Develop a 5 to 1 habit
I posted this over on the Worthwhile blog, and thought it belonged here as well...
When I talk to people about pursuing their passions in their careers, I often encounter an endless litany of "reasons why I can't." It seems to be wired into us to look for obstacles and declare them reality.
One of the ways to change that perspective is to develop a 5 to 1 habit. For every obstacle you recognize, commit to writing down five ideas for getting around that obstacle.
Keep a small notebook with you. When you catch yourself nay-saying, take note of the obstacle and jot down as many ideas for getting over, around, or through it as you can. Over time, you will start to develop the habit of automatically looking for ways around the obstacles as they pop up in your mind.
When your possibilities always outnumber your obstacles 5 to 1, you can't help but come out on the winning side.
--
Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst (sm)
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I really like this idea. Thanks.
Posted by: Jeff Harbert | October 02, 2005 at 08:07 PM
This 5 to 1 habit is a good general idea of overcoming obstacles. However when it comes to discovering life purpose where intuition can play a major role and there are "career meditations", one cannot do without professional help.One has to generally indulge in possibility thinking in general otherwise. One must know of career options to fructify this idea.
Posted by: Hiren Shah | October 10, 2005 at 04:38 AM
Wonderful Idea!
Posted by: OceanBlue | October 13, 2005 at 01:52 AM
I've been using this strategy for a couple of weeks, hoping it would get me out of a funk of negative thinking at work and in my side projects. As someone who feels most comfortable when she has a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and Plan D, I like the way carrying around a notebook and doing this exercise with discipline helps me to continually remember that I always have options. Now I have more ideas than I have time to act on, but it's a good problem to have.
Posted by: Whitney | October 13, 2005 at 09:09 PM
Great technique! Simularly we can develop a 5-1 habit, in which we identify a goal and find out the top 5 easiest (or fastest) ways to achieve it.
Posted by: OceanBlue | October 16, 2005 at 11:51 PM