Unique perspectives and innovative solutions
Every week someone sits across from me and says some version of the same thing: "I've tried everything." And almost every week, they're right — they've tried everything inside the frame they're using. The problem isn't effort. It's the frame.
A frame is the invisible story around a problem: what it means, what options exist, what failure would prove. Change the frame even slightly, and options appear that were invisible a minute ago. Here are three reframing practices I use with clients constantly.
1. Ask what this makes possible
Stuck frames ask "why is this happening to me?" Better frames ask "what does this make possible that wasn't possible before?" A cancelled project frees a quarter. A difficult colleague reveals exactly which conversation you've been avoiding. The question doesn't deny the difficulty — it mines it.
2. Shrink the problem until it moves
"Fix my career" is paralyzing. "Send one email to one interesting person today" is movable. When a problem feels huge, keep halving it until the next step feels almost too small — then do that step today. Momentum is a better motivator than clarity.
Innovation is rarely a new answer. It's usually an old problem, finally asked a better question.
3. Borrow a stranger's eyes
Describe your problem as if it belongs to a friend, out loud, in the second person: "She's been in the same role for four years and she's afraid leaving means starting over." You'll hear advice for her you'd never permit yourself. Then take it.
Try one of these this week on whatever feels most stuck. And if you want a thinking partner for the bigger frames — career, confidence, direction — that's quite literally what our one-on-one coaching is for.
Founder and Executive Coach at Willowmark Mindset Studio.