Imagine you are heads-down, dealing with a major project, deadline, or problem. You are slogging through the muck but you just can’t seem to break free from traditional thinking. You keep working harder and harder but fail to snag the results you seek.

Then, in a big burst of smoke, an alien appears from the planet Imagina of the galaxy Surge 24. His green antennae spin with thought, his yellow eyes roll back in his head, his body starts to shake, and then BAM…. He gives you that breakthrough idea you’ve been dying for.

How’d he do that? It could be that his three brains just have more firepower than yours. Or, it could simply be that he’s looking at the problem from a different perspective.

One of the most powerful techniques I discovered when doing the research for my book, Disciplined Dreaming, is deliberately shifting perspective in order to summon creativity. The human brain has an incredible ability to project into a different circumstance and then function as if it were that new situation.

In other words, the next time you are struggling for that breakthrough idea, pretend you are an alien from the future. How would that alien analyze the problem without the same context that you have? What would the alien’s biases do to his thought-process? Since he doesn’t understand our earthly limitations, fears, and social pressures, what solutions would he recommend?

When you look at a challenge through a different lens, two things happen. First, all your fear and doubt melt away since you stop worrying about how your idea will make you look to others. Second, the fresh perspective yields an abundance of ideas that were previously unconsidered since you are approaching the situation from a different vantage point.

Of course, there’s no need to stop with intergalactic amigos. Try approaching your next challenge as a detective from 16th century London. Or a heroin-drenched jazz musician from the early 50′s. Or your seven-year-old nephew. Or the warden of a maximum-security prison. Or Kim Kardashian. Or Darth Vader. Or the Octomom.

How would they approach the challenge? What solutions might they imagine from their own context? How would they think about things looking through a different lens?

The next time you hit a roadblock or need a B12 injection of creativity, try shifting your perspective and imagine how someone else would solve it. Whether you choose to be an alien, Paul McCartney, or Santa Claus, a fresh view on your work can really shake things up.

You probably know it well. That sinking feeling in your gut where you feel like you just got punched by Tyson. Heart-pounding, head-throbbing, room-spinning agony. We’ve all been there. Perhaps it was losing a huge client, a key team member jumping ship, or a major technology glitch. Or maybe it was a sharp scolding from a boss, an unexpected job loss, or that big setback you’ve been dreading.

Oh shit.

These are the moments we fear; the ones that nightmares are made of. The times when we feel powerless, overwhelmed, and are left spinning with hopelessness and despair. You’re not alone…Every great leader, hero, and champion has had them too.

The real question isn’t whether or not you’ll experience this acute terror. Assuming you are pursuing anything worth doing, you will. The question becomes, how will you react?

Some of us cave to the pressure. We roll on our backs like helpless dogs exposing their vulnerable bellies. We allow ourselves to become victimized by the event, and relinquish our power to the callous circumstances. We let things happen to us.

Luckily, you need not suffer this hapless fate. Instead, you can regain your power and use the setback as a “teachable moment.” Rather than judging it, you can look at it as information that is helping you grow as a person or organization.

Throughout my own career building startups for the last 21 years, I’ve had my fair share of these moments. But now looking back, each of these painful setbacks turned out to be a blessing. In fact, many of my biggest breakthroughs came just after events that appeared to be devastating losses.

Often our biggest moments of growth come from our darkest moments of adversity. Life has a funny way of teaching us and sometimes those painful wake-up calls can be just the jolt we need to effectuate change. In these moments, you have a choice. You can cower in the corner like a guilty child, or you can use the sting as an opportunity to strengthen your resolve. You can own it, take personal responsibility, and leap into action with unwavering commitment. Even when it’s tough and you want to hide.

The most successful people have bad days too. We all stumble, but the champions don’t let speed bumps derail their journey. Instead, they look straight into the abyss and extract every valuable lesson that can be gained. And you can too.

That dreaded “oh shit” moment will likely crop up when you least expect it. The next time it does, don’t run from it. Seize it. It’s simply an opportunity for you to shine and grow.

Why do some companies consistently outperform their competition? Why do some people become champions while others fall short as also-rans? What skills do you need to improve to reach your highest potential?

