Yet that key is often hard to find.

We can spend hours, days, and even years trying to solve a problem, when the answer is truly at our fingertips. Yet we don’t see it.

Sometimes the solution is as simple as a checkmark in a box, or a simple decision requiring just a yes or a no. But the problem persists because we fail to take action or make a decision.

While I certainly do not have a magic solution, I have found three things that help in many cases to find that elusive key.

1. Type the problem in the form of a question into Google or Ask.com
It is truly amazing the answers that come up. Ask.com is especially good with the question format. Google has a very helpful page on all the ways you can search on their site. One of their tips that comes back with interesting results is to use a fill in the blank question with an asterisk. Example: Isaac Newton discovered *
Give it a try. You may be surprised with the results.

2. Join a group on LinkedIn or other social media and post your question.
When you can align yourself with like minded people online, it is real easy to ask questions and get helpful responses. One of the best is LinkedIn. LinkedIn’s Groups Directory allows you to find communities of professionals who share a common experience, passion, interest, affiliation or goal. I have had great success asking questions in different groups and finding unique solutions.

3. Ask someone who has been there and done that.
Whether it be at work or online, find people who have experience in your field of endeavor, or experience solving a similar problem. Then ask them what they would do, or if they have had similar problems. The online world has really opened this up and a great place to find experts is Twitter. Twitter gives you a chance to ask short questions and get feedback immediately. A book like Twitter Tips, Tricks and Tweets can help you use this great resource.

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When you are facing a problem or situation that requires an answer, consider giving these ideas a try. You may be surprised to find that elusive key right at your fingertips!

I work in a K-12 educational environment in Southern California. The state budget crunch has made things difficult for many people in education. Programs are slashed and continuing education programs have mostly been eliminated. It’s easy to hunker down and put dreams and aspirations on hold.

Yet in reality, this may actually be the best time to improve your skills, revise your resume, and set a path to the future. After all, if your competition for that job promotion or business start is now in a holding pattern, it opens many doors of opportunity for those with a positive vision.

As an inspiration, I would like to tell you a story of two people who have made it through a track full of hurdles and finished strong. Their stories have helped me see that problems are just opportunities in disguise.

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The first person is my long time friend and mentor, Jeanne Nelson. Jeanne has worked as our library and media coordinator in our school district for many years. Providing text books to over 22,000 kids a year and opening and maintaining numerous school libraries, Jeanne always finds herself in a whirlwind of projects.

The letters and numbers on her computer keyboard are worn off from frequent use, and her constantly ringing phone are a reminder of her overwhelming workload. Yet over the last three years, Jeanne has done something incredible. She pursued her doctorate in education and through thick and thin made it through with a dissertation on the viability of technology in education.

This spring she made it successfully through the program, defended her dissertation, and received her diploma and is now known to us all as Doctor Nelson. In the last three years, Jeanne gave up many of her weekends and spent a lot of time and money on research and project materials.

Through it all, there was one thing that I noticed and many other people commented on. Through thick or thin, Jeanne was determined to complete the program. There was no doubt in any of our minds that she would do it.

It was this determination that saw her through. And it was her determination that makes her such a role model for others. Even in the midst of opening a new High School and Middle School, Jeanne never gave up!

Determination will see you through!

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My other role model for success is someone that I met a few years back through Toastmasters International. The gentleman’s name is Dilip Abayasekara, and his dream was to go the full distance in this incredible organization. Dilip is such an inspiration to many of us in Toastmasters. He completed the entire speaking and leadership program and went on to become the International President.

Along the way Dilip helped many people, including myself, to see that big dreams can come true. Like Jeanne above, Dilip pursued his education and received his doctorate. He is also the author of a popular book, entitled The Path of the Genie.

Dr. Dilip showed me that setting goals, working hard, and having an undying determination to see a project through can take you to places that you never imagined.

He showed me how to finish strong!

With the inspiration and guidance of Dr. Dilip and many people in my local Toastmasters club, I was able to make it through the complete Toastmasters Leadership and Communication program back in 2005 and received the Distinguished Toastmasters designation. When I started in my local club in 1999, I would never have imagined that it would be possible.

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We all need role models and Dr. Jeanne and Dr. Dilip are two of the best. With determination, hard work, and a focused vision you can go incredible places. Just be sure to develop great mentors like Jeanne and Dilip!

