If someone asked me to describe in four simple words how they could achieve wealth, health, and happiness, my answer would be easy: ask the right questions for success.  When we ask ourselves good questions, it leads us to make better decisions as to where and how to spend our time.  When we fail to ask the right questions, we can easily fall prey to mechanical routines, other people’s goals, and a life of unhappiness.  When it comes to taking charge of your time and your life, asking the right questions can be the answer you’ve been looking for.

I created a list of five questions that seemed the most valuable in gently guiding people back to the life they truly desired.  I have found that answering these questions once a month can be an amazingly efficient way to create the life you really want. When answering these questions, it’s best to say your answers out loud to a mate, friend, or co-worker. Another option is to write down what you have to say in a journal.  Somehow, saying the answers out loud or writing things down has more impact than simply thinking them in your head.

For each of the five questions that follow, I give a brief description of why it can be useful to ask yourself—or those you love—this question once a month.

1) What can I do this week to bring more fun and/or meaning into my life?

As adults, most of us get lost in daily routines, problems, and plans.  Yet, as children, life was very different.  We’re not born into this world as planners and problems solvers, but rather as bundles of playful energy.  This question can help remind you to schedule something each week to bring fun and/or meaning into your life.  It will help provoke your thinking as to what you currently find fun or meaningful, and help you keep these things as priorities in your life

2) What could I feel grateful for in my life?

This may seem like a strange question to get your life in order, but it’s important to remember what is going great in your life.  If you focus only on what’s wrong with your life, you’ll always be thinking about problems.  Part of living a successful life means focusing on what’s going well, and feeling grateful for how blessed you are.

3) How can I use the gifts I’ve been given to better serve people?

If you want to make a lot of money, get good at giving people what they want.  If you want love, become skillful at caring for people.   Whatever you want in life, you can receive it by becoming good at serving people.  This question will help you to consistently ponder how you can do this more effectively.

4) Is there anything I’m doing that is hurting myself, other people, or steering me off course?

When planes fly to a destination, they are of course over 90% of the time.  However, they almost constantly correct their course, so they end up where they’re supposed to be.  We need to do likewise.  When people make mistakes, they often spend a lot of time in blame, self-pity, or distraction.  That just makes matters worse. Instead, what we need to do is quickly realized when we’re off course, and immediately take the actions necessary to get back on track

5) What would be good to do to create more balance, harmony or growth in my life?

To answer this question, it helps to access your intuition, or still, small voice inside.  Perhaps there has been something you’ve been avoiding, and this question will help you realize it’s time to move forward.  Whenever possible, try to be specific with your answer and the new action(s) you plan to take.  Insights are helpful, but only changes in actual behavior are likely to lead to the results you desire.

These five questions are an easy, quick, and powerful way to gain important insights that will help you to plan your time wisely.  Rather than waiting until a problem is big, these questions will help you to handle things when they’re small and easily handled.  By writing your answers in a journal, or taking turns answering these questions with a friend, you can help each other create the life you truly desire.