If you don't know what to do, are lost or confused and resonate with "being off track" or want to "get back on track" this unique if unconventional exploration providing two different techniques might be all you need to help give you the clarity you need.
Whilst very effective the two processes mentioned in this post are not found in the majority of more logical problem solving toolkits - if you're skeptical you may therefore find my poem From Not Knowing to Knowing What to do helpful at setting the scene for trying something a little different and inspiring the expansion of your comfort zone to try something a little weird :-).
Why Am I Suggesting You Use Metaphor?
In my post "how to solve a problem without talking about it" I explain more about why I use metaphor, and have done for 25 years, to help find solutions to problems and see situations from a different perspective.
In essence, it's because our logical thinking is often attached to being stuck, and we can't see beyond our own beliefs, judgments, or underlying emotions. Using metaphor shines a light on our blind spots and uncovers solutions and perspectives currently hidden from view.
Metaphors work because they're a means of communicating with your inner wisdom that does know what to do - it just gets ignored because you're too used to listening to your logical wisdom.
What Situations and Problems You Can Apply The Following Techniques to
Why not try it for yourself - think of a situation you're feeling any of the following about
or perhaps you resonate more with a different word such as those shown here (see * below for more about playing with the word you're using to describe the situation)
In other words these are all descriptions you can apply the following two techniques to help you get back on track.
Technique One to Help You Get Back on Track: Draw the Track
In essence this first process for getting back on track involves: drawing the track that represents the track that you're off; making changes to the drawing until it feels better; then applying those solutions to the situation you're feeling off track about (See this short which is part of a longer video included with technique two).
As you draw your track and your relationship to it you may, for example, then discover that
Just keep drawing until the drawing represents the situation you are feeling off track about and want insight about - keep asking yourself "is there anything more I need to add?".
Then see what happens when you make changes to the drawing - you may be able to make changes to the original drawing or you may need to start on another piece of paper.
In my how to get back on track video I realised I needed to draw a track in a different direction than the original, with a smiley face and fireworks at the end of the track. I did however need to start in the same position as I had been in the earlier drawing.
It then felt important to imagine me walking to the start of the new path and then walking up the new path.
There's no right or wrong just what makes sense for you (even if only intuitively) - the aim is to move from feeling stuck and off track to knowing what to do. The drawing just helps you to uncover what's missing (the unknown) without going over the story of what you already know to be true (the known).
Once you've completed your drawings it's important to then ask yourself - what action am I being invited to take to get on track and headed for my goal?
A slightly different slant on using drawing to explore a situation you're grappling with is to draw your problem as a mountain.
Technique Two to Help You Get Back on Track: Find a Track in Nature
In essence, this second process for getting back on track, is: find a track out in nature that represents the track that you're off; explore it; walk around it; find solutions; and then apply those solutions to the situation you're feeling off track about (See 8:34 in the video below for a demonstration - with a demo of the drawing technique starting at 1.21).
Please note: just the simple act of walking about in nature on a variety of tracks exploring the situation may mean you feel differently about the situation and yet don't know why - please don't worry - metaphor is something that speaks to your unconscious and so a door may have been opened in your mind to solutions that were once hidden - don't try to make sense of why you now feel differently - celebrate that you now know what to do.
Things to notice about the track or your relationship to it (* see further list below about changing the word 'track' to 'path' or something else that helps shift how you think about the situation):
And aligned with drawing your track in the first technique - if you can't physically change the track you've found in nature you can still imagine making changes to it - such as
Examples of tracks you might find in nature and their solutions include:
* Or perhaps it's about changing the words you're using to describe your track - this video about not using 'overwhelm' as a descriptor might help explain why I'm inviting you to revisit the off 'track' ness you're feeling - so too this blog about changing use of 'finding solutions' to 'discovering answers' that made a HUGE difference.
Alternative words to use instead of 'track' that may instantly change how you feel about the situation might include
Or any other word that comes to mind for you - for example, if you're into golf the word 'fairway' may might make more sense, if you like boxing 'rounds' might make sense, or if you like driving 'road' or 'motorway' may shift your thinking and feeling.
And of course you can look at the 'off' track ness
What action are you being invited to take to get on track and headed for your goal? (Here's a blog exploring this precision with words used a little further).
My name is Alison Smith and for 25 years I’ve used nature and metaphor to help you see the wood for the trees, get out of the rut, stop going round in circles, turn a corner and shift from not knowing to knowing what to do and yes get back on track.
There’s posts, poems, blogs, Landscaping Your Life YouTube channel, Landscaping Your Life with Alison smith podcast episodes (my own and as a guest), a Landscaping Your Life newsletter, ezine, pdfs (there’s even one on helping you see the wood for the trees), two books (Can't see the wood for the trees - landscaping your life to get back on track and Your Prescription for Wellbeing Journal) all sharing insight to help you find clarity and focus when you’re overwhelmed, confused, stuck or lost.
One poem I've written that speaks of paths and invites us to think about the different reasons we're on a path - here's me out in nature performing the Paths and Destinations poem with words below.