Human spark plugs are wonderful people. They provide “Ignition” at the dullest of parties and can make a boring meeting into a lively and exciting event. You don’t forget a spark plug when you meet them, and the good ones won’t forget you.

They will take your business card or write your name on the back of a napkin, and for sure they will get back in touch with you. They always have friends you should meet, and the usual outcome of meeting them is at least one new contact or business acquaintance.

There are also people that are “Technology Spark Plugs.” They always know the latest gadgets, the coolest software and the most interesting web sites. If you hang around them for any length of time, you’ll end up with a new app on your cell phone, a new program in your computer, or a new shiny gadget in your hand.

I would like to share with you today, three “Human Spark plugs,” who have changed my life, introduced me to hundreds of their friends and made my life considerably more interesting.

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The first spark plug is my good friend Karen Robertson. I’ve known Karen for over 15 years and she always amazes me with her energy and willingness to take on the craziest goals. Over the years, Karen has become Ditzy the Clown, a public speaker, a personal coach, and just recently a stand up comedian.

In each step along the way, Karen has involved her friends and family and if you meet her she’ll drag you into what ever she is doing. If you want to get a project done, Karen is the one to talk to. She took on a building project at our church and tirelessly interfaced with city council members, building planners, and a maze of bureaucrats to get our church building built.

This year Karen decided she wanted to become a stand up comedian. While Karen is an outgoing person, a stand up comedian seemed like the last thing she would ever be. After all, she is a strong Christian, and I just couldn’t see her in a comedy club, in front of a bunch of rowdy people, telling jokes. But that is just what she did. She became a clean comedian in 2009 and even performed along with her friend Steve Matley, on a Sunday night at the Improv in Hollywood. Wow!

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The second spark plug, is my friend Phil Gerbyshak. Phil is know as the “Make it Great Guy, and he always brings a positive attitude and will introduce you to a cadre of successful and positive people.

Phil’s book, 10 Ways to Make it Great, is a fun and interesting read. It’s simple yet easily do-able positive philosophy on life is embraced by so many of his friends. But what makes Phil stand out from the crowds, is his tireless energy.

If you log into Phil’s web site, he always has something going on. Whether it be a contest or course or a new motivational video, Phil always has something to motivate you to improve your life and truly make your day great.

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The third spark plug on my list is my longtime blogging friend, Dwayne Melancon. Dwayne has written in his blog, Genuine Curiosity, for over four years. Dwayne is a Technology Spark Plug, and you’ll find reviews of the latest gadgets on his blog.

The thing I like about Dwayne, is his in depth personal analysis of products, software, and places. Dwayne travels intensively on his job, and his insights on carrying different gadgets, computers and a wide variety of wireless phones on airplanes has been invaluable.

He’ll give you a true reading of battery life, portability, and ease of use. His latest reviews on the popular iPhone have been very insightful. I’ve wanted one since they first came out, but his latest reviews reveal that now may be the best time to buy one. Apple has finally fixed his pet peeves and made a truly remarkable product. My iPod Touch is certainly better after Dwayne’s recommended 3.0 Apple software update.

If you use technology on your job and especially if you take your technology along on your travels, Dwayne’s site is one you should bookmark. A word of warning though, Dwayne’s reviews are so good, that you’ll find yourself spending considerable time reading through them. After a few minutes, your wallet make take a debit from the purchase of the latest recommended item on his list. Dwayne has certainly cost me a few dollars with his recommendations!

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Human Spark Plugs can ignite a fire, help you make your day better, and truly help you find that special gadget that will make your life better. Check out the web sites above, and as Phil says… Make Today Great!

While the differences are great, on a practical side one of the main distinctions is that left brain thinkers are linear and sequential. They are great at making lists and getting things done.

Right brained, creative types are more big picture oriented and tend to be random and intuitive thinkers. While this trait is great for creativity, it can hamper step by step progress on a project or task.

As a certified right brainer, I have struggled with To-Do lists and get distracted easily on tedious tasks. I have worked through organizational programs such as GTD by David Allen and have found them useful, but sometimes frustrating. My right brain and outside influences keep distracting me.

Luckily I ran across a technique a few years ago that has worked wonders in my life. It is called The Power of 48 minutes and it’s simple premise is effective every time I try it.

Here’s how it works… Set a timer for 48 minutes. Close out all distractions and work continuously for 48 minutes on one project. When the timer goes off, get up and stretch, get coffee, use the restroom etc, in the following 12 minutes. Repeat as necessary.

