Have you been feeling like it’s getting less and less easy to make things happen in your life these days?
You are definitely not alone. With so many huge and constant changes happening these days both globally and in our individual lives, many people are feeling like they have less influence over their lives than they ever have had before.
This could be happening because the basic survival strategies that we were taught growing up, could be almost completely irrelevant now and no longer useful in the world we live in today.
It might be that the way we were brought up to work through problems and find solutions, simply doesn’t work in today’s world. It’s like we have been using an outdated software program that continues to not produce the results we were taught to believe that it would. We find ourselves not being effective at creating the changes we want in our lives, and yet we don’t know what to do differently.
Today I’d like to introduce you to 5 simple steps that might help you to shift your experience of moving forward in your life. I‘m calling these “The 5 Possibility Steps” because they are a streamlined way to effectively and quickly get from a problem to a solution in any type of environment.
With what we now know about how our brains work and don’t work, none of us have to feel disempowered about making any kind of changes in our lives.
As problems and challenges come up in our lives, these 5 Possibility Steps can help us focus our attention on only the most important aspects of what’s happening and quickly find solutions.
Here’s how it works. Whenever you are faced with a challenge, try out the following 5 steps and discover the sometimes almost miraculous solutions you can find.
1) Separate from the Story
Focus your attention away from any thoughts about the story of what is happening. As you are experiencing the challenge, don’t allow your attention to focus on any thoughts about: A) Limitations about yourself B) Limitations about how “things are” C) The situation being caused by someone or something (including yourself) If you do find yourself focusing on these types of thoughts, simply focus on the next 4 steps instead.
2) Write down exactly what the current situation is.
Write down only the facts about everything that actually is happening right now that you are labeling as a problem. Use exactly measurements as much as possible. Make sure you include all the positive parts.
3) Write down the minimum requirements of exactly how you would like it to be.
Give all the facts using precise measurements about all the measurable details including: dollar amounts, times, etc. Write down only the minimum requirements for you to be able to call this a solution.
4) Write down all your resources.
Write down everything you can think of that could help you allow the goal to happen. Get creative and think of EVERY resource, even ones you don’t automatically use every day.
5) Organize the resources in the most exciting way possible.
Ask yourself: “What’s the most exciting way I can organize these resources to ensure the goal will happen?”
Write down your detailed plan of exactly what resources you will use when in what way.
The 5 Possibility Steps helps our attention to not get stuck in the limitations that our minds’ have learned over the years and help us to not get trapped in feelings of uncertainty or helplessness. We can now focus only on the things that will actually help us move from a problem to a solution quickly.
You might have the experience, like I’ve had several times using these steps, of what seams impossible becoming completely possible in just a few minutes!
When we allow ourselves to focus only on what actually is happening, we might discover how possible the impossible really is.
-Andy