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Create a Powerful Driving Question to Improve your Results
Author: Simon Smith  | Posted: 05-01-2008 | Comments: 0 | Views: 14 | Rating: (50)  (?) 
 Nearly all the research and development correspondence I receive at this time of year is about making the next year even better than the last. My tips include:
Review last year – Review the most significant results from 2007. Learn from what worked well and remove from your life or business what doesn’t work.
Unclutter – Get rid of the unnecessary clutter in your life. File or throw away paperwork that you don’t need or are unlikely to look at again. Clear out your wardrobe of unused clothes and give them away. Tidy up your office and remove all the out of date material from notice-boards and your desk. Clear up your inbox. Remove those things from your to-do lists that are never realistically going to be completed.
Step back – Give yourself some thinking time and ask yourself questions about what will make the most difference to you in 2008.
Create your goals – Plan what you want to achieve in 2008. Set goals in several areas, such as career/business, finance, health and fitness, personal development/education, relationships/family/friends, fun time/recreation and contribution/service. Decide what you want to complete in each quarter so that your goals are meaningful and can be broken down into realistic and achievable results. Work backwards from the completed goal and consider what would have needed to be handled to ensure that each goal is delivered. Remember to keep them realistic. It is said that we overestimate what we can achieve in a year and underestimate what can be achieved in a lifetime.
In addition to these tips, I strongly recommend establishing your current driving question and changing it to one that serves you more powerfully.
When I first did this exercise a while ago, I realised that had several driving questions which included:
How can I do that?
What am I missing?
Why did I do that?
Why can’t I get what I want?
Where’s the learning?
What am I doing wrong?
Why can’t I get beyond this?
I summarised them as one question: “What can I learn from this?”
Some of these questions presuppose that I was doing something wrong so I concluded that if I was driven by the need to find the learning it might be possible that I was creating the mistakes to ensure learning could take place. So, assuming this were true I then asked myself what would be a more empowering and driving question that focused on achieving the goals I choose? The result: How can I create even more love, contribution, inspiration and wealth in my life right now?
The use of “even more” in this question presupposes that I already have all of it at some level and there is room to get more. The “right now” presupposes possibility; that it can be done immediately. The “how” also presupposes possibility; that it can done at all. The content “love, contribution, inspiration and wealth” are directly related to my purpose, vision and mission, so the question does indeed become a more powerful driving question than those I started with.
By finding your driving question and creating a more powerful one directly related to your purpose, vision and mission, you will find that you are far more motivated to move forward with action. You will be less likely to procrastinate or hesitate and you will therefore be much better placed to achieve what it is you say you want to achieve.
So, to make 2008 your best year ever, a simple and powerful step towards that result is create a new and exciting, powerful driving question for you.
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About the Author:Simon Smith is a coach, trainer, speaker and author. Having been involved in corporate life for 24 years in a variety of senior commercial and operational roles, and after relocating to Northern Ireland in 2004, Simon discovered his passions were focussed on supporting people in being who they really are. He is certified as a Master Practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Master Results Coach, Performance Consultant, Advanced Neurological Repatterning and an Accredited Inspired Coach with The Institute of Human Development. In addition he is a Certified Facilitator of The Passion Test, a member of the Chartered Management Institute and the Institute of Hospitality respectively. He has trained with some of the world leaders in transformational leadership and personal development, including Jack Canfield, Chris and Janet Attwood, Hale Dwoskin, Adrian Gilpin, Marcia Martin and Christopher Howard.
Simon’s passions include “giving and contributing to others in a way that makes significant difference to their lives” and “being around like minded people passionate about their own journeys of discovery”. He uses his skills as a coach, trainer, speaker and author to ensure he stays aligned with his passions on an everyday basis.
For more information on how Simon Smith can support you to Step Up to Success and create the results you or your business are striving for contact us at:
www.simonsmithcoaching.com or call +44 (0)28 9048 8673
Sign up for our monthly free teleseminar at www.AskSimonSmith.com
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