At home, this means closing my web browser, turning off e-mail, and working on one project at a time. It means having a full cup of coffee and putting myself in a quiet and comfortable work environment.

At work, it means closing my office door, shutting off e-mail and the e-mail reminder in Outlook, closing my browser, and focusing on one task at a time. My paper based daily route sheet works wonders here.

In both cases I use a countdown timer on my iPod touch and work straight through for 48 minutes.

When the time is up I take a 12 minute break and either finish up what I’m doing or set myself up for another 48 minute session.

This technique works wonders for larger projects such as book writing, blog posting, and web design. If you have never tried this before, do a little preparation and give it a go. You’ll be amazed how useful it can be. A simple egg timer works wonders here.

It looks like my 48 minutes is about up… until next time… keep focused with the Power of 48 minutes.

The three items are…

1. Deep Practice: This is the key ingredient. It’s the 10,000 hours of experience and the over and over daily practice routine that lead to greatness.

2. Ignition: This is the motivation to get started. The spark that ignites a person on to an uncommon life of talent and creativity.

3. Master Coaching: Disciplined and committed coaches provide help, feedback, and guidance to create a World class talent.

Combine deep practice with motivation along with a good coach and watch out. Talent can certainly be created with this powerful formula. Pick up the book and you’ll be amazed how powerful these principles really are.

In a chapter on “Ignition,” about how to get talents started, Daniel goes into a study by Carol Dweck, a psychology professor at Stanford. Her premise is simple..

Children praised for their effort do much better than children praised for their intelligence or skill.

The reason, she explains, is that when you praise for skill, kids tend to react by protecting their status — they don’t want to take risks that might harm their standing.

Conversely, when you praise for effort, kids tend to react by taking on more engaging tasks, making mistakes and fixing them, and spending time in the sweet spot where skill is truly acquired.

This is such a powerful finding that it could have major consequences for parents and teachers. Can such a simple change have such a profound effect? Here is a great article on the subject by Po Bronson to spur your thinking…

The main study of the book is based on a road trip he took to what he calls “talent hotbeds”, places where great talent has been produced out of proportion to their size and perceived stature; for example, a music school in Dallas, a Russian tennis club, a soccer field in Brazil, and others.

The first chapter starts out with a researcher studying a short film of a young girl trying to learn the clarinet. She makes mistake after mistake, but does a couple of things really well. The researcher finds in the end that the girl was able to learn the instrument over 10 times faster than the average person and she didn’t even know she was doing anything different.

Can you imagine learning something new in one tenth the time?

Can you imagine what this means for test taking, creating new products, and getting up to speed on a new business?

Can you imagine the time savings and monetary rewards?

I can’t wait to finish up this title. It’s as fascinating as Outliers from Malcolm Gladwell and the conclusions may be life changing.

Stay tuned for a full review…

I have been speaking publicly for over ten years, and have had the opportunity to speak to many different types of groups. But over that time, I never have had to actually pitch myself to anyone. At least not in a formal 30 second sound bite.

I decided to pitch my upcoming book, which is due out this summer. I wrote down the working title and made notes about the topics covered in the book and also related the book to other titles in the same book genre.

After researching the points, I came up with a short pitch that I thought would work well. I practiced it a few times and refined the points. I thought I was ready to go.

The actual pitch was made on a call-in phone conversation with other contestants from our NSA group. There were eight of us competing for four spots to actually get a chance to pitch to the media at our upcoming meeting.

I went second, and I learned a lot in those short thirty seconds. I learned that..

1. 30 seconds is a really short time
2. What’s in it for the listener?
3. Practice, Practice, Practice.

My pitch and many of the others that were given were glorified sales pitches. What I learned quickly was that the pitch needed to be news worthy. The media or in this case the judges, were not here to buy my product or service. They wanted to know something new or compelling about the product or service and have an interesting story for their audience.

I wasn’t one of the lucky winners in the contest, but the experience really helped me see the fallacy that many people, including myself, make in promoting their product or service. We tend to use product data and lots of bullet points of information. It was clear after listening to all of the contestants that something different was needed. We all needed a compelling short story.

I went back to one of my favorite books on public speaking, entitled Made To Stick, by Chip & Dan Heath, and perused the chapters again to see if I could glean some insight into what was needed.

Here is what I came up with following the six qualities of a sticky idea presented in the book…

1. Simplicity: This was a big one. The concept better be simple or it won’t fit into thirty seconds. We need to strip an idea to its core. I definitely tried to cover too much in 30 seconds.

