Overcoming Barriers, Part 2
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[Note from the Proprietor: In case the aliens have only last night returned you to Earth and you missed it, before you proceed I highly recommend you first go here and read Part 1. I'm just sayin'.]
OK, the question before the jury, ladies and gentlemen, is from Brad Shorr’s post, “Try”:
What do you do when you hit a brick wall?
Before going on, let’s quickly review where we ended up at the end of Part 1 (and remember, we’re interchanging the words brick wall with the words problem or challenge): Every time we encounter a challenge, there are two things that usually dictate how we’ll respond:
- Worth - Is the prize worth the struggle?
- Motivation - What’s my motivation?
Alrighty then; now that we’re up to speed, let’s move on. You may recall that Part 1 ended with a call for contributions to that vast repository of information known as the General Body of Knowledge. Well, time’s up (sound of buzzer)! Remember, as is typical in life, generally there’s more than one answer to any question of this nature.
The Readers Speak Up
Let’s pass the microphone over to you guys for a bit and see what you had to say. (Please note this is not a definitive list, it’s just to get the ol’ brain cells to tick over once or twice.)
Trust Your Feelings. One way Jackie Cameron recognizes a brick wall is when “things don’t feel right”. Very astute, Jackie! Many times, if we’ll tune in to our surroundings we can often sense “something” isn’t right - even if we can’t tell what, exactly it might be (the “drat; I know I’m missing something here” syndrome). Life Lesson: Never underestimate your own intuition! I’ll tell ya; it would take a whole herd of books to catalog all the times I’ve been saved from disaster by stopping to just “feel out” the situation. (OK, let’s be honest here; it was mostly Mrs. MZM’s intuition, not mine, but let’s not quibble details, shall we? Me, I tend to blunder ahead like a brontosaurus.)
Break It Down. Brad Shorr likes to break the challenge down into smaller pieces and take them one at a time; eventually they get easy enough to solve. It’s the ol’ “start in the middle” technique. This is a good one if the challenge is made up of lots of little things that can be done independently (if you think about it, many challenges may be like this; come to think of it, it’s how I wrote this particular blog post). Life Lesson: Identify the components a challenge is made up of and do the easy parts first. Sometimes a challenge is like a big, tangled knot; once you manage to work loose even a tiny part of it, it’s the key to unraveling the rest! So rather than get all hot n’ bothered about the parts you can’t do, work on the ones you can.
Leverage Past Successes. Similarly, GL Hoffman leverages his experience to overcome challenges. Hey, you already know it can be done; it’s just a matter of repeating it. Of course, it’s a bit more powerful if you’re the one who did it, but still. Life Lesson: Take advantage of experience whenever you can. You know; you may find that most challenges fall into categories, each of which takes certain techniques to solve. Look for examples you can use to solve them. Why reinvent the wheel, anyway?
Confront It. Another method is a kindof “look yourself in the mirror” technique. Jackie Cameron also likes to just ask herself, out loud, “OK you - just what is the problem here?” Notwithstanding the talking to herself thing, I’d say this isn’t bad. Have you ever been around someone so negative you just wanted to slap ‘em silly give ‘em a good shake say that to? Yeah, thought so; me too. Life Lesson: Sometimes you have to confront the problem right to its face. There will inevitably be times when it’s good to just point your finger at the problem and ask, “So what’s the problem here?”
Seek Inspiration. Now here’s an interesting one. When stuck trying to write a poem or a story, Marcus Goodyear seeks inspiration by reading similar material. Can’t say I’ve ever purposefully tried it, but it sorta rings true just the same. I mean, there’s nothing like a good story to inspire another one, you know? (Seriously; just observe a bunch of guys in any gathering as they attempt to “one-up” one another’s stories.) Life Lesson: Good examples can sometimes provide keys to unlocking a challenge. It’s like Amy Palko’s photography: it inspires me to try something similar - and I’m not even a photographer!
Question Everything. Karen Hanrahan likes to utilize lateral thinking when faced with challenges (yes, that’s what you’re doing, Karen!) By writing it all down in a journal she ends up with a “bird’s eye view” of the problem. It’s sorta like reading out loud - things just sometimes look different once they’re on paper. She finds it often provides the key to solutions. Life Lesson: Try examining the situation in a different way. A fresh look at the challenge may evoke things you may have missed. Asking for input from friends or trusted advisors can be very helpful - they’re not attached to the challenge like you are.
What About Bob?
Along about now you’re probably asking, “OK, Mr. Wisenheimer, so what about you?”
Well, after I’ve done the “run in circles, scream and shout” bit, and before I hit the panic button, I tend to approach challenges like… water.
You remember the water, don’t you? You remember how it behaved when it came up to a barrier of some kind, right? It eventually built itself up until it either went around, over, under or through whatever was in the way.
That’s the way water works. Given enough time (and as long as the water kept building), it simply couldn’t be contained.
In fact, it’s a little like project management: You just keep adding resources until the challenge is met and overcome. Then rinse and repeat for the next one. (Note: “Resources” is a word that includes just about anything you might need to accomplish something. Time, people, money, knowledge, etc. - they’re all resources.)
But what if your resources are limited, you ask? Once again, good question!