We’ve all asked these questions as we strive to achieve our personal best. Decoding the traits of success is a multi-billion dollar industry as eager minds seek enlightenment. Leaders sprint to embrace the newest tech gadgets and management tactics to gain even the slightest competitive edge.

How ironic that a back-to-basics approach carries the day. It turns out that good old-fashioned grit has been statistically linked to being the number one indicator of high performance.

Research defining grit as perseverance and passion for long-term goals found that as a trait, grit had better predictability for success than IQ. The experts break it down and list these attributes as the building blocks of grit:

• A clear goal
• Determination despite others’ doubts
• Self-confidence about figuring it out
• Humility about knowing it doesn’t come easy
• Persistence despite fear
• Patience for the small stuff that obscures the path
• A code of ethics they live by
• Flexibility in the face of roadblocks
• A capacity for human connection and collaboration
• A recognition that accepting help does not equate to weakness
• A focus and appreciation of each step in the journey
• An appreciation of other people’s grit
• A loyalty that never sacrifices connections along the way
• An inner strength that brings them to their goal

More important that a go-get-‘em-tiger pep talk, you can actually build, screen for and measure grit. The Grit Test, developed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, is a simple questionnaire that helps you determine your Grit Score. It’s worth four minutes to find out how much mojo you and your team have so you can get about building more of it.

Brainiac pencil-pushers, entitled trust-fund babies, and well-dressed charmers are not the only ones that snag the brass ring after all. The good news is that grit comes from within, and none of us are precluded from building this attribute.

It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, come from a good neighborhood, have a fancy-pants degree, or are good looking. We all have nearly limitless potential, and the opportunity to seize it is waiting for you.

Let old-school grit and determination serve as the catalyst to achieving your own personal greatness. You don’t need another tech gadget; just the same killer app that has been foundation of success since the beginning of civilization.

Most of us have something to pitch. You may be pitching your startup to a VC to secure funding. Or perhaps you’re pitching your product or service to potential customers. Whether you are pitching your case to a jury, your hypothesis for a research grant, yourself for a new job, or your best friend for a date with that cute guy, a simple rule applies: the better the pitch, the better the results.

As a venture capitalist, I hear pitches every day. In this highly competitive environment, a strong pitch can be the difference-maker between securing millions in funding and completely missing the mark.

There are many obvious cliché moves: give a firm handshake, communicate with passion, make strong eye-contact, and try to relate with your audience. Yet there are approaches I see constantly that sabotage an otherwise good pitch. To significantly improve your batting average, avoid these disaster moves when pitching just about anything:

1) THE RUN-ON SENTENCE: One of my pet peeves is listening to someone drone on for a 45-minute monologue. In your big moment, your instinct is to communicate everything you know, the entire history of your idea, and endless amusing anecdotes. Avoid this urge! Your pitch will be 100 times more powerful if you can make it concise. Make every word count.

2) THE FACT LEAP: Anyone who is being pitched has turned on their highly-developed BS-detector to full tilt. We are questioning everything you say and trying to poke holes in your story. So the minute you exaggerate a stat, make an outrageous claim, or state a fact that can be challenged, your credibility crumbles.

3) THE OVERSELL: If you make a strong point once, it resonates. If you feel the need to make the same point several times you end up diluting the power of the message. If you keep pushing a point, you transform before our eyes from a passionate world-changer to a used-car-salesperson or infomercial pitchman. If what you are pitching it that special, you don’t need to oversell it.

4) THE S.A.T.: When responding to a question, just answer it directly. If you tell a four-minute story that includes 73 data points, the listener feels like they are taking an S.A.T. exam in which they need to sift through all the irrelevant stuff in order to get the answer. This does not help you shine or get your message heard.

5) THE GREAT GATSBY: Grandiose braggers may entertain at cocktail parties, but they rarely win the battle of the pitch. Keep it authentic and real. Your startup with 11 beta customers isn’t a billion-dollar company just yet. Think big, but stay humble. After hearing a pitch where the daring hero outperforms Groupon and Apple in their second year with trillions of revenue and six billion customers, I’m ready for a shower instead of a closing dinner.

Hone your pitch to stand out from the hapless masses that continue to fall into the same traps. In turn, you’ll land the job, get the girl, win the capital, and seize your full potential.