Think of something you want. A goal, an accomplishment, an acquisition, or anything else that’s important to you.
What do you want to be, do, or have?
Got it? Good. Now, answer this: why don’t you have it already?
Write down everything you can think of that’s stopping you from being or having or doing what you want.
It could be anything:
- Not knowing what to do or how to do it
- A lack of capital
- A lack of skills
- Not knowing the right people
- Not enough time
- Fear of failure or fear of success
- A lack of buy-in from partners
- Physical limitations
- Inferior market
- Anything!
Keep thinking and adding to your list. When you’re done, ask your spouse or a friend or your law partner for their input. Why do they think you don’t have X? Add their thoughts to your list.
Next up, take another sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle. In the left column, write “Obstacles” at the top of the page. Re-write your list of obstacles. Skip a line between each one.
In the right-hand column, at the top of the page, write “What can I do about it?” Then, for each obstacle, write down what you can do.
If the obstacle is “Not knowing what to do,” your “can-dos” might include doing research, taking a course, and asking someone you know for help. If you don’t know anyone who can help you, your can-do would be to ask people you know if they know anyone with the requisite knowledge or experience, and would they introduce you?
If you don’t have any “can-dos” for a given obstacle, cross that obstacle off of your list. Why dwell on something you can’t do anything about?
Ah, but there is almost always something you can do. Keep thinking. Keep adding to your list.
Congratulations. You now have a list of things you can do to remove the obstacles to having what you want.
Go through your list again and choose an obstacle. Then, choose one or more “can-dos” for that obstacle and transfer them to your regular task list or project planner.
Get to work and remove the obstacle. Then, go back and tackle the next obstacle.
The point of this exercise is to get clear on what you want, what’s stopping you, and what you can do to change that dynamic. In other words, to focus on solutions.
You have a plan. You have things you can do. Go do them.
Here’s a plan to get more referrals
