If your toaster isn’t working, this is the first place to start. A combination of an easy first step and also the likelihood that it’s the problem.

The troubleshooting for things not working in our interactions with others isn’t as obvious, but we can think about it in a similar way.

The first question: Is it working for anyone? Is there someone in a similar situation who is finding clients, shipping the work and accomplishing their goals?

If so, then the next two questions might be:

What story am I telling the world?

and…

What story am I telling myself?

These are harder to diagnose than a toaster, but it might be a good place to begin.