Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life: How to Unlock Your Full Potential for Success and Achievement

ASK FOCUSED QUESTIONS
The third way to activate your creativity is by asking 
focused ques-
tions
. Well-worded, focused, provocative, challenging questions acti-
vate your mind and stimulate your thinking. The very best
consultants often describe themselves as “insultants.” They don’t
give answers. They instead force their clients to ask and answer
tough questions.
To trigger your own creativity, you have to ask yourself some
tough questions as well, and then question your answers.
Remember zero-based thinking? Keep asking yourself, “If I
were not now doing this, would I start it over again today knowing
what I now know?”You will be amazed at how creative you become
when you examine every aspect of your life as though you could
choose to start it again, if you wanted to, based on your present
knowledge and experience.
Often, the answer to your biggest dilemma is simply to 
discon-
tinue
an activity altogether. If it’s not working out, sometimes the
smartest thing you can do is to simply abandon a particular course
of action. Always ask,
“What is the simplest and most direct solution to
this problem?”