When you can’t seem to get started on a big project, or make progress on one, or you’re struggling with a difficult situation and don’t know what to do, typically, you change your approach. You do more research, try different tools and different strategies, and little by little, step by step, you climb out of the mud.
And that usually works.
But sometimes, the mud turns into quicksand, and you’re stuck. And the harder you try, the harder it is to get out.
You need a different approach. Instead of tinkering and looking for incremental solutions, you have to do something radical.
“You’ve got to explode out of the mud,” says CEO and author John Addison.
To do that, you’ need to change how you think about things. And use your imagination.
Look at what others have done when faced with similar challenges and ask yourself, “What would (this person) do if they were in my position?” You couldn’t find the answer. Maybe they can.
If your goal seems impossibly difficult, ask yourself, “What would I do if this was easy?” If things are going too slowly, ask, “What would have to happen for me to finish this project in the next 30 days?” Or, “What would I do if I had one year to live and failure was not an option?”
If you’re stuck, pretend you’re not. Pretend you know what to do to explode out of the mud.
