Why, or maybe why not?

Sometimes our lives seem to hit a brick wall (so to speak) and we just can’t figure out what to do next. We keep on doing the same-old-same-old every day. It’s like we’re on autopilot all day long. We know we need to get more out of life, we just don’t know what it is or how to go about doing it.

One way to get to the bottom of what it is you really want (and to discover why you want it) is to use the “five whys” technique. Here, you ask yourself the question “why” five times in a row in order to dig deeper and deeper into your motivations.

Let’s say you want to be a famous screenwriter, but your career has stalled.

• Why do you want to be a screenwriter?
• Because you want to create something you can be proud of.
• Why?
• Because you want to leave some kind of lasting mark on the world.
• Why?
• Because you respect and admire creative individuals who have done the same.
• Why?
• Because they can make a living by entertaining using only their imagination and their writing skills.
• Why does that appeal?
• Because you love to be creative and to be acknowledged for that creativity.

See what I mean?

Perhaps it’s not being a screenwriter that appeals so much as being able to get creative and to be paid for that creativity.

This opens up a selection of potential career options that could be just as rewarding:

• You could be a novelist
• You could be an advertising copywriter
• You could be a playwright
• You could be an article writer
• You could be a blogger

In other words: You can get what you want in a different way. That’s what resetting your mind is all about. It means thinking outside the box and looking at things in a new way.

Talk soon!