Why You Should Ask Yourself This Question 5 Times
Ask yourself this question 5 times. This trick is how experts solve difficult problems quickly.
It turns out, there's a quick and effective technique that experts use to solve problems. What's great about this technique is that it works for business problems just as well as it works for personal problems. It's a simple question but you have to ask yourself this question 5 times.
Ask yourself this question 5 times:
- Why are you doing all of this work?
- Why is that?
- And so why would that be?
- Why might you think that?
- Why again?
Seems ridiculous to ask yourself "why?" five times, but understanding the WHY behind your work is important.
This is the fastest way to move from surface curiosity to a root cause of a problem. This technique is well known in productivity circles like SixSigma.
One of the things I love about this is that it requires no math and it will help you call out the relationships between the problems you face.
It will also support your motivation, a constant daily battle for each of us. Here's a post I wrote about using the 5 Whys to solve business problems with a few extra tricks thrown in.
Sure, you don't need a great "why" to make money or do the things you want, but you do need a strong "why" if you want to live a life of social impact and purpose.
Audit your "why" and you will increase the chances of living a regret-free, purpose-driven life.
Audit your "why" in other areas of your work and life and you will get down to the real issue you need to address.
2 Minute Action
Ask yourself "why" 5 times.
You might be surprised at what you find.
If you have trouble doing this by yourself, enlist a friend to help push you.
No excuses.