3 Powerful Questions to ask before starting anything!

Today’s inspiration is from a powerful Ted Talk by Stacey Abrams about the 3 questions to ask before starting anything. As much as I am impressed by this talk, I would like to explore the three questions to ask before starting anything and also interrogate the reasons why we don’t do it.

For some context before we delve into the details of this quote, please do have a quick run through this video.

What fascinates me about this powerful video is the simplicity in those three questions and the consciousness they drive into our everyday process. For me, this is another layer mindfulness for the many things we do. Perhaps, one of the quickest wins in this process is in elimination of the wasteful activities we do which don’t yield us a lot of results. I might even go for an extension and call this a superstition. This can be as simple as checking a locked door thrice before leaving the house or any of those routines which can give us a tangible answer for the benefit it yields.

This talk is centered around the three questions before starting anything:

3 Questions before you start anything!

Question 1: What do I want?

It is really simple isn’t it – the source of all purposes – the What?! This might seem like a simple one and yes it is a simple one. But most often you would be surprised how many people answer this with what they don’t want.

This question is not about that – it is not about complaining about the things which are not right. If you are planning to start something, it starts with a question – what do you want?

• Have you defined this want? It might start off as a simple high level definition, but you’ve got to break it down
• We talked about SMART goals in one of our previous posts – all goals start off as a huge dream. You’ve got to break it down to define what this means to you.
• Steer away from the standard societal wants such as money, fame and what not. This is very much about you. Be honest, be very specific. Go for the SMART route – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Bound
• Break down the large goal into the smaller segments. There is very little sense in being vague about what you want out of life. If you are, most often your desires get washed away by something else. It is not an issue or a judgement, but you’ve got to be aware of it.

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Question 2: Why do you want it?

This for me is more important than the first question. The WHY is a very powerful source of motivation. It defines your commitment, desire and passion towards something.

Very often you listen to motivators who talk about the stories, they have such a compelling effect.

• What is your story? Why does it mean a huge deal to you?
• If you can, write all the details down on a piece of paper and stick it on your wall. It will be needed at times when you feel like moving away from a goal
• Most often people talk about final result and forget everything about how it makes them feel. If it is not driven by that emotion, it merely becomes a goal achieving exercise and you suddenly will find yourself wondering – so what
• So, before starting anything – ask this question and again be very detailed. Why do you want it? What are your reasons and most importantly why is this worth the many sacrifices this goal might demand from you?

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Question 3: How do I go about it?

Well, this is the strategy isn’t it? I will reroute you back to the very common thought processes which we talk about in our articles. It is about constant adaptation of the plan.

• You cannot do a plan for plan’s sake. The plan is to ensure that you achieve your goals. Be flexible, listen to constant feedback
• I will go back to an agile methodology here – try doing in small increments – see the results or representations of results. If things are not working – change your approach. The key is to reduce waste in the process – small increments, listening to feedback and change.
• Separate out the noise from the feedback. In our earlier discussion we talked about this in detail about listening to the music amidst noise. Although Vikram Sarabhai beautifully brings this out in a metaphor – listening to feedback is similar. You’ve got to listen to the music amidst noise and not be completely carried away.