Well, I’ll tell ya; it’s hard to imagine you would ever run out of resources as long as you’ve got your friends out here! With the tools we have at our disposal these days, you can pretty much count on finding help for just about any challenge you may face. Why, just the other day I had a simple MS Windows question, and I used Twitter to get a quick and accurate answer (Thanks Chris!). Time expended: less than 5 minutes!
Now that I think about it, I realize that I’ve used most of the methods above at one time or another. And perhaps that’s the best lesson of all: There’s more than one way to do just about anything!
Talk to Me
So what about it, folks; what techniques could you add to this list? (C’mon; you know you want to!) When was the last time you overcame an insurmountable challenge? What did you do?
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23 responses so far
Middle Zone Musings is a comfortable place to stop, have a cup of coffee, swap a few stories and share practical ideas for the real world. I don't ask for much, just a bit of your brain every now and then. Have a seat, take a load off, and relax...
Great exercise in collective wisdom. If we could apply a little of all of these ideas, we’d be practically unstoppable.
Thanks, Brad. Yeah, if we have all these in our toolboxes it’ll be easy to overcome practically anything. Be the water!
Brad’s quite right, Robert, it really is a great compilation of wisdom. You’ve provided a problem-solving toolbox
As for not being a ‘photographer’, neither am I! I’m just someone who enjoys taking photos. I do find great inspiration from the beauty that I find myself surrounded by, and that alone can often kickstart new ideas, new writing etc. It can even turn my thinking around on how to tackle one of those brick walls. I’m glad you’re going to give photography a good go. Do let me know how you get on with it.
Thanks, Amy. I commented to Mrs. MZM about how writing has made me so much more observant (as I tripped over the edge of the carpet - but I digress). For instance, just the other day we were cycling past a small lake and a duck was proudly displaying his back end to us as his head was under water. Took a photo with my phone camera because it immediately gave me a post idea (coming soon).
Isn’t it amazing? There’s stuff happening all around us - all we need are eyes to see, ears to hear, a mind to appreciate it… and a friend to share it with!
oh - oh robert re: the duck picture and pending post - if you are anything like me I know think in blog posts!!
Thank you for including my thoughts in this wonderful gathering of collective wisdom, Also I appreciate that you honor you mrs mzm’s intuition - truth is our gut is truly our best tool. Learning to trust it is the other. I think that’s all I’d care to add
oh and I forgot - lateral thinking huh? who knew!!
Karen, if it weren’t for Mrs. MZM, I’d have been lost long ago! Hopefully I’m learning from her, though.
Bob,
I adapt Marcus’ technique unless I decide to de-prioritize the obstacle and go do something else.
However, now I find myself armed with tools.
Don’t take this personal, but I always found project managers to be such control freaks.
-Sam
Don’t take it personal, Sam!? Don’t take it personal?! Whaddaya mean, don’t take it - um, er, well… you’re right, we arecontrol freaks. :-\
Ah, well; if the shoe fits…
Bob’s a great name, innit?
At any rate, here’s what I do when I hit a barrier:
Take Action. The tiniest step (Baby steps, according to the Bob in the movie) starts the journey and begins the process of building momentum.
Ah yes, Bob - Baby Steps, the new book by that famous psychologist… ol’ what’s his name… Dr. Marvin, right? Not bad advice, when you think about it, especially for those action-oriented types.
Thanks for the contribution, Bob!
When I hit a brick wall I usually go find some chocolate.
It doesn’t usually help much. But it sure tastes good.
Well… you can always tell yourself about the healthy benefits to be found in chocolate, you know. It contains caffeine, so it’s a good coffee substitute, there are beneficial flavinoids to be found in it (although the health benefits are still being debated), and it gives you a discernible sense of pleasure to melt it in your mouth.
Works for me! Might even make those brick walls easier to face!
Bob, I have to admit when I saw Part 1 the other day, I purposely waited for Part 2 so I could read them together.
Now that I’ve confessed, well I’ve learned after some good hard knocks in life that James Baldwin was right when he said, “Not everything that can be faced can be change, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” So the first step for me is confront. I know that I will either have to go around it, climb it or go through it and when I know which option I am supposed to take I grab the right equipment and get to it. By the way, kudos on having a picture of a movie that I’ve actually seen! I loved What About Bob!
Howdy, Karen! So that’s what the dip in my Friday stats was all about! (When you only have two regular readers, it’s really noticeable when one of ‘em doesn’t show up!)
I’ve seen that quote before and love it - really goes to the heart of the matter doesn’t it? It doesn’t matter how you face a challenge - what really matters is that you do.
Glad you dropped by today! Nice to see your smilin’ face over there in the MBL widget.
[...] the question Robert Hruzek asks over at Middle Zone Musings. Robert is almost brand new to the network in the new “daily living” category. So new [...]
This is sort of inspirational to me..Overcoming barriers..I wonder how many have I overcomed so far..seems like only yesterday I had a really bad life..
Glad I could be of help, Rakeback!
Robert, you are really an inspiration yourself and I am glad that I found your blog for your blog has made a little difference in my life that makes me happier now..
I’m honored that you would think so, Rakeback! You’ve made my day!
Like Chris says, chocolate works!
Howdy, Karen! Yep; I think I need to add that one to the list…
[...] ends Part 1 of this faascinting soliloquy pointless rambling post. Not to worry; Part 2 will be along shortly. If it’s worth it. And I can get motivated [...]