“It is your attitude, not your aptitude, that determines your altitude.”   Zig Ziglar

A story: Two shoe salesmen were sent overseas to explore new markets. Their first stop was country where everyone was barefoot. One salesman sent the following telegram back to the home office: “Leaving tomorrow. No one wears shoes.”

The second salesman’s telegram arrived with an entirely different message: “Great potential market. No competition.”     from Success is No Accident by Lair Ribiero

Love this story! While we’re not trying to create a market of barefoot customers, we’ve got challenges of our own as writers. We may be struggling to finish a story – or to fix one that’s not working. Our characters may be adrift instead of attending to the business we’ve assigned them. We may be facing a small mountain of rejections as we strive to find an agent and publisher for our work (know this one well!). Or we may be coping with daily distractions that siphon off our energy and focus.

Whatever the challenges we face, the attitude we adopt can make all the difference in how we work our way through. As my friend and mentor Dr. Rob Gilbert* says, when we hit a roadblock, we have one of two choices: we can get frustrated or fascinated.

As we all know from experience, a negative, FRUSTRATED approach won’t get us far:

• It will make us doubt ourselves and feel we aren’t equal the challenge at hand. • It will lead us to focus on what we can’t do instead of what we can do. • It will drain our energy and resolve – and leave us in a puddle of misery. • It will paralyze us and lead to inaction instead of focused, consistent action. • It will lead us to shrink into ourselves and cut off the flow of ideas we need.

On the other hand, when we get FASCINATED, magic can happen:

• We adopt a playful, “the sky’s the limit” stance towards our problem – we befriend it.

• We open ourselves up to receive fresh ideas and insights – to think outside the box.

• We unleash our energy and enthusiasm – resources that uplift and push us forward.

• We take action, dreaming up new scenarios, exploring them, getting messy and creative.

• We reach out for help and encouragement so that we can leap over the hurdle at hand.

So today, when problems crops up, let’s get fascinated and playful and creative. Write on!

* Check out Dr. Gilbert’s fabulous Success Hotline:  973.743.4690.