Often times we have a goal or a desire, but we think that we lack the skills or training necessary to accomplish it.
Not long ago I was speaking with a woman who was struggling with just such a situation in her life.
She wanted to write a book. As we talked it was apparent to me that she not only had the idea, she had the entire thing plotted out in her mind.
I asked her why she hadn’t already written it.
“Because I’m not a writer. I don’t have the training necessary to do it. I don’t know how to put my thoughts down on paper so that they flow like they do in my mind.”
I could certainly understand that. So I asked, “why do you think you have to be able to “write” to complete your book?”
She was naturally puzzled. Seriously, I said, it’s obvious that you have the main ingredients all set. You just have to figure out the best way to make it happen.
Here’s what I suggest. First, let go of the areas that you’re lacking in. Focus on what you have going for you. In your case, you’ve got the entire thing in your mind. That’s huge!
Secondly, let go of the part of your thinking that says there’s a “right way” to do something. What matters in the case of the goal you’ve set is the final outcome. Having your book completed. So what do you care how you accomplish it exactly?
So here’s an idea — get a tape recorder or digital recorder. Speak your entire book into it. If you feel more comfortable speaking parts of it into the recorder do that. Once you have that done, have it transcribed. It’s actually not that expensive.
Alternatively, you could look for a writer or a journalism student who you could pay to help get your ideas written down in a readable format. The important thing isn’t the specific approach you choose. What matters is that you take real action on your idea.
I could see her eyes light up. “It seems so obvious now, I never considered that I didn’t have to spend the grueling hours I was sure it would take to write it myself”, she said.
Isn’t that interesting? All it took to help this woman get unstuck was to introduce to her that there was more than one way to do what she wanted to accomplish.
You see, all too often we focus on the areas where we are lacking — where we need improvement — whereas we would be that much farther along if we would simply work within the skills we have already developed (and be willing to learn new ones along the way). There’s a lot to be said about thinking outside the box.
And so it is with whatever dream you hold for yourself. Whatever it is that you want to achieve — you have to know deep down that even though the solution may not be obvious the key to your achieving it is within you.
It’s your life, LIVE BIG! Josh Hinds 🙂
* Josh Hinds is the author of Why Perfect Timing is a Myth: Tips for Staying Inspired and Motivated Day in and Day out! and It’s Your Life, LIVE BIG!