Originally posted 2010-07-11 08:57:56.
Stuck in a rut? Would you like to find your way out?
First off: You are not alone.
My coaches, mentors, teachers, friends, and clients are stuck too, from time to time.
Take one of my teachers: she has been dealing with some downward spirals, that completely felt as something that has no solution.
Their expensive, and almost brand new RV suddenly needed major repair, and the funds weren’t there.
To add insult to injury, there started to be some legal issues, then health issues… so it looked bleak, and devastating.
In our conversation I went through a series of tools I have in my tool-box… and when I got to the question: do you know the 9-dot exercise, the light bulb went off for my teacher, and she came up with a solution that, if not solved it, made the situation bearable.
So what is this tool box, and what do the 9 dots mean? How can YOU use this to get out of a predicament, a situation that seems to have no solution:
1. draw 9 dots in a grid of 3 on each side.
2. map it to your situation, and see what are the issues that create that stuck space that is the box of the 9 dots.
3. now, look at the drawing and find a solution to the assignment: draw 4 straight lines that go through each of the 9 dots, without lifting your pencil.
4. you’ll see, that there is no solution to this problem inside the nine dots…
5. when you go outside of the box you find solutions…
She came up with a solution, and in addition to that, she continued with coming up with further solutions outside of the dots…
Today they have a working RV.
