We should work to distance ourselves from our own problems by adopting a fly-on-the-wall perspective and act as our own advisors.

Another distancing technique is to pretend that our decision is someone else's and visualize it from his or her perspective. By imagining how someone else would tackle your problem, people may unwittingly help themselves.

We adopt an adventurous mindset that stands in contrast to the more cautious mindset that rears when people make their own choices.

We see the best solution with clarity and a decisiveness that is often absent when we face our own dilemmas.