Are You Asking Yourself the Right Questions?

by Cara Lumen

Every quarter I take time for a look around to see what’s working – and what’s not. And I ask myself some questions that help me decide what I want to do. Am I having a good time doing it? Is it getting results? What is missing in my life? What is the project I’ve been putting off that is perfect to do right now? How can I think bigger? Do I want to grow bigger or am I the right size for a healthy balance right now? Asking yourself the right questions will help you clarify your desires and make the right choices for this point in your life.

What do your emotions tell you?

We’re living our lives because we have a gift to give – an idea to share – someone to inspire. We are hopefully following our passion as we make our choices. How do you feel at the start of your day? Are you excited? Or would you rather go back to bed? When you are aligned with your passion you will go charging off into your day with enthusiasm and full commitment. If you are not aligned you will know it – it’s simply not as much fun.

Let your emotions be your barometer. How do you feel when you are around that person, or working in that group? Fire some friends if necessary; get new ones that will support you in the direction you are moving. You deserve it. Make yourself happy by your choices.

See what is needed and how it is looked for

I had an interesting insight from something my friend Sharon Sayler www.sharonsayler.com said. She suggested I write down the words the people used on Google to find the type of services I offer. I’m Your Idea Optimizer and I help you organize and focus your ideas into products and content that inspire and motivate people in your chosen community. But guess what, no one is going to go type in “organize my ideas” when they search on Google. So I have to get clear what they are looking for and what problem I will solve for them.

I think the people who will want what I have to offer have a lot of great ideas and 1) are bouncing around from one to another because they don’t know how to choose the best one and 2) they know a lot and want to teach it to others. So their problem is they don’t know where to start and how to select the best ideas for each project. So words like “great content” or “information products” express their need.

See what your target community needs that you offer and how they search for it on Google. Then adjust your content to reflect those phrases.

Identify how to communicate what you do

In all my content, my landing pages, my information products, I need to find words that help my target community identify with a problem I fix and to emotionally appeal to them so they come check out what I offer. What questions will they ask? What words will they look for to identify their need?

In my case, someone may search on “how to create information products.” Or “how to make money on the internet”. Or “how to write good content for my blog.” What you type into Google determines the accuracy of your search results just as the questions you ask yourself about what you offer and why you offer it determine the success of your content.

Decide what you want to offer – then offer it

You can’t be all things to all people. You have to choose. My problem is that I can help a lot of people do a lot of different things and that’s too broad a niche. I need to choose. I need to look at my passion and see what makes my heart sing. For me it’s writing – organizing ideas into content that enlightens and motivates and changes lives. That makes my choices very clear. I focus my services and products around helping people organize their ideas into meaningful content.

Asking yourself the right questions will clarify your focus. It will help you change direction or keep going the way you are. Make a list of questions you can ask yourself that will make you weigh and consider every choice, that will help you identify your passion and help you follow it, and will make certain the people you are meant to serve know what you can do for them.

Getting the answers to the right questions will keep you in touch with your passion and guide you on a rewarding journey of service.

2010 Cara Lumen