[00:00:00] Chad:   Hey, Chad here coming to you over the digital airwaves on the 1% Better Podcast.  

[00:00:11] There’s a question that I've added into my repertoire this year that has done more to improve the quality of my conversations than any other tool I've picked up and that question came to me through Blair Enns at Win Without Pitching. But the origin is [00:00:30] from Dan Sullivan, a strategic coach. So a huge hat tip to both of them for introducing me to this question and I'm just going to ask the question of you, The Listener, and then discuss why it's been such a powerful tool.

[00:00:46] So imagine that we're catching up three years from today over coffee and you're looking back over those three years to today. What has [00:01:00] happened both personally and professionally for you to feel so happy about your progress?

[00:01:05] And then I just listen.  What this question does is cuts through so much of the I call it head junk get right to the heart of the matter, which is you know, what is it that you need both personally and professionally to be happy and I think happy is an interesting quality because it's very subjective.

[00:01:29] But I think it also [00:01:30] elicits really powerful responses in people. And I think it's important to both ask personally and professionally in both context. So if I'm catching up with a friend, it be interesting for them to share about their professional goals and aspirations because I might be able to help them through my network and vice versa in a professional setting,

[00:01:50]I think it's really important to ask about the personal side because often our deepest motivations and needs and wants at work, stem from things in our personal lives, [00:02:00] whether that's like, you know, what we're passionate about and interested in doing, or you know, how we want to create a professional life that supports our personal lives as well. And there's some really fantastic follow-up questions that you can get. If you read the book around, you know, what obstacles stand in your way what opportunities are there that we can capitalize on but just simply asking this question has unlocked so many interesting conversations for me.

[00:02:26] As far as I know this is one of the things that [00:02:30] launched Dan Sullivan's career in the 70's coaching executives and corporations with this question. And kind of driving his whole strategic approach to coaching.  And If you find yourself in a situation where you're catching up with someone or you know taking a potential client meeting, ask this question. You can kind of tailored to your needs. So changed it a little bit like, you know, imagine if we're catching up over coffee two [00:03:00] years from today.

[00:03:00] You can say three years from today, but wouldn't change the wording very much because I actually think sticking to the script is quite effective and the most important follow-up to this is you just need to be quiet and listen. I've often had people spend 5 10 even 15 minutes responding to this question without any follow-ups and it's an invitation for people to really open up and share not only what's on their mind but things that are standing in their way to achieving [00:03:30] their goals and maybe touching upon some of the opportunities that they see in order to reach those goals.

[00:03:37] So I've used this question both in my personal and professional life to great success. And again wanted to say thank you to Dan Sullivan for sharing this question and making it, you know, freely available to all of if you're even more curious about how to use it and some of the follow-up questions, I would encourage you to get the book on Amazon. And [00:04:00] there's a lot of great free resources on Strategic Coach as well.

[00:04:03] I know that Dan publishes a book at least every quarter that talks about all of the methodologies and tools that he uses in his training program. I would love to hear the results of all of you asking this question to people whether that's in your personal or professional life, and I'm curious what kind of answers and results you get from asking this question, You can always share with me by texting or calling [00:04:30] nine one seven nine seven one three seven three seven. I hope this question proves is useful to use it has for me and as always thank you for sharing.