When given a difficult task, it’s easy to think things like:

• “Surely there’s someone better than can do this?”
• “I don’t know know how to do that.”
• “How will I ever get that done?”
• “I really don’t want to…”

When dealing with thoughts like these, I’ve found it best to take responsibility and to tell my self that there is no one else, at least right at this moment, that can get this task done.

And while that may not be true, it changes the dynamics of how I approach the problem. Once it’s no longer possible to pass the task off, I find that the thoughts become more like:

• “What’s the first step?”
• “Is there anything I can model off of?”
• “I wonder what happens if ___?”
• “Perhaps someone else has run in to a similar problem and has some insight?”

Photo Credit: Tim Pierce. cc