A common thought pattern that can emerge when faced with a challenge that you have no experience with or you feel 'out of your league' in navigating through often sounds something like: "that's just NOT me' or 'I don't have the background to do...' or 'that would be too far of a stretch for me'.

A simple, but highly effective, coaching tool that often will break this pattern of thinking is called 'Ditch The Wheels' (or, DTW).
 

While the tool is built around the mastery of riding a bike without training wheels, if you haven't mastered that skill yet, you can easily substitute another childhood accomplishment of which you are personally proud (i.e. learning to swim, drive a car, etc).

To start, simply ask yourself: 'When the desire to ditch the training wheels hit you, what did you do?'

Here was my own childhood approach:
1. I observed every bike rider on my street to try to understand what they were doing.
2. I asked my brother for tips and advice.
3. I practiced for 2 hours after school for weeks.
4. I asked my mom & dad to watch me.
5. I promised myself a set of tricked out handle bars as a reward once I made my goal.
 

Looking for clues above that can be re-purposed and applied to whatever current goal or challenge you are facing, the proven approach could be re-stated as follows: .

1. Identify and observe experts in the field for form, technique, and style.
2. Seek advice from a mentor.
3. Invest the time to practice on your own time.
4. Enlist the support of a loved one as you tackle this new endeavor.
5. Establish an incentive to keep your motivation high.

So, if you're caught right now in thought patterns around what you are NOT....
think about getting those training wheels off and let me know if some clues emerge for you