If you’ve ever been asked what you’re looking for in life, you’ve probably responded with a bunch of positives – happiness, success, fame … But those are by-products that come from looking for something else, something that’s not very positive at all and which most people try to avoid.

We all want to be valued, appreciated, respected and rewarded for who we are and what we do, but not all of us understand how to achieve these worthwhile goals. We think that we will be valued, appreciated, respected and rewarded when we’re successful and famous. That’s why we chase after success and fame – because we believe they will get us what we want.

Unfortunately, believing that we will be valued, appreciated, respected and rewarded BECAUSE we are famous or successful is an erroneous belief. While we live our lives based on this incorrect belief, we will continue to get an incorrect result – one that will lead us instead to unhappiness and frustration.

It is therefore necessary for us to stop pursuing this faulty belief, correct our belief and act on the corrected belief. To change the faulty belief, we have to realise that to achieve happiness, success and fame, to be valued, appreciated, respected and rewarded, you must not go looking for these things. You must instead go looking for problems. And the more problems you find, and the bigger the problems, the greater the chance of your achieving what you want.

Not convinced? Thought so. Let me explain …
 
If you can help other people solve their problems and you become known for this, you will never have to look for work. Work will come looking for you. You will never have to go looking for customers. They will come looking for you. You will never have to look for promotion. It will come looking for you.

You can therefore build your career and your success on the problems you solve for others. If you are in the employ of a company, when you start solving the problems of the company and of your boss, you become a valuable commodity to the company and to your boss. You will rise in status and you will become one of the people the company will want to look after and retain. Promotion becomes inevitable for people who can solve problems.

When you go looking for problems, look for big ones. If you solve small problems, your value will be proportionate – small. When you solve big problems, your value will be big. The reward you receive for solving problems is also directly proportionate to the problems you solve. Those who solve small problems are rewarded in small amounts. Those who solve big problems are rewarded with big pay cheques.

Maybe it’s time to change your view of problems. If you’ve been someone who saw problems as negative, as something to be avoided, why not make a change to your faulty belief? Start looking for problems to solve at work.    
 
This approach can be used by anyone. You don’t need large amounts of capital to start solving other people’s problems. It’s what’s in your head that’s going to help you. Unemployed people who start looking for problems to solve will soon find that people will pay them for solving their problems.

If you can solve people’s problems, they won’t worry about whether you’ve got education or qualifications. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. If you can solve their problem, that’s all they care about.

I am not suggesting that education is not necessary. On the contrary, the more education you can get the better, as it helps to develop and discipline your thinking – which enables you to solve even bigger problems!

What I am however saying is that everyone can start today, right where they are, if they want to start solving problems.

As more people focus on solving problems, so the world will become a more efficient place and this, in turn, will provide more opportunity for more people to succeed, because the problems that present themselves in the future as a result of growth will also require solutions.

So keep your eyes open for problems you can solve. Don’t be the proverbial ostrich who hides away from them. Actively seek them out. Welcome them and expend your creative energy to find ways to solve them. If you want to make it to the top, this is one of the surest ways to do so!

Alan Hosking is the Publisher of HR Future magazine, www.hrfuture.net, and a Leadership Renewal Coach to senior executives.