2. Unexpectedness: What is the news story here? How do you capture the attention of your listener? I had bullet points but nothing out of the ordinary. In my pitch, my book was the same as all of the other thousands of personal development titles. While this certainly isn’t true, that is the way it came across.

3. Concreteness: Get to the point. Make the point vivid and compelling so that the listener can remember it. Think of a memorable thirty second commercial… what makes it stick in your mind. My pitch was like wet concrete… all over the place.

4. Credibility: Why should anyone care about the news? This can really be a challenge in thirty seconds, but using popular names or products that people can relate to, can really help here. I tried to relate my book to a popular author, but it took too much time and diluted my presentation.

5. Emotional: How do you get listeners to care about the news? There had better be some emotion here or it will go over like a lead balloon. In my case, I had the facts like Joe Friday, but you know how emotionless he was.

6. Stories: Tell a story make a point. Stories stick but can be a real challenge to tell in 30 seconds. This is where the advertising masters come in. Stories can make people act on your idea, but they need to be refined to just a few sentences. I am a storyteller but 30 seconds is very difficult.

I may have another chance to pitch next weekend. Hopefully with these six qualities I can craft a much more compelling presentation. Thirty seconds to success… now I know why professional copywriters and ad people get paid the big bucks.

I also will have another challenge… The 8 second pitch… one or two good sentences… yikes!

I can’t remember a time that perception is so intrinsically tied to news events. This last week a number of large companies announced their first quarter earnings. The stock market gyrated almost as fast as the news headlines. If a company had better than expected results, the recession is over, but if it missed expectations, watch out.

This type of reporting can really take an emotional toll… if you let it. I am a news junkie to a certain extent, but sometimes the media goes into overdrive. I find myself swinging from depressed to ecstatic in just one well placed news story. In times like this I have found three things that really help…

1. Turn off the Noise
The easiest way to limit the emotional roller-coaster is to turn off the feed. Turning off TV and internet news can be a God-send in these troubled times. Keeping the TV off of CNN, Fox News, and your local network affiliates will help keep you sane. Local news is the worst, with mayhem and madness a regular staple. You’ll notice that the usual dinner time anger disappears with one click of the remote.

One of the best ways to limit internet news overload is to change your homepage. If your default page is MSN, Yahoo, or AOL, you’ll be prompted with sensational news every time you open your browser. Even on the best days, there is always junk bombarding you. Try setting your default page to Google or some other non-descript page and you’ll find immediate relief.

2. Read a Good Book
Instead of TV, try reading a good book. Whether fiction or non-fiction, a good book can take you far away from the media madness. I find that interesting business books by Malcolm Gladwell, Seth Godin and others offer an education without the depression. Reading your favorite novelist can really clear your mind of the emotional roller-coaster and take you to almost any place you want to go. Just choose the book of your choice.

3. Help Someone Less Fortunate
In troubled times, it’s easy to have a constant mirror on ourselves and our problems. And many times that mirror is a magnifying one, that makes our problems much bigger than they really are. If we can turn that mirror into a window and focus on others… especially those that are less fortunate, our problems will seem much less daunting.

Helping others around the world is actually very easy and rewarding. Organizations such as Heavenly Treasures and Tom’s Shoes are examples of people helping others to succeed. Both of these organizations make it easy to help by giving back when you buy their products. Heavenly Treasures helps people all over the world by creating micro-enterprises in impoverished countries and selling their products here in the United States. Tom’s Shoes will give a pair of shoes to a needy person each time you buy a pair. I love this simple concept.

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If you find yourself depressed after the latest round of news, try one of these simple escapes. Hey… you may even get a new pair of shoes out of it!

So turn those mirrors into windows and you will be a much better presenter, salesperson, trainer, executive, or leader.

The whole idea is to change the focus 180 degrees. To stop looking in the mirror at yourself and instead look through a window to other people’s needs, wants, and desires.

This is a brilliant idea. One that has been around for years, but put into such a simple phrase. I remember a similar idea presented in Dale Carnegie’s timely work, How To Win Friends and Influence People.

Dale Carnegie wrote…

Become genuinely interested in other people.

It is a simple concept, but one that will pay huge dividends.

In fact the idea is one of the key tenets of word of mouth marketing…

What’s In It For Them?

So the next time you are in a sales call or standing in front of a group of people in a presentation… Turn your mirrors into windows.