3 Powerful Questions To Reinvent Yourself

It is a time of great change.

The pandemic has forced many of us to take a hard look at our lives and make difficult decisions.

With the jobs at risk and livelihoods at stake, the talk of the town has been about skills upgrading, career transitions and reinvention.

Is it time to start over from scratch and reinvent yourself?

If this sounds like you, then here are 3 powerful questions that will help you redesign your life and plan your next move.

3 Powerful Questions To Reinvent Yourself?

Question #1: Knowing what I know now, what are some things I would not do if I could start all over again?

This question is the heart of a perspective known as zero-based thinking.

Zero-based thinking is to start seeing today as Day 0 of your life, and making a list of all the things you wouldn’t repeat.

These are usually mistakes or patterns that we tend to repeat which may not be aligned with the vision we have for our lives.?

I’ll give you an example.?

One of my coachees, Henry, has the tendency to bite off more than he can chew at work.?

Wanting to prove himself to his boss and stand out at work, he believes that by out-working everyone else, he will be able to outpace his peers and quickly ascend the corporate ladder.

As a result, he does many things that may seem productive but are actually counter-intuitive to his performance.?

He says ‘Yes’ without hesitation whenever asked to take on extra work.

He refuses to speak out even when he has too much on his plate.

He overcommits to extra projects in an effort to ‘fill in his schedule’, even though he may not have the bandwidth to take them on.

In an effort to demonstrate reliability, he gets into serious trouble at work from neglecting his duties and failing to complete his tasks.?

His colleagues end up resenting him because they end up having to do more to make up for his failures.

With everyone on his team now having to work-from-home, Henry’s mistakes only compounded, causing his boss to put him on furlough, for all the trouble he was causing the team.

His job was now on the line.?

And Henry was forced to reflect deeply on what needed to change.

Through a coaching session where we applied zero-based thinking, Henry started to realize that he had made a serious error in believing that 'more work equals better performance’.

2 months after he made the shift, Henry returned to work and started to regain the trust of his colleagues.?

He learned the art of negotiation, and that became a life-saving skill he needed to better manage his workload and mental state.

Question #2: If you could accomplish only ONE goal in life, and you were absolutely guaranteed success at that one goal, what would it be?

The pandemic has wiped out many of our plans.

Some of us may have been on track to attaining certain goals and milestones. All that went down the drain as the outbreak happened.

But regardless of economic conditions, if you were starting over and had zero chance of failure, what would you set out to do?

This is a powerful shift because while everyone else is thinking in terms of survival, your ability to think in terms of possibility puts you at an advantage.?

The practice of having a laser-like focus on just ONE goal and redirecting your time and effort into this one goal can be an incredible accelerating factor.?

When things are good, we tend to give ourselves the ‘luxury’ of handling many things at once.

We spin many plates, knowing that if we drop any one of the plates, we’ll be okay because it may not bring about severe consequences.?

This kind of thinking only keeps us in our comfort zone.?

The comfort zone is the land of mediocre performance.?

However, when your back is against the wall, and you are forced to focus on one singular mission that will make the most difference, you buckle down and go all-in to accomplish that mission.

Uncertainty can be crippling for many people, but you can use it as a trigger to cut away all the bullsh*t in your life and focus on the goal that truly matters.?

Question #3: What needs to happen for me to create my ideal future?

One strategy to gain clarity is to practice what’s called 'back-from-the-future’ thinking.

Take a few moments to imagine the vision of your ideal future.?

Hold that vision in your mind.

From where you are right now, ask yourself: what needs to happen for me to experience my ideal future?

Would you need to master a certain skill??

Would you need the support of a particular person or organization?

Would you need to adopt some new habits??

Make a list of the things that has to happen for you to experience your ideal future one day.?

Mark the ones that are immediately actionable, and come up with a plan to get them done.?

Yes, perhaps there are many things that need to happen that are outside your control.

You might think: the economy needs to recover in the next few years.?

Travel restrictions need to be lifted.?

Vaccinations for COVID-19 must be made available to everyone.

But because these things are outside your control, it is not effective for you to dwell on them and wait for things to just get better.

Here’s the truth: while you’re waiting for something to happen, someone else out there is making things happen.

And they will be at a far different place than you when things get better.??

My question is: why can’t that 'someone else' be you?

Take stock of all the things that need to happen for your ideal future to become a reality. And make the necessary steps in that direction.

As a peak performer, what's most important is you recalibrate and keep moving forward.

—

Summary

Question #1: Knowing what I know now, what are some things I would not do if I could start all over again?

Question #2: If you could accomplish only ONE goal in life, and you were absolutely guaranteed success at that one goal, what would it be?

Question #3: What needs to happen for me to create my ideal future?

(Note: if you enjoy this post and know someone who would benefit from it, feel free to share it!)