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Charlie Boyer, Editor

QUIPS & QUOTES. Here are a few thoughts to lighten your day:

Trouble is only opportunity in work clothes. (Henry J. Kaiser)

Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. (Lewis Carroll)

A person who aims at nothing is sure to hit it. (Anon.)

How to Find a Window When You’re Hitting a Wall: Have the birds eaten the breadcrumbs on your pathway of life? Are you stuck in a rut so deep that you don’t think you can climb out? Do you feel you are in a maze and can only see blank walls around you? Finding a window when all you see around you are walls can seem like an impossible task, but it’s do-able.

Everyone gets stuck at some time – and helping people get unstuck has filled a whole shelf full of self-help books. The big question is – what are YOU going to do about it? If you’re hitting a wall, another term for being stuck, imagine your wall as a something called “IT.”

Seven Ways to Get Yourself Unstuck From “IT”:

1. Check your assumptions about IT. Is your wall real – or just a figment of your imagination? Is there a hidden agenda here somewhere? Are you trying to solve the right problem, and are you standing in front of the right wall?

2. Break IT down. Look at the parts, not the whole. Can you find a trapdoor, a crack, a speck of light anywhere? Try looking at that wall and visualize yourself taking it apart, one chip, then one block at a time. There is an opening there – and a small opening is all you need to make a start.

3. Brainstorm about IT. How many different ways can you look at that wall? Can you go over, under, or around it? Think about using a different strategy – the answer is somewhere. Stay centered – keep your mind open to all the possibilities.

4. Make noise about IT. Talk about it out loud – to yourself, if you’re alone. Talk to others if anyone is there with you or close by. Talk out the problem. Scream if you need to – give yourself permission to declare a “vent your spleen” day and go to it! And don’t forget to laugh – it works wonders!

5. Keep moving around IT. Don’t just stand there, DO something, as the old saying goes. Walk forwards, then backwards. Walk away from it – treat yourself to a break. Getting unstuck is easier when you’re in motion. Take an active role in finding the solution.

6. Ask for help with IT. Make it look attractive enough, and you’ll have lots of people wanting to help you. Tom Sawyer had it all figured out, didn’t he? Somebody has an answer that will work for you – you don’t have to re-invent the wheel. Think of the problem as an opportunity in disguise.

7. Believe that you will succeed with IT. Visualize yourself out of the situation. How will you feel when the problem is solved? Probably very good! Look forward, not back, and don’t stand in your own sunshine. If you believe you can, you are right! If you believe you can’t … well, don’t go there!

RESOURCES: Here are several books and articles that were helpful in researching and writing this newsletter:

Curt Rosengren, “Getting Unstuck.” Internet article
“Thoughts on Problem Solving.” Internet article
Carol James, “How to Get Unstuck from an Undesirable Situation.” Internet article
Sidney Simon, Getting Unstuck: Breaking Through Your Barriers to Change.
Keith Yamashita, Unstuck: A Tool for Yourself, Your Team, and Your World.
Joy Browne, Getting Unstuck: 8 Simple Steps to Solving Any Problem.
Elaine Martens Hamilton, Leave the Mud, Learn to Soar.

A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE: Our sense of direction is very well conditioned, isn’t it? We usually have no trouble distinguishing up from down, north from south, east from west. Imagine what would happen to your sense of direction if you were suddenly to enter a zero gravity chamber! That’s what happens in a fascinating science fiction novel, Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card. In the story, Ender was in charge of a group of cadets training for space battle, and when they entered the zero gravity chamber, the usual directions of up and down, north and south, no longer had the same meaning. Imagine how you would have to re-orient yourself in space!

Now, how does that apply to our lives? Well, for one thing, we must re-orient our thinking about solutions to problems. The old directions, or ways of thinking, just don’t apply any more. What if our “north” were suddenly in a different direction? Which direction is “up” if you are in zero gravity and the person next to you appears to be upside down? It’s more than thinking outside the box, in fact, it’s more like thinking outside the bounds of Earth. Try a really new perspective and think outside the pull of gravity the next time you have a tricky problem to solve. There is always another perspective to consider.

NATIONAL ESSAY CONTEST. A new national essay contest for high school students will soon be announced by Coachville. Essays from students in grades 9 – 12 will be invited on the topic, Redefining Leadership, the theme for Coachville’s annual conference in New Orleans in May 2005. Entrants will be asked to think about models of outstanding leadership from the past and present, and to consider the following question as a guide as they write their essays: If you could do one thing to shift the consciousness of others and evoke positive change as a future leader, what would that be?

The contest winner will be invited to come to New Orleans to present the winning essay during the conference, as well as receive airfare and lodging, and a cash scholarship to help with college costs. Watch for more details to be announced soon by Coachville!

Do you know of a talented high school student who would like to enter the contest? Send an e-mail to: contest@coachville.com and ask for entry details.

Create Windows in Your Walls. Discover for yourself the power of personal coaching in your life. If you are hitting walls of resistance and can’t seem to open a window of opportunity, if you are hiding in the shadows because you are standing in your own sunshine, if you are a small business owner experiencing isolation, overwhelm, or frustration – you need a coach! Want to find out what coaching is all about? Here’s a win-win offer: You are invited to try a complimentary coaching session. Send a blank e-mail to coacharlie@comcast.net with the word “Complimentary” in the subject line. I’ll be sure to contact you promptly.

SPECIAL DISCOUNT: Hey – this is better than Macy’s Bargain Basement!!! I want to fill my practice by the end of the year, and have three coaching slots available to fill by November 1st. The first three subscribers who sign up for a 3-month personal or professional coaching program with me will get a 66% discount. Contact me right away if you are interested – email coacharlie@comcast.net and we’ll set up an appointment to get started.

Next Issue: How to Accomplish Enormous Tasks While Working With Difficult People. Many leaders, managers, administrators are expected to complete large, complex projects and have to do so while working with a team of people who don’t exactly make things easy at times. That’s a lot like having to eat an elephant while herding cats, isn’t it? Next month, we’ll feature some tips on how to eat that elephant and corral those cats in your life. Coming in November-December.

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