If you are like most people, there have been times in your life when you felt totally stuck.

People often talk about "magical" solutions to problems, but the truth is that -while magic can be immensely helpful in many situations- not all problems can be fixed by simply throwing magic at them.

What makes it even worse is that sometimes, when we're really stuck, not even messages from spirits that could potentially be helpful seem to get through. Here's this huge, impenetrable block in front of us and we have no idea how to break through or why it's even there.

Ok, I’m not really sure whether Einstein actually said that or not, but it’s still true. 

We got stuck by thinking in a particular way, and the only way to get unstuck is by looking at the situation from a different perspective. 

Last month, I wrote about how to find solutions to a problem by looking at it from the perspective of each of the 7 planets. 

Not all people work with the planets though, and I know for some people the idea of temporarily turning into a planetary spirit is way too alien (pun intended) to them. 

So I wanted to provide a few additional ideas that will hopefully be easier for most people to try -even people who don’t practice magick.

 The idea is still the same: 

Temporarily turn into someone else and look at your situation from that perspective. 

If it still sounds too complicated to you, then just ask yourself “What would X do?”.

SUPERHEROES

Pick your favorite superhero and spend a moment to bring to mind all their character traits, mannerisms etc. 

What would Superman do, for example? 

It doesn’t matter what the problem is, just ask yourself what your favorite superhero would do. 

How would Thor go about finding a job, if he had spent a whole year sending out resumes and no one had hired him yet?

SUPER VILLAINS

Sometimes we have to deal with problems that are more suited to super villains rather than superheroes. 

What would Loki do? What would the Green Goblin do? What would the Joker do? What would Doctor Doom do?

FAVORITE BOOK OR MOVIE HERO 

What would Harry Potter do? What would Frodo do? What would the Doctor do?

FAVORITE BOOK OR MOVIE VILLAIN

What would Voldemort do? What would the Master do? What would Cardinal Richelieu do?

FAVORITE MAGICIAN, REAL OR FICTIONAL

What would Harry Dresden do? What would Dumbledore do? What would Quentin Makepeace Coldwater do? What would Agrippa do? 

HISTORICAL OR MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURE

Many of us have historical figures we admire, so why not try to figure out how they would deal with the problem we’re facing?

What would Alexander the Great do? What would Abraham Lincoln do? What would Margaret Thatcher do? What would Hercules do? What would a Hydra do? What about Medusa?

AUTORITY FIGURE

 In addition to historical figures, you may know someone you admire and look up to.

 This can be a person that’s currently in your life, or it may be someone who played an important role in your life in the past.

What would your boss do? What about your favorite teacher from high school, what would he do?

ENEMIES AND PEOPLE YOU CAN’T STAND

When we hate someone or find them extremely annoying, we can usually make lists of all the things about them we can’t stand.

 Let’s finally put this knowledge to good use: what would your annoying neighbor do? 

What about that bitch who stole your boyfriend, how would she handle this situation?

ELEMENTAL SPIRITS

This one’s a little more difficult, but pick an element. What would a fire elemental do for example? 

Go through all 4 elements this way and you may end up with more than one good idea to handle the same situation.

ANIMAL

This may also be difficult for some people, that’s why it’s the last on the list. 

Pick an animal you love.

 It doesn’t matter if it’s wild or domesticated, but it helps if you know a lot about the animal and its behavior. 

Imagine that you are this animal. 

Spend a little bit of time running around like it or doing whatever it is that it usually does. 

Now imagine that you are human again, but -since you can mentally shape-shift into this animal- you retain some of its talents and ways of thinking and behaving even in your human form. 

How would werewolf or werefox you handle the situation? 

How would werelion you overcome this obstacle? 

You can also pick an animal that you don’t like, perhaps something that is known to cause problems. 

If you were a rat or a squirrel what would you do?

These are 10 things you can try either instead of or in addition to the exercise with the planets. 

After you have asked your question “What would X do?” it is important to note down any and all answers that come to you. 

It doesn’t matter if it is something you would actually do or not, it doesn’t matter if it sounds crazy, just jot it down. 

You don’t have to act on it, but writing it down unblocks your mind and allows creativity to flow, so make notes of all ideas that come to you as an answer to your question without judgement. 

You can come back to them later and see what’s actually a workable idea and what isn’t. 

Of course, there is no reason to limit yourself to this one general question of “What would X do?”. 

Once you’ve stepped into the shoes of your chosen person or character, you can ask any questions you want. You will also get some answers in your mind that will inspire you to ask more questions, and that’s where the real answer to your problem may be found. 

The answer to your question for example may be to get the annoying neighbor who keeps you up all night with his loud music to move. 

This may be what both Dumbledore and Margaret Thatcher would do in your position, but you’ll probably agree that they would likely use very different means to get the neighbor to move out. 

So don’t just accept general answers but go deeper by asking “How would X go about accomplishing that?”.

So next time you’re really stuck and can’t figure out how to solve a problem you are facing, play around with these ideas and something new that you hadn’t considered before is bound to pop up. 

Have you ever tried to look at something from the point of view of your favorite heroes or villains before? Let me know in the comments!