I’ve heard versions of this question from different sources. I like it because it makes you think, not just about what you want but the prerequisites for making it so.
“What would have to be true for me to double my referrals this year,“ for example.
What conditions would have to be in place? What additional skills, knowledge, or contacts would you have to acquire? What would you have to do?
A question like this can lead you to new insights, ideas to research, and projects to get to work on.
It will also make you think about things you know but haven’t thought about or done.
You can take it deeper. If you said you would need to have more referral sources to double your referrals, you might then ask, “What would have to be true in order to get more clients and professional contacts to send me more business?“
You might get even better answers by making the question more specific: “What would have to be true in order to get 50% of my clients to send me 1 additional referral this year?”
You can use this approach for any goal. “If I wanted to work a 4-day week and continue to earn what I now earn, what would have to be true?“ for example.
You can also ask follow-up questions: “If [that] was true, what else would need to be true?“
The key to these types of questions is that they are assumptive. When you ask this way, you direct your subconscious mind to look for the answer you’ve told it is there. It will keep looking until it finds it.
Choose a subject. Phrase the question any way you like, as long as it assumes a favorable response. Write down the ideas that come to mind.
Any of these ideas might be the precise idea you need to make your goal come true.
How to get your clients to send you more referrals
