{"id":28613,"date":"2014-11-27T20:58:00","date_gmt":"2014-11-28T04:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=28613"},"modified":"2014-12-01T22:07:05","modified_gmt":"2014-12-02T06:07:05","slug":"one-simple-question-leads-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/one-simple-question-leads-success\/","title":{"rendered":"The One Simple Question That Leads To Success"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p><\/p>\n<p>When you encounter a problem or frustrating situation, what questions do you ask yourself?<\/p>\n<p>I used to ask the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Why am I so unlucky?<\/li>\n<li>Who can I blame?<\/li>\n<li>Why am I so stupid?<\/li>\n<li>How do I make sure I don\u2019t look bad?<\/li>\n<li>Why is life so unfair?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I now realize that these aren\u2019t useful questions. These questions caused me to focus on factors that were beyond my control. What\u2019s more, they made me avoid taking responsibility for my choices and my life.<\/p>\n<p>I ended up feeling confused and helpless. Not a good outcome.<\/p>\n<p>As I became wiser, I started asking myself just one question.<\/p>\n<p><b>I believe this is the key question that leads to success: <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">What is one thing I can do right now to improve the situation?<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p>I definitely don\u2019t claim to be the most successful person, but I can say for certain that this question has enabled me to take plenty of productive action.<\/p>\n<p>Allow me to analyze the individual words and phrases that make up the question, to explain why it\u2019s so potent:<\/p>\n<p><b>\u201c&#8230; one thing\u2026\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The question doesn\u2019t ask you what 10 or 50 things you can do. That would be overwhelming. It asks you what <i>one<\/i> thing you can do, so you\u2019ll feel more in control.<\/p>\n<p>You might be faced with a complicated situation, but focusing on \u201cone thing\u201d makes it manageable.<\/p>\n<p><b>\u201c&#8230; I\u2026\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p>When you ask this question, you\u2019ll no longer feel powerless. You\u2019re turning your attention to what you can do, instead of what other people ought to do.<\/p>\n<p>This forces you to adopt an active approach. You won\u2019t wallow in self-pity. Instead, you\u2019ll take responsibility for what you can do to make the situation better.<\/p>\n<p><b>\u201c&#8230; right now\u2026\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll feel empowered to take action immediately. The phrase \u201cright now\u201d reminds you that you don\u2019t need to wait for perfect conditions before you do <i>something<\/i>. Even if it\u2019s only a tiny action, you can do something right away to address the issue.<\/p>\n<p><b>\u201c&#8230; improve the situation?\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re dealing with a complex problem, you won\u2019t be able to solve it today. It may take you weeks, or even months. So you shouldn\u2019t try to tackle the entire problem at once.<\/p>\n<p>Even if you can only improve the situation by 1{54c12dad2cc2b53ae830e39915b1a3e70288dbcbbeb8bbf8395437c5dc3c512c} today, that\u2019s completely fine. The important thing is that you\u2019re making progress. This will encourage you to stay motivated, because you can see that you\u2019re making headway.<\/p>\n<p><b>Examples of How to Use This Question to Build a Better Life<\/b><\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re probably wondering how to use this question in your daily life. Here are three examples:<\/p>\n<p><b>Example #1: You have a boring math teacher<\/b><\/p>\n<p>You might be tempted to complain to your friends about how horribly uninteresting your math lessons are. You might dread the thought of going to math class and doing your math homework. You might even claim that your boring teacher is the reason behind your less-than-stellar math grades.<\/p>\n<p>But what if you asked yourself, \u201cWhat is one thing I can do right now to improve the situation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll realize that there are plenty of possibilities. You could talk to your teacher after class and tell him what you appreciate about his lessons, and go on to suggest what he could do to make the lessons more engaging. Or you could find online resources to help you learn the information, or you could form a study group.<\/p>\n<p><b>Example #2: You had a nasty argument with your friend<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Your natural response would be to find fault with your friend, and to list all the reasons why she\u2019s being unreasonable. You might even begin thinking about all her personality traits that annoy you.<\/p>\n<p>All this would cause you to become angry and bitter, but it wouldn\u2019t help the situation.<\/p>\n<p>Ask yourself, \u201cWhat is one thing I can do right now to improve the situation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll recognize that you had a part to play in the argument too. The \u201cone thing\u201d could be to apologize to your friend for losing your cool. If that\u2019s too hard to do, you could write her a short letter or email to explain how you feel and to say sorry.<\/p>\n<p><b>Example #3: You think you\u2019re underpaid<\/b><\/p>\n<p>You might feel like talking to your colleagues about your frustrations, and criticize the company for not valuing its employees. You might lament that your hard work isn\u2019t appreciated.<\/p>\n<p>This would result in you becoming upset and unmotivated.<\/p>\n<p>Is there an alternative? You bet. All you need to do is ask yourself, \u201cWhat is one thing I can do right now to improve the situation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cone thing\u201d could be as easy as searching the Internet for articles on how to successfully ask for a raise. In fact, I just Googled \u201chow to ask for a raise\u201d and found a long list of useful articles!<\/p>\n<p><b>The bottom line<\/b><\/p>\n<p>It sounds clich\u00e9d, but it\u2019s true: Questions have the potential to transform your life. If you ask the right questions, you\u2019ll be headed down the path of success and fulfillment.<\/p>\n<p>So every time you\u2019re confronted with a challenge or obstacle, ask yourself, \u201cWhat is one thing I can do right now to improve the situation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll come up with an excellent answer.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212; &#8212;<\/p>\n<p><i>Daniel Wong is a learning and teen expert, and is the author of <\/i><i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/The-Happy-Student-Academic-Fulfillment\/dp\/161448127X\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;The Happy Student: 5 Steps to Academic Fulfillment and Success.&#8221;<\/a><\/i><i>\u00a0He specializes in empowering teenagers to become both happy and successful, and he shows parents how they can help too.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>You can download his FREE 35-page e-book, <\/i><i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.daniel-wong.com\/16-keys-to-motivating-your-teenager\/\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;16 Keys to Motivating Your Teenager.&#8221;<\/a><br \/>\n<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I believe this is the key question that leads to success: What is one thing I can do right now to improve the situation? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/one-simple-question-leads-success\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":28730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[9,6],"tags":[4631,66,207,4629,513],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.1 - 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