The Power Of Asking "What CAN I Do?"

One of my favorite four word phrases, using the SAME four words, can be said two different ways but have a dramatically different impact by just emphasizing one word - CAN. 

"What can I do?" can often sound very defeating. As though the person saying it is throwing their hands up in despair and has already given up and accepted failure as their only option. They are essentially telling themselves that they cannot fix their problem. That it is futile. There is no way out. And, as a result, their brain begins to BELIEVE this to be true, even if it is not. 

However, on the other hand, the phrase "What CAN I do?", has a much greater positive vibe that oozes hope and confidence. When we approach a potential challenge or problem from a positive, encouraging perspective, something different happens in our brains that allows us to look for creative solutions that may be "outside the box". We begin looking for the good, the possibilities, the options, and the overall light in the situation. When you focus your energy and efforts on looking for only the solutions to a problem, you will be more likely to find one. 

When we focus on WHAT we want, there is a much greater chance that we will find it. This can be used to our advantage when we hit a roadblock or obstacle that requires us to find a round about way to still reach our goal or destination.

The pathway to success, for example, is rarely going to be a straight, easy route. Especially in business, it becomes a necessity to be able to problem solve and find alternate solutions when Plan A, B, or even C and so on, becomes "impossible".

By simply viewing the challenge at hand by asking yourself, "But What CAN I do?", will open up a plethora of options that may not even come to mind if you had right away mentally decided that there was nothing you could do.

I challenge you today to try this simple approach out on even the basic issues you encounter during your day. Go in looking for all of the possibilities, even given your constraints. What CAN you do today, or right now, to get you one step closer to getting to where you want to go? It's almost like magic, the way that it can help you navigate through the cloudiness toward clarity and solutions that can get you back and moving on your way!