By now you are back from holidays and getting stuck into the new year.
You are now faced with a turning point.
You can run your year like last year - and probably get similar results.
Or you can push yourself to ask daring questions, which can often lead to radically better results.
Truly, it's the questions we ask ourselves regularly that determine which direction we end up going in.
Ask small, timid questions and you get small, timid outcomes.
Ask game changing questions and you open up the possibility for huge shifts in your life and your business.
In my book, 'Why People Fail', just released in the USA, I recommend you ask the following questions. Treat them seriously and they can transform your business.
1. HOW CAN I MAKE TEN TIMES MORE MONEY?
Too many entrepreneurs are content with shooting for a 10 to 15 % increase in profits each year.
While that rise is 'realistic', it too often shuts down your thinking, keeping you from considering genuinely radical steps that could revolutionise your business.
Asking the 10X question jolts you out of your comfort zone and forces you to think completely differently about what your business could do and how you could pull it off. Life changes when you think 10X.
2. SHOULD I EVEN BE INVOLVED WITH THIS?
We usually start projects with a burst of optimism and the very best of intentions.
Then as time goes on and our progress slows, we can all be guilty of continuing at half speed, with little real comittment or even interest in the results. If we're not careful we can muddle along like this for years- making just enough progress to feel okay about it, but not enough to create real momentum and feel the joy of mega achievement.
With this in mind, it's worth asking: Knowing what you now know, would you even get involved with this business/project /person/industry in the first place?
If the answer is a clear No, maybe it's time for you to eject out of there asap.
3. WHAT WOULD 'X' DO?
Sometimes it pays to pretend you are not you.
It gets you out of your thinking ruts and makes you consider all kinds of directions you may not normally be open to. Imagine you are Steve Jobs and ask what he would do if he became CEO of your company today. What would Thomas Edison do if placed in the same position? Or your mum? Or the person you most admire?
Trying on the mindset of someobody great and then applying it to your business, or indeed your life, can yield some extraordinary ideas and strategies. It feels funny at first, downright weird sometimes, but it's a brilliant technique for breaking the shackles of your own traditional thinking.
So for a huge 2012, take ten minutes today to sit down and ask these three powerful questions. Or any of the others I feature in my book 'Why People Fail. They take virtually no time to do, but can yield fantastic results.
And remember, when it comes to making breakthroughs, questions are the answer.