The 8 Most Important Questions You’ll Ever Ask

- by Frank F. Lunn

You're enjoying a perfectly trivial conversation with a good friend over coffee, discussing your oldest child's latest broken bone fiasco and how long it takes you to drive across town with the traffic these days, when out of nowhere he asks, "Do you ever wonder where all this day to day will lead? What are your goals in life?"

Stop now and answer this one question: Do you have an overall blueprint for your life? In detail with a complete list of goals including the action steps necessary to achieve them? Chances are you are not completely able to answer yes. You may have a decent idea of what your life is about and might be able to name off some wants and desires, but most likely you do not have a blueprint for your life.

So sit down with a blank piece of paper and a pencil and write down your goals, all your greatest desires and how you will achieve them. It took me about an hour's time to realize that it is nearly impossible to pull goals out of thin air, but if you begin with a few prompting questions they seem to come faster than your pencil can write.

All you really need is to be asked specifically where you want to go and how you plan to get there. Here are some questions to get you started. We are going to start at the beginning of the road to success by learning how to identify our goals.

Family
Do you want to be a spouse and parent? If so, how are you going to do this well? What kind of relationship do you want with your spouse, your children and other family members?

Financial
How much money do you want to earn at various stages of your life? What planning is required in order to accumulate wealth, use it wisely and share the benefits with those you choose?

Career
What is your chosen vocation? What level do you want to reach in your career? by when?

Community Service
Do you want to help make the world a better place? If so, how?

Creative
Do you want to achieve any creative goals? If so, in what artistic pursuit?

Education
Is there any knowledge you want to acquire in particular? What information and skills will you need to achieve your other goals?

Physical
Are there any fitness and sporting goals you want to achieve? What steps are you going to take to achieve this?

Recreation
How do you want to enjoy yourself? Are there any interests, hobbies, pastimes or social activities in which you want to be involved?

Frank F. Lunn is an expert in leadership, marketing and small business entrepreneurship. Frank is the author of Stack the Logs! - Building a Success Framework to Reach Your Dreams and "Carpe Aqualis!" Seize the Wave - 7 Essential Surfing Skills to Revolutionize Your Business and Personal Life. Please visit KahunaPower.com to find additional motivating articles and success building tips by Frank. 

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