What Would Happen If You Did?

I felt trapped. Why can't I do anything? Why can't I do anything tangible?

Everyone seemed to be fine. You see, both of my friends can work hard and grow at the same time.

Not me.

I felt trapped.

Every day when I got home from work I was just tired. I had no energy to learn my Mandarin Chinese (my long-term project) or to run in the nearby forest. All my energy put into work I did not enjoy so much.

I just knew I could get a lot out of life. What I really wanted to do was spend time on my own career - doing what I loved most. Yes, for me, the only way I could change my reality was to change my priorities - to put my life before work.

But how? How do you do that?

In practice, the only real solution I could find was to get up early. Indeed, there is still time. That way I would be able to pour all my new energy into what is most important to me.

But I can't do that. It's crazy, isn't it? That could change my whole life course. It simply does not fit in with the rest of the world.

So I decided it was crazy and went on with my life. Until one day when I talked to my colleagues. We got to the topic and after a while he asked me ...

“What would happen if you did?”

I was silent.

“Yes, what would really happen if I did that?” I was thinking.

He continued the same way and said: "What would not happen if you did that?"

I was silent again. I was thinking.

In fact, I could see only good things happening in my life. Previously, I didn’t even have the courage to actually get out of the problem box and see what decisions I had.

This question broadened my view of the world and literally changed my life. I was no longer so busy. And I realized that I was so focused on the problem that I couldn't see anything else.

I think you can understand those few moments in life when we are finally able to see something as it really is. It doesn't have to happen with a big life-changing question. Sometimes a simple question is enough.

So by focusing on solving my problem I have tried, waking up early in the morning. And you see, when I do something, I like to do it a lot. So I set myself the goal of getting up at 4:00 am each morning.

That would give you more than three hours to do whatever I want with a new mind and a relaxed body. I hope so.

Now, I don’t want you to think it’s so easy to “change the time zone” and get up in the morning, but in the right sense anyone can.

To me, it was a question that made everything happen. A question that changed my life.

I think the main reason this question helped me is because I was so honest with myself. There are so many things that can happen (or at least not happen) if I do. At the same time, I realized that none of this was going to happen unless I took it.

For example, I will be able to…

Finally start that website of mine.

Maintain a routine of daily exercise without distractions.

Prepare a love breakfast for my fiancée, at least once in a while 😉

Reduce my life by having a few things “under my belt” where work begins

Take a big step forward in my Chinese studies

And most importantly, I will be able to…

Set the direction of my life, instead of just leading a street life it takes me.

And before I tell you whether all of this really happened, let's dig deeper into those questions.

Explained Question

I have found that the question I mentioned above can be part of a larger pattern. You see, there are four other ways you can use this question:

What would happen if you did?

What will happen if you don't?

What would happen if you did that?

What would happen if you didn't do it?

I like to think that these questions are ranked as four quadrants in the matrix. Usually, we are all stuck in the quadrant "What would happen if you didn't do it?" - focused on the problem at hand.

That's all three other questions that help us do it to move ourselves from there to the other quadrants. You may be able to discover that these new quadrants lead to new plans and new insights.

Is that not strong?

I mean, if you can think of a problem or a difficult situation in your life, you will be able to come out stronger on the other side after using these questions. You can, can't you?

At least I have found that by asking myself open and solid questions I was able to open up my life to more and more opportunities. Asking questions is just the beginning, but often the moment to find the momentum is the biggest challenge we face.

I therefore urge everyone to ask themselves this question as soon as they find themselves trapped. It has helped me in one situation and it continues to increase my view of the world every day.

Does It Really Work?

It is not a question of magic. But with the intention of giving me some new ways to live my life, it has definitely worked well. You see, those things that I said before would happen if I did, that was more than just an ice berg.

In fact, I wrote down three complete, handwritten pages about how my life could change. And that has been my main source of motivation ever since.

I understand when you hear that being a person who wakes up prematurely is not a critical change in life and that I didn’t have a really hard problem to begin with. If so, I encourage you to use this question on major issues regularly.

Use it to make real changes in your life.

At least I put my life before work these days and I feel like I’m accomplishing something for myself, every day. That is the question that helped me to do it.