Reframing: The Antidote to Being Stuck

Have you ever found yourself.....anxious about the economy or some situation at work or home...or do you know someone who struggles with making a decision?

The power of reframing to enable you to discover, or better yet, rediscover how to tap into your inner resources is potent.

Here is just one example of what I mean. A friend that I know who works in corporate America in a very demanding job was once assigned to work on a project with a very "opinated" internal customer that held sway with many in senior management. My friend was a bit wary at first as to whether she wanted to be on this project or not......AND that was holding her back. Realizing that she was an obstacle to her own success she decided to reframe the situation. Instead of feeling she was in a no-win situation, she could, instead, believe that not only was the potential situation a win-win, but that she was the critical team member that could make the project a success! 

Why did she adopt this belief you may ask? She remembered some sage advice she had gotten once from a previous mentor: Why recreate the wheel? Remember that you have solved tough problems like this before.

With her reframed point of view she went about finding out what this particular "opinated" customer felt was of the utmost importance to ensuring that the project was successful. What were the goals of the project? What were the risks? Once she had this information she was able to draw upon her previous experiences to steer the project to success!  

Here is a quick refresher on the steps I use to reframe:

1) Write down the problem, issue, or decision that is bugging me

2) Allow myself to fully feel my emotions tied to this situation

3) While feeling the emotions ask what does this situation remind me of in my life where I have already had a similar experience or know someone who has that I can bounce ideas off of?

4) So now here is the kicker, described so well by Thomas Edison with this quote: 

 "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

The ultimate Reframe is to count every experience as a success. No matter what happens.

That doesn't mean, of course, that you don't work towards success as defined by others but that you place a higher value on the experience you gain. 

Answer the question: What can I learn from this situation so that no matter what happens I gain something that is valuable and call that a success?