7 Surprisingly Helpful Questions for Any Important Goal

Peter Thomson’s Nightingale Conant audio program The Best-Kept Secrets of the World’s Great Achievers is arguably several months’ worth of insights. Here is just one that works well when you have a specific goal in mind.

The following questions look really obvious but if you take some time to think through them, you’ll be glad you did. They will only help you if you are willing to sit down somewhere quiet with a pen and paper (or laptop) for 15-30 minutes. Thomas J Watson, founder of IBM once commented: “All the problems of the world could be settled easily if men were only willing to think.”

The real takeaway here is not whether this information is particularly new – although I do think Thomson puts a slightly different spin on it. What matters is how well are you applying this knowledge in your life?

1. Where are you now?

So often in our haste to get somewhere, we don’t really want to take the time to get crystal clear about where we are at the moment. What exactly is your current situation?

For example: want more fun in your life?

a) Make a note of anything fun you do this week
b) Make a note of 10 things you dislike doing that you have to do often
c) List 20 things you have enjoyed in the past
d) List six people  you often do fun things with and how much time you have spent with them in the past six months

You can ask these kinds of questions with any goal.

2. How did you get here?

Stephen Covey points out that “the problems in life come when we’re sowing one thing and expecting to reap something entirely different.”

The actions we take are meant to make us feel better either in the short term or in the long term (since highly accomplished people are willing to do the things that less successful people are unwilling to do).

What roots have you been sowing? If we are responsible adults, what have we either done or ignored to be at this point AND what paradigms (mindsets/beliefs) have got us here?

3. Where are you going?

What is your specific goal?

4. Why do you want to go there?

Most people would argue that the WHY is more important than the HOW – that you will figure out how you’re going to get there if your reasons mean enough to you.

5. What are the obstacles?

Some would call this the reality check. It is always easier to shoot at the enemy when you know what it looks like.

6. What are you going to do?

What is your plan of action?

7. How will you know when you get there?

I like this twist on things. Sometimes our end point is obvious. Other times what we’re really after is a feeling or peace of mind or we don’t want to live with a certain regret. And sometimes we feel like we’re never there!

I hope you find this list useful. Please forward it onto others that you think might also appreciate the ideas.