In his book, Love, Medicine, and Miracles, Dr. Bernie Siegel discusses how one’s illness can actually be a beacon to greater health, understanding one’s self, and greater humanity. Siegel suggests to his patients that they ask themselves: “What is this illness forcing me to learn?” Some patients are stunned. Others understand what he is driving at immediately.

Illnesses Have Meaning

It is Siegel’s belief, and that of many others in the medical community, that illnesses don’t simply arrive in people’s lives. They are there for a reason. Most of the time, people “invite” the illness as a result of how they live, which could mean what they eat, how they treat themselves, or even how they think.

Once cancer or heart disease has been diagnosed, Siegel maintains that a patient has much to learn from the illness in terms of how to treat one’s self, how to conduct one’s life hereafter, how to treat others and even how to embrace a higher level of spirituality.

Illnesses Prompt Learning

As a variation on a theme, Robert Fritz suggests a different kind of question: what is the problem forcing me to do or to learn? Suppose there is something you need to get done, but you keep coming up against stumbling blocks. Fritz suggests to achieve breakthrough solutions, particularly in the face of recurring problems, you need to sincerely embrace each problem you have as a best friend.

Regarding a problem as a best friend enables you to benefit from what Fritz calls the Law of Reversal. This means you’re using the negative energy surrounding the problem to propel you forward, tap into the positive forces available and achieve a solution. Avoiding or attempting to avoid a pervasive problem gives you no power.

Is the Answer Right Along Side the Problem?

Thomas Kettering, a founder of the Sloan-Kettering Institute, was among the most brilliant inventors in the last century, perhaps on par with Thomas Edison, but rarely known today. Kettering perfected the diesel engine, automobile ignition systems, chrome painting procedures, and a host of other innovations that transformed the auto industry in the 1920s and 1930s.

As I discussed in The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Managing Stress, Kettering’s approach to problem-solving was unsurpassed. He believed that the major difference between a problem and a solution was that people more readily understood a solution.

Shift Your Perception

Kettering felt that solutions involved a strategic shift in perception, since the solution to the problem must have existed all along within the problem itself. A problem-solver’s role was not to master a problem, but to generate its solution.

In perfecting the diesel locomotive, Kettering commented that his team had little part in it. Instead, the team “offered” the engine six different types of pistons and, in essence, let the engine “choose” the one “it” liked best.

When it comes to problems that you experience as a result of stress, perhaps long standing problems, there simply has to be a solution. And, as with Kettering’s insight, the solution has existed all along in tandem with the problem itself.

The Bigger the Problem…

In Fritz’s view, since we generally help initiate most of our problems, our wisest path to resolving this situation and accomplishing that which we choose to accomplish is to cooperate with the forces at play and treat obstacles as your best friends, rather than resist them. You might even say, the bigger the problem, the greater your creative potential.

If you find yourself getting shot down time after time in pursuit of a specific goal, your quest is to use the energy of your plight to leap on to higher ground. By regarding problems as a stepping stone for opportunity and not a roadblock, you can begin to view the problem as beneficial. It actually starts to lose power.

The problem you’re facing is your best friend because it will help to bring out the best in you. The key is to keep asking yourself: “What is the problem forcing me to learn or to do?” For some people, it is learning to trust themselves more completely, for others it’s involving others into the solution. It could also mean approaching the problem in a totally different way.

As answers emerge, you’re more than willing to keep asking questions when you face other types of problems in getting other things done.

Try This at Home

As a simple exercise, think about three things right now that you want to get done that, for whatever reason, have remained undone for quite a while.

Now, identify the major problem involved in completing each of these three tasks. For each situation, ask yourself what is the problem forcing me to learn or do? Have pen and paper ready as the answers start to come forth.

1. _____________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________

What Else Can I Handle?

Any time you’ve completed a task or project of significance is a good time to contemplate what else you are able to address. Likewise, when you recognize that you have 6 or 8 minutes before a meeting, the end of the day, or at then end of the work week, independent of how you’ve laid out the tasks on your master to-do list, keep a keen eye for anything you can “knock-out” — take care of — right now.

The key factors will be the actual time available, your frame of mind, your location, and if you’re armed with the requisite tools. When you finish something and are feeling good, that is the prime time to ask yourself what else you can handle.

Stay on Your Roll

You’ve probably heard the expression “if you want to get something done, give it to a busy person.” We’re all so busy today, I question the value of that once sage advice.

On the other hand, the best time to get something done is when you’re already on a roll. Fresh from the accomplishment of one task, and the resulting confidence and good feeling that imbues within you, you’re prime to take on something else.

When a small pocket of time emerges, use it to “short-circuit” the to-do list, or as I often do, simply peruse your master to-do list, looking for everything and anything that might be handled during this opportune moment.

You can plot and plan all you want, but sometimes a small task emerges that begs for immediate action. In tending to that matter on the spot, you’ll feel more in control, more productive, and even more creative. Getting things done during these small pockets of time also can help to alleviate stress.

Personal Business

What about handling personal affairs at these emerging moments? The boundaries of our professional and personal lives frequently intersect. It would be unrealistic, and even draconian to suggest that an unrelenting, 100% focus on professional tasks will keep you productive, focused, balanced and happy.

One of the most pleasing tasks I encountered during these opportune moments is clearing “in-bins,” either the physical in-bin on my desk or more likely an email in-bin. Other worthwhile tasks include breaking down the mail, or straightening up some aspect of your office — not obsessively — to enhance your productivity for subsequent projects.

When you take on that extra something else and complete it, go a step further. Ask yourself, again, what else can I handle? Go for as long as you can with this procedure.

Soon enough, the answer that will come back to you will be “nothing else.” Or more likely, you’ll stop asking yourself. That’s a good indication that you’ve run the track. Thereafter, you can ask yourself questions such as, “What do I want for dinner tonight or what movie do I want to see?”