem for one person but not problematic at all for someone else. The idea that problems are actually a result of a person’s perspective and not something absolute is an interesting one, and may be applicable in different instances. But there are also circumstances that would likely be considered a problem whatever a person’s outlook is: being in the middle of the sea on a ship that’s starting to sink, for instance.

In any event, the outlook I’m referring to considers the notion of problems coming from the individual to be an entirely literal reality. As in, there’s something happening within the individual that has caused a difficulty to occur. Are you lonely? Are you broke? Are you sick? A reaction within you is responsible for making it occur. It’s equally true for those problems that seem not to impact the individual in any significant way. Is there a war taking place somewhere? Is there famine occurring somewhere? Did some form of natural act cause death and hardship in some part of the world? Regardless of where the problematic circumstance happens to occur, there is an energy from you that is causing it.

The idea that the individual is responsible for every problem he or she perceives, no matter how the problem plays out or where it may be taking place, is one that most people would automatically reject. This rejection is almost certainly motivated by the majority belief that a person can only control so much within the universe. But this sort of reasoning isn’t universally accepted. Those who practice ho’oponopono, the outlook I’ve been speaking of throughout this piece, believe that every problem an individual perceives comes from that individual. And perhaps more importantly, that the individual can resolve these problems: every one of them. You can get more information about the ho’oponopono perspective at I need help.

It came to me in a dream. I was explaining the “add-subtract-change” problem solving technique to somebody. I had never heard of it before, but while awake I had been working on a book about problem solving. This new technique turned out to be a very useful technique when I tried it. It is an idea that has undoubtedly been thought of by others, but it was unknown to me until that moment.

I have had this happen before. I have had story ideas come to me in a dream, and solutions to problems. When I was younger, I even invented a way to sail my sled on the Lake Michigan ice in my dream. I tried it and it worked.

Maybe you have solved problems and had new ideas in your dreams as well. There is no doubt that it can happen, but how do we make it more likely, and more common? Try the following.

Getting Ideas In A Dream

- Think about it a lot. If a period of intense mental work on a problem precedes sleep, the subconscious mind has been “instructed” that this is important, and will continue to work on the problem during sleep.

- Write the problem down, and what qualities the solution may have, just before going to sleep.

- Practice with simple problems. See if you can get yourself to imagine a new kind of furniture, or a new poem in a dream.

- Keep paper and pen by the side of the bed. Write down any ideas you have when you wake up. The process encourages your mind to have even more ideas. A tape recorder is even better, because you can use it without a light and quickly go back to sleep.

- If you wake up without an alarm, you are more likely to remember your dreams. If you need an alarm for work, try problem solving in dreams over the weekend.

- As soon as you wake up, quickly review any dreams you can recall. This “sets” them in your mind before you can forget them. Then you can think back on them later, to see if there is anything useful there.

- If you don’t need sound sleep, try sleeping on the floor or in another slightly uncomfortable way. The repeated waking up and going back to sleep gives you more opportunities to remember dreams. I took notes on nine dreams one night in this way, and had two good ideas from them.

You can get good ideas in a dream. You can also have good ideas and solutions to problems come to you the next morning after you wake up. Review the problem mentally in the morning to encourage this latter process.

Are these scientifically “proven” techniques. No, and it is difficult to measure the “value” of an idea scientifically. What counts as an idea, if you are trying to measure the frequency when using these little tricks? Scientific proof in this area is difficult for now, but people have had productive dreams for thousands of years, and there is nothing harmful in trying to find an answer in a dream. Why not give it a try?

Wouldn’t it be great if you could solve problems more easily? You can. Problems you have at home, or problems from science, work, or business – you can use special techniques to help you find solutions to all of them. The following is one of the best.

A Problem Solving Story

I had written an ebook on buying cheap homes, based on our experience buying a house for $17,500. I tried to sell it without much luck. I lowered the price to seven dollars, and it still wasn’t selling well. At least I was getting no returns on the ones that sold, so I knew the readers were satisfied with it.

I had previously sold ebooks and given them away. Free ebooks are a way to generate interest in and traffic to websites. Both selling and giving away information are workable business models. Then I realized that I was assuming I had to do one or the other. It seemed like a valid assumption, but when I questioned it, I came up with a new way to solve the problem.

I gave the book away AND sold it. I left the sales page in place, but gave visitors the option to get the book free as well. They just subscribed, and then received a chapter every few days by email. It took over three months to get the whole book this way, and of course I reminded them that they could go buy it right away at any time.

Sales picked up. Nothing spectacular, but I was selling more than before. Apparently many readers like what they saw, and didn’t want to wait to get the rest. I have since used this new model for other ebooks with some success.

Solve Problems By Questioning Assumptions

The hardest part about questioning assumptions is identifying all the assumptions that we so easily and subtly make. Learn to do this, though, and you’ll have some truly creative ideas and effective solutions.

Start with pen and paper, and write a list of assumptions you are making about the situation or problem. Write down even the most obvious “truths.” Once done, begin questioning each item on the list.

Suppose a man is always arguing with someone at work, and he wants to restore peace in the office. On his list of assumptions, he might write, “I need to have a better relationship with this fellow employee,” and “We need to change our behavior.” Questioning these assumptions, he might realize that he can change his own behavior, and that will be enough, or that he really doesn’t need a better relationship. Maybe he can just stay away from this other employee.

Suppose you are a bicycle manufacturer, and you want to produce a new type of bicycle. Your assumptions may include that bicycles need wheels and that they have to be made of metal. Challenge the first, and you might imagine a “bike” with skis that hydroplanes on water when you pedal fast enough. Challenge the second assumption and you find that there are advantages to using fiberglass or plastic instead of metal.

Then you might ask “Do we really need a new product?” Maybe there is more money to be made marketing existing products in new ways. That would save the cost of retooling. Notice that this directly challenges the problem itself. Challenging the primary assumption, or the definition of the problem, can often yield the most creative and useful ways to solve problems.

Systematically questioning assumptions is just one technique. There are dozens more you can use. Make it a habit to use several of them, and soon you’ll be able to solve problems more easily and creatively.