Have you ever had an “AHA” moment when you realize you can no longer deny the existence of a problem?

Well, I did recently and can tell you that first hand that there is so much freedom in facing your problem directly. Because the moment you acknowledge a problem, you make yourself available for the solution. Recently my son Kyle, who has an advanced degree in calling me on the carpet for even the slightest infraction, was setting something up on my phone. A text message came through and he noticed the size of the font. His knee-jerk comment was, “Mom, are you going blind? The size of your font is ridiculous.”

OUCH!

There it was front and center, my stark truth that I had been putting a band-aid on my bleeding wound. Instead of dealing with the fact that seeing small print was a challenge, I just kept making my font larger on all my devices. Basically learning to limp with a pebble in my shoe rather than just removing it. The worse part about this scenario is I am a problem solver by profession, I coach and speak to countless women helping them to identify challenges, grow to their next level, and tackle life head-on.

Yet, here I was with oversized fonts instead of going to the root of the issue which was the fact that I needed reading glasses. At that moment, I realized that none of us are immune to denial. It’s like a magnet that allows us to accept a crutch rather than seek out the cure for our issues. You know, those little niggling things that should be addressed but we have 99 reasons why we choose not to do anything about it.

How do you shift from denial to actually doing something about it?

3 QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU TAKE ACTION:

1. Are you crafting solutions that don’t address the real problem?

In my case, the obvious remedy was going to the eye doctor but I manufactured a solution that didn’t resolve the problem. Consider in your own life; are you solving problems that allow you to sweep the true issue under the rug and then step over it?

2. Do you mentally clock out whenever the problem presents itself?

Your challenge may be an issue with a co-worker that you need to address or a family member that you need to set boundaries with. But whenever you think about what needs to be done, you send your thoughts somewhere else and fool yourself into believing you’re too busy to deal with it.

3. Have You Learned To Limp With A Rock In Your Shoe?

Your emotions may have led you down a path that convinces you to just accept and accommodate the problem because of it? feels? too difficult to tackle. And while limping may be slightly annoying, it’s better than having to stop your journey to take off your shoe and actually remove the rock.

My experience has shown that the faster you face your issues head-on, the more likely you are to have a successful resolution. For this, I recommend what I refer to as mine? Triple-A? approach.

1. Acknowledge that there is a problem even if you have no clue what the solution might be.
2. Ask yourself what you are afraid of because fear is the number one cause for why people avoid problems.
3. Lastly, you must propose to take Action in spite of how you feel.

Mastering the awareness and willingness to just face the problem and tackle it head-on will rob denial of the ability to wreak havoc in your life. This is a must-have skill for any professional woman of faith.

Have you experienced freedom in facing true problems? Do you need to crush the power of denial and use it for your good?

Please share and leave me a comment. Let’s grow together!

Blessings,