11 Questions That Can Change Your Life

I just got slapped in the face today.

Not literally. I mean the wake-up-and-face-reality-Steph type of slap.

I’ve been working, dreaming and scheming very hard about creating something unbelievably awesome with our business, but I’ve been going about it all WRONG.

I have a few trusted advisors (mastermind members, coaches, mentors) who I turn to for help, guidance and perspective. I’ve been asking them all kinds of questions about what I should do.

The problem: I’ve been asking the wrong questions.

I’ve been asking about funnels and conversion and content creation and systems and…

The question I really needed to answer first is, “What do I want?”

What work do I want to do? Who do I want to do it with? What’s missing in my life?

If I jump to the tactics and the “how” without clearly understanding what I want to create, I end up going down the wrong road.

I’m incredibly thankful for my advisors, Glenn Livingston, Terry Dean and Yoav Ezer, for slapping me back to reality today by asking the simple question:

“What do you want?”

Powerful Questions = Powerful Answers

There’s nothing wrong with the other questions I was asking. They just weren’t the most powerful questions.

A powerful question opens up possibilities and clarifies priorities. It challenges assumptions and forces us to face a truth we might be avoiding.

A powerful question can reveal where you’re stuck and point to the way out.

For me, today, the powerful question was, “What do I want?” And the follow up, “How can I create that NOW?”

It’s so easy for me to get stuck in the same rut, thinking about what’s “realistic” based on the past. But what about the other possibilities I’m not thinking of?

If anything was possible and there were no limits, what would you do?

A Few of My Favorite Questions

Asking a question forces your brain to find answers. A powerful question engages the creative, intuitive side of your brain to create what you want.

In other words…

The quality of your questions determines the quality of your reality.

Here are a few of my favorite powerful questions and why they’re so powerful:

#1 – If I could wave a magic wand and create a business and life that’s exactly the way you want, with no limitations or restrictions, what would that look like? What’s your Conquer the World goal?

We often don’t acknowledge what we really want.

We think about what’s “realistic,” what we “deserve,” or what we’re “allowed” to have.

So much more is possible, but we need to think big to create the possibility. Without daring to dream big, it can never happen.

WHEN TO USE IT:

• You need to create possibilities and solutions that don’t exist.
• You’re feeling stuck.
• You aren’t clear about what you want.

#2 – What’s the ONE THING I can do that makes everything else easier or irrelevant?

I have a million To Do’s on my list. It would take a staff of 20 people a year to get through just half of my tasks!

This question posed in the book The One Thing by Gary Keller, helps you focus on “one thing” that has the greatest positive impact on everything else. It’s a powerful tool for narrowing your focus to what really matters.

You’re looking for the one domino that knocks over all the rest, the single goal that knocks out a whole bunch of others once it’s achieved. It kicks in the power of singular focus.

WHEN TO USE IT:

• You’re overwhelmed.
• You don’t know what to do first.
• At the beginning of every work day to determine your #1.

#3 – If I could only do one thing today and that would make me feel accomplished, what would it be?

I can’t even function with a To Do list that has more than 3 items on it. Sometimes even 3 feels like too much!

Pick ONE task to complete that you know will make you feel good, and it’s an automatic win. Everything else is gravy.

WHEN TO USE IT:

• You’re overwhelmed.
• You don’t know what to do first.
• At the beginning of every work day to determine your #1.

#4 – How can I make this inevitable?

This question forces you to use everything in your power to make sure something happens: habit, accountability, reward, punishments, coaches, self-blackmail. Anything and everything that can make it INEVITABLE.

WHEN TO USE IT:

• You’re putting off something important.
• You know what you need to do but you can’t get yourself to do it.

#5 – What are the 20% of people, activities and events that create 80% of my happiness and well-being? How can I do more of them?

The 80/20 Principles says that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.

Our greatest joys come from relatively few sources, but we rarely take the time to reflect on them.

Want more happiness? Do more stuff that makes you happy.

WHEN TO USE IT:

• At the beginning of every year aka NOW!
• Whenever you want to improve your well-being.

#6 – What are the 20% of people, activities and events that create 80% of my stress? How can I eliminate them?

The 80/20 principle works with the negative stuff in life, too.

Identify the sources causing most of your anxiety, pain and stress so that you can eliminate them.

WHEN TO USE IT:

• At the beginning of every year aka NOW!
• Whenever you want to improve your well-being.

#7 – If I could only work 2 hours every week on my business, what would I do?

This question is another way to focus on what’s really important.

Imagine that you’re suddenly ill and can only physically work for two hours a week. What would you do? What would you stop doing?

It forces you to think outside the box and focus only on the essentials.

WHEN TO USE IT:

• You’re overwhelmed and overworked.
• You want to increase efficiency.
• You want to work smarter, not harder.

#8 – How can I solve this problem by subtracting?

We usually think in terms of MORE. That means more tasks, more To Dos, more work when our time and energy resources are already limited.

What if you had to solve your problem by stopping?

This forces you to simplify and make your life easier.

WHEN TO USE:

• You’re facing a challenge.
• You want to work smarter, not harder.
• You want outside the box solutions.

#9 – What would this look like if it were easy and fun?

This question is essential for people (like me) who try to prove themselves by over-committing and over-delivering. We end up making more work that doesn’t equal more results.

This question can break that bad habit.

WHEN TO USE:

• Before starting any new project.
• You’re overwhelmed.
• You’re dreading a particular task.

#10 – What’s the craziest thing I can do here?

The point of this question is NOT to come up with good ideas. It’s to generate creative ideas that become the seed for really good ideas down the road.

WHEN TO USE:

• You want outside the box solutions.
• You’re having trouble thinking big.

#11 – What’s the most powerful question I can ask today?

I am madly in love with this question! If I could, I would marry it. (Sorry, Jeff.)

Sometimes all I need to find the answer is to ask this question. The right question = the right answer.

WHEN TO USE:

• The beginning of every day.
• You’re stumped and don’t know what to do.
• You don’t know what you don’t know.

Live the Questions

These questions really can change your life, but only if you spend some time with them.

Live the questions and you will live your way into the answers.

What do you think?