7 ways to combat helplessness

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Today we have a guest post from Farouk Radwan: Founder of http://www.2knowmyself.com/

Why do you find yourself sometimes motivated about solving a certain problem and why do you sometimes find yourself helpless?

Why would the same person face certain problems with courage but finds himself feeling helpless in the face of other ones?

I kept searching for answers to these questions until I discovered some few facts about helplessness that can help anybody avoid this unpleasant state.

In this article I will tell you about the 7 things you can do to combat helplessness:

1)      Equip yourself with knowledge: One of the main reasons you sometimes feel helpless in the face of a problem is not knowing what to do in order to solve it. The more you read and the more knowledge you acquire the less times you will find yourself feeling helpless.

2)      Learn how to learn: Most probably no one will ever be able to read about all life problems and be prepared to face them anytime. Often times we find ourselves facing new challenges that we know nothing about and this is where the second skills comes into play. You need to learn how to learn about the solution instead of lying helpless in bed. This could be as simple as googling the answer, reading a book, asking a friend or seeking expert advice.

3)      Don’t become an Ostrich: When an ostrich feels anxious it buries its head in the ground and the same thing exactly is done by many people. Some people run to drugs, alcohol or any other escapement method in order to burry heads instead of facing the problems. As long as you are escaping you will be helpless and you wont feel powerful until you start facing the problems you have.

4)      Have time: How many times have you suffered for weeks or months until you found time to search for a solution to a problem and managed to get over it successfully?  Not having enough time to combat your major problems as soon as they appear is the same as not knowing what to do. Both lack of knowledge and lack of time to search for the knowledge can make you helpless.

5)      Forget about the past: Another strong reason that make people become helpless is being stuck in their past. Being stuck in the past means thinking that the only possible solutions to problems are the ones that have been tried in the past. Forget about the past failures and think of brand new possibilities in order to not feel helpless.

6)      Get rid of False beliefs: This is the most dangerous factor of them all. Sometimes a person might form a false believe such as “there is no hope” after he fails to peruse a certain goals. False beliefs don’t only make you helpless but they limit your potential and prevent you from reaching goals that you are able to reach.

7)     Have faith in your abilities: Have faith in your abilities and skills by remembering the tough problems you have been able to solve earlier and if even if you solved nothing its still not too late to create the “problems I managed to get over” journal which can help you have faith in yourself in the future.

Thanks for the great post Farouk!

Founder of http://www.2knowmyself.com/

 

14 thoughts on “7 ways to combat helplessness”

  1. Hi Farouk & Juanita,
    I just loved this post. Such helpful advice. I especially liked # 6. False beliefs are so terribley limiting. I’ve been analyzing my own limiting beliefs lately and it really changes my perspective on how I see myself. Thanks so much for the great advice!

  3. Hi Farouk, great post – thanks for sharing these ideas. I think #7 in particular is so important to entrepreneurs, but they fluctuate between not having faith in their abilities, and having false, overstated faith that they don’t really believe…

  4. Hi Farouk, It’s great to read your suggestions here for getting past helplessness. #4 in particular, “Have time”, is a good one for me! This weekend I’m planning to work on a project that I put aside when I got “stuck”. I’m pretty sure that when I take the time, and also ask the right questions (in the right places!) I’ll get it sorted. Your reminder of all the ways to move forward is timely. Thanks for the great ideas!

  5. Nice read Farouk, I liked the ostrich reference! If I had a penny for every time I’ve heard that ;-)

    I’m kidding of course. My favourite point is No. 7, have faith in your abilities. I wonder sometimes whether I have the ability to do something which I know I need to do, but fear holds me back. If I had more faith in my own abilities, then I’d charge forward and nothing could stop me, so it’s important to recognise the power of having faith :-)

    Hi Juanita, thought I’d come over and compliment you on what a fine website you have here! Looking forward to the next post :-)

    • I totally agree Stuart having faith in our abilities is something that can truly propell us forward and remove a lot of obstacles! I too wish that I had more faith in my abilities.

      Thanks of the compliment Stuart! :-)

    • hahahahaaha
      yes Stuart you are right, without faith there would be no drive to go forward and the person will stop, thank you for the addition :) )

  6. Hi Juanita and Farouk!

    Farouk, I feel like I’ve known you for years now, bro! :) Seriously, this is a fantastic post! Maybe my favorite you’ve done so far! Honestly, we all feel helpless at times. It’s learning how to move forward and contain a sense of desire. There is never truly hopelessness. Thank you for sharing!

    Juanita, Hope you are well, my friend!

    • Hi Bryan!

      I agree with you – I love the post too! It is always a pleasure to have you drop by Bryan! I hope you and your family are all well :-)

  7. Thanks Farouk, I needed this lift and had forgotten and lost my way recently, but had it not been for #7 – having faith in my abilities I think I now see things in a different light. If the seven things were stages when feeling helpless I would have to say they popped up for me in this order after an event: 3) 5) 6) 2) 4) 1) and finally 7) although the latter probably came earlier when I got a tiny sense of hope and started to research online certain predicaments hoping to read some good news. I can do this… thanks again for your wise words

    • Hi Jacqui,

      Thank you for your beautifully honest words. I hope that this post has really helped you on your journey.