Do what matters the most to YOU INC!
“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard. Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies”
— John F. Kennedy
How often have we given up on our dreams when we ask the ‘How?’ family of questions way too early? Even before thinking about the next action steps, when we ask the ‘How?’ question too early inorder to make a yes-no type of a decision, aren’t we indirectly saying to ourselves, “it is too hard, I rather not try to do it”?
What if we asked better questions before we ask ‘How’?
“How is a favorite defense against taking action”
Peter Block in his book ‘The answer to how is yes — Acting on what matters’ .
Peter talks about 6 great questions that can replace the 6 mediocre questions we often ask very early on. Off course, ask ‘How?’, but probably not at a point, when you are about to decide, whether or not to pursue something in the first place. So what are the better questions to ask then?
Here are the six questions.
- How do you do it?
becomes
What have I said yes to that I really did not mean to?
Is this something that really matters to me? This question helps you understand just that. Is the great startup idea you want to pursue, something that truly matters to you? Have you changed your mind over it recently and no longer feel like doing it? If so that’s perfectly fine too as it signifies free will that every person should enjoy. - How long will it take?
becomes,
What commitment am I willing to make?
When you know, you are pursuing what matters to you the most, the next question to have an answer to is about the commitments (time, energy, money) that this will take and one that you are willing to make. - How much does it cost?
becomes,
What price am I willing to pay?
Everything comes at a price. Pursuing a startup idea for example, would mean giving up on family time, do you have your family firmly behind you on your decision? - How do you get those people to change?
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What is my contribution to the problem I am concerned with?
Asking people to change, is our natural desire to be in control. But nobody likes to be controlled. Gandhi said, ‘Be the change that you wish to see’, so why can’t you be the change you wish to see? - How do we measure it?
becomes,
What measurement matters to us the most?
We are crazy about metrics. It is our desire for a safety net, to be absolutely sure that we don’t fail. But at times the heart rules and decisions taken by our gut instinct does help us win big. No amount of data could have predicted that people are going to let absolute strangers into their apartments (AirBnB) - How are other people doing it successfully?
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What do we want to create together?
Lastly, making a decision purely because it didn’t work elsewhere isn’t one of the smartest thing to do. Just because it didn’t work elsewhere or for somebody, it doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work for you too.
What we require is a different way of seeing and acting on possibilities. Getting the question right is the first step. Make yourself the center of the questions rather than the situations or people that you can’t change. So what’s stopping you from going after your moonshot ideas?
