By definition, complex and stubborn business problems aren’t easy to solve.
Maybe you’ve been earning $60k-$70k per year for the past five or six years . . . and you can’t make any headway beyond that.
Or maybe you’ve surpassed that mark, but you’re feeling exhausted.
Or maybe you made it to $100k last year, but now you’re miserable with no work/life balance.
These are complex problems with lots of variables and moving parts. So it’s not surprising that in these situations you may feel overwhelmed or even give up.
And who could blame you?
In today’s podcast episode, I share three ideas for solving some of your most complex, stubborn business problems.
The notes that follow are a very basic, unedited summary of the show. There’s a lot more detail in the audio version. You can listen to the show using the audio player below. Or you can subscribe in iTunes to get this show delivered straight to the Podcasts app on your smart phone, tablet or iPod.
When You Can’t See the Path
When it comes to the hard sciences, such as medicine, physics, biology or astronomy, you need a hypothesis to test.
And that hypothesis needs to be reasonably viable to be worth testing.
But that’s not the case with our business problems.
If you adopt the kind of “realistic” thinking scientists use, you’ll hamper your creative problem-solving.
Unlike scientists, you don’t have to see the entire path ahead of time before trying out a solution.
In fact, waiting to try new ideas and methods just because you can’t see how exactly they will work, step by step, is probably the worst thing you can do.
Rather than launching a creative marketing campaign, we sit around mulling potential outcomes.
And next thing we know, we’re way behind on our income goals.
Yet, some of our biggest breakthroughs can come as a result of taking that first step into the unknown.
Blind Spots
When we’re going after big goals, blind spots often get in our way.
We’re way too close to our problems to see them and the possible solutions differently.
Blind spots aren’t just metaphorical. They’re a real thing. (Check out blind spot illusion to learn more.)
We fill those “gaps” with whatever truth we want to believe.
Rather than recognizing them, we just accept them. We don’t even realize they’re there!
That’s one big reason why it helps to work with a coach or mentor or to regularly tap trusted colleagues for feedback and advice.
Very often, they can see things we can’t.
Thinking More Deeply
It’s easy to get caught up in being crazy-busy.
It’s why productivity books, courses, hacks and apps are so popular. No matter what we do to free up time, we never have enough.
There’s a very effective way to break this cycle: make time every week for deep thinking.
This could be just sitting on a comfortable chair for half an hour and thinking about an issue or problem.
Or it could be journaling on some thought-provoking prompts.
Or it could be listening to a podcast, hitting pause, and thinking through the ideas.
Solving complex, stubborn business problems is never easy. That’s why they’re so stubborn.
But by stepping forward even when you can’t see the entire path, identifying and looking past your blind spots, and thinking more deeply, you can eventually shift and even solve them once and for all.
By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:
1. Grab a free copy of my book.
It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. 😉 — Click Here
2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.
I’m putting together a new implementation group this month. If you’re earning $5k+/month (or the part-time equivalent) from your freelance business … and you’d like to grow your income quickly with better clients … just email me at [email protected]
3. Work with me privately.
If you’re a 6-figure writer who’s trying to earn more in less time, with less stress, I might be able to help you get there faster than you think. Just email me at [email protected] and put “Breakthrough” in the subject line, and I’ll get back to you with more details.
