Has it ever happened to you that when you are about to buy a product that you’ve not really noticed before, it suddenly seems as though the whole world decided to buy exactly the same product..? Suddenly it seems that the whole world is driving the exact same Toyota or Volkswagen you plan to get…! Or just when you think you will be the only one wearing Jimmy Choo’s, it suddenly seems that everyone has some already!

Did everyone really decide to buy the same products overnight or could it be that is merely the first time you noticed? Maybe it was there all along, you were paying attention to it?

Let’s do a quick experiment: think of the colour blue, now look around the room or office where you are now. Notice how many blue items you can see.

Now look back at the screen/desk in front of you. Without looking away from your computer screen, can you list red items in the room or office? If you are like most people, you will probably find this hard to do. In fact it may feel as though there is nothing even remotely red in your vicinity! Now look around and compare the number of red and blue items.

Chances are that there will be at least 5 – 10 blue and red items each! More then what you would have noticed without this exercise.

Now, here is the big question: did it suddenly appear in the 20 seconds between looking for blue and looking for red? Most probably not. The difference was that you decided to look for it. When you were only focused on blue, it was hard to see red, but once you looked for red, even though you were aware of the blue, it was much easier to spot.

The same is true of life. We are sometimes so overwhelmed by all our problems that it is hard to think of any solutions. We feel boxed in / stuck or overwhelmed.

The easiest way to solve this is to stop focusing on issues and problems, and start focussing on options, solutions and positive realities. By specifically looking for solutions and options, you will be surprised at how many you will find. This does not mean that you ignore the problems. It just means that you make a conscious decision to look for solutions instead. Here are some quick fix steps, if you are feeling stuck or frustrated: ask yourself these questions:

1. What did I do to overcome similar problems in the past? Try to list as many solutions as possible, by continually asking yourself: what else?

2. What could I do differently to overcome this problem? Again, try to list as many possibilities as you can, by continually asking yourself: what else?

3. Following this, review what you wrote and identify what the next step is to take. Just the first step. Take this step NOW! Don’t wait! Just do it. This action will break the pattern of feeling overwhelmed. Keep repeating step 1 – 3 until you’re on an automatic recovery.

By changing your focus from problem-focused to solution-focused, it will increase your performance! And the good news: it’s as simple as 1-2-3!