Questions Are Time Savers: The Power of Asking Better Questions

There's so much that we can't control in life that it inherently increases the importance of what we can control. One of the zillion (yes, this is a real number when you have a 5-year old lol) things that we cannot control no matter how hard we may try is time. We were once children, now we're adults. People we loved were once here, just a call away, now they have passed. We had babies, they're not babies anymore... (feeling this one right now since my little one just started Kindergarten!)

The bad news is: Time cannot be stopped.

The good news is: You have skills that you can use to save time.

The ugly news is: We don't use these skills enough.

In my experience, one of these most useful and very underrated skills is our ability to ask questions. When I reflect and look at the most successful people I have ever had the pleasure to meet and be mentored by, they all have one thing in common: they ask the right questions.

The purpose of this article:

This article is an effort to help you ask yourself and others better questions so that you can gain access to the answers that are going to drive the most impactful results for you (based on what it is that you want to achieve).

The magic of questions is this...

Questions allow us to leverage other people's experiences (and the time that it took them to gain that experience) to gain access to information (aka answers) that we need to accelerate what we can achieve in the limited amount of time that we have here on earth — without us having to have to use our time to learn that information.

Questions are time-savers and they are evidence that you value your time and your network, more than your ego. Let me explain...

I'll share a very simple example. I'm doing this #75Hard fitness challenge and I wasn't sure of what to do for my "Chest day" workout. I could have done one of two things...

Option A: I could have spent hours doing research on Google and YouTube on what the best "chest day" workouts are

The risk associated with option A: Loss of hours of my time and the chance that I choose the workout that is wrong for my desired results or that I apply information from someone who doesn't walk the walk (because I don't have the skills in that area of expertise to identify good advice from not-so-good advice).

OR

Option B: I message a friend who has been a consistently high-level performer in fitness for several years and ask a simple question.

The risk associated with Option B: My friend doesn't reply and ignores me.

Naturally, I chose option B and the conversation went like this...

Me at 8:30 am: "What's the best chest and tricep workout for me?"

Him at 8:39 am: Are you trying to bulk or cut?

Me at 8:56 am: Cut.

Him at 8:59 am: 4 sets x 12 reps push ups, including dumbell press, dumbell fly and pushup until failure.

In just 19 minutes I received the information that I needed versus me spending hours of my time doing it myself (not leveraging my contact and my ability to ask questions).

Questions save you time, but only if you know who to ask.

The Ingredients Needed to Ask a Great Question:

To ask a great question and receive an even better answer:?

1. You have to know the result you want?(and the information you are missing to achieve your desired result) - I knew that I needed a workout for chest day and that I would rather not invest my time doing that search for the answer.
2. You have to know who to ask - I asked someone who I know and trust that has evidence of training himself and training others who communicate the information in a way that I could understand (this is an important nuance). Sometimes we ask someone who has the experience but the answer is only valuable if they are unable to communicate the answer in a way that we understand.
3. You have to ask - I wasn't afraid to send the message and ask for help. We shouldn't let our egos get in the way of our ability to save ourselves time (I see this far too often).

In the example I just shared with you, the value of his answer lies in a few things:

1. He knew my desired result
2. He has experience training other people to get that desired results
3. He knows and trusts me, so he was willing to quickly share that information with me in a simple way that I could understand.

This is also why building relationships is so important. When you need a question answered, people are more likely to respond to you if they know you exist and they are going to be much more willing to share the information openly with you if they already trust you.

Value Yourself Enough to Save Yourself Time

I know what it feels like to not have a network of business professionals you can reach out to (I didn't have any when I started to build my network on LinkedIn in late 2018). Because of that, I have created this newsletter. This is my chance to give back, because I know for a fact I wouldn't be where I am today had I not asked the right people, the right questions.

This is your chance to ask me questions and leverage my experiences - building an online coaching & consulting business, creating and growing a personal brand on LinkedIn, being a mother and business owner - and hopefully, through my answers, you can get what you want faster (with a lot fewer tears and challenges along the way).

I will pick one question per week to answer from my network and you will be tagged in the article (only if you so choose) if your question is chosen (giving you a chance to grow your visibility and your network). And if I can't answer your question, I will interview someone who can.

I will also be hosting LIVE LinkedIn audio events and inviting subscribers to the newsletter on stage to sessions where they can ask me questions LIVE.

Practical Takeaway:

I'll never leave you without something practical that you can go do right now to make a difference in your life. Let's do this exercise but start off small (similar to the example that I shared in this article).

Take a piece of paper and write down the following:

1. What is your desired result?
2. What problem/challenge is really frustrating me right now?
3. What information do I need to solve this problem/challenge?
4. Who do I know or who do I follow online that I can reach out to that I trust has experience in this arena?
5. Ask them the question.

Let's start with a super simple example and build up.

Scenario 1 - Your problem is that you want to make the best homemade Apple pie ever but you have no idea where to start:

1. Desired result: Make the best homemade Apple pie ever
2. Problem: Don't have the time to learn and have never made an Apple pie before
3. Information needed: The ingredients I need and steps to make the best Apple pie ever
4. (Insert the name of someone who you know and trust (or who you follow online and trust) that has made you an amazing Apple pie or who shares frequent pictures of their baking and evidence that they have the skills to bake an Apple pie
5. Reach out and ask them your question (if they don't know the answer ask them if they know someone who does)

Scenario 2: Let's say you are unhappy and you want to leave your job and start your own business but you have no idea how.

1. Desired result: Want to start my own business
2. Problem: Need income. Don't know how to leave my job so that I can start.
3. Information needed: How to build a business and get clients while at my job so that the transition is smooth.
4. (Insert the name of someone who you know and trust (or who you follow online and trust) who has successfully left their job and built a business in the space where you want to build yours.
5. Reach out and ask them your question.

Scenario 3: Let's say your problem is that referrals just aren't giving you the results in your business that they once used to:

1. Problem: Can't depend on referrals to grow the business
2. Desired result: Need to start using LinkedIn to get clients
3. Information needed: Need to know how to get clients on LinkedIn
4. (Insert the name of who you know and trust that can help you learn how to get more clients on LinkedIn)
5. Reach out and ask them your question.

Potential risk: The worst thing that can happen is that you don't get a response.

Potential reward: The best thing that can happen is that you get the information you need to solve your current problem at a much faster rate than you can solve it alone.

Value yourself enough to ask, and get better results in less time.

Let's grow together,

Shanee′ Moret

p.s. Listen to the podcast here.