10 Questions That Will Improve Results in Any Area

The only foolish question is the one that was never asked!

When you begin any project, are trying to make a change in your life, or are faced with a difficult undertaking, the best way to improve your result is to ask the important questions first. If you are working as part of a team, some questions may need to be asked of others. When working towards an individual goal, you will be the one giving the answers.

Ask, ask, ask — until you’re confident that you have a firm understanding. Don’t wait until you’re stuck and spinning your wheels. Ask the questions and find the answers first!

Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers. – Anthony Robbins

Why am I doing this?

It’s important to understand the reason behind anything you undertake. Whether it’s a goal, task, habit, or project, “why am I doing this?” should be the first question you ask yourself. Understanding the reason behind the actions can be a tremendous motivator.

What is the desired outcome?

Without being clear about the desired result, you can’t plan how to get there. Identify what you’re trying to accomplish and exactly what that will look like. Clarity is key. Vague targets are rarely attained. Defined and tangible objectives have much greater success.

When is the deadline and are there periodic checkpoints?

Know when the action or project needs to be complete. Be aware of any phases or interim deadlines along the way. If you know how much time you have to work with, you can better plan backwards and set aside the necessary amount of time.

What is my role?

Understanding your role is crucial. Are you the leader or a worker bee? Are you a researcher or a communicator? Are you a team coordinator or planner? It’s important to know which role you play so you can align your actions. If it is an individual undertaking, then you are most likely all of the above.

Who is responsible or accountable for which tasks or projects?

This is related your role, but in a more specific and tangible way. Determine which specific tasks you are personally responsible for. Know who maintains accountability. Perhaps you are the one whom others are accountable. Define your responsibilities.

Do I have metrics or some form of measurement?

Establish a measurement of success, so that progress can be determined. If metrics are set by someone else, know what they are and if there is any flexibility.

What are the possible roadblocks or obstacles?

We almost always encounter snags along the way to completion. However, difficulties can more easily be overcome if we can prepare for them. It’s not always possible to prepare, complications by their very nature, are frequently unforeseen, but if you at least try to anticipate potential setbacks, they can often be resolved quickly.

What are the available resources?

Be aware of what resources are available. Be cognizant of the number of people involved or accessible to you and their skills. Be honest about the amount of time that can be committed. Also, understand if there are financial constraints.

How important is this project or task?

The importance of any goal or project determines how much attention and effort it deserves. Higher priority items get moved to the top of the list, while less crucial tasks can often be pushed back. If a project affects the profitability of a business or the health and well-being of an individual, it usually gets top priority.

What can I do to be more effective?

Develop strategies to help you be more efficient and productive. Improve the quality of your work by utilizing useful and  effective tools. Better organizational skills greatly enhance effectiveness. Learn to be resourceful.

Asking questions is a valuable tool in every area of business and life. This often-overlooked strategy can make the difference between success and failure. When we get clear about what we are trying to accomplish and why, we have a much better chance of attaining the desired result. Likewise, when we align our actions with what is expected of us, we can better meet our responsibilities. Finally, if we plan and prepare we can best utilize the skills and resources available to us to achieve the most success.

How to Improve Your Night Driving [Video]

Driving at night is always a bit difficult, but now that Daylight Savings Time has kicked in, it's also a pain to drive in the morning. Even if you're not tired, the road starts playing tricks on you and after a couple of hours you might start seeing a mirage in the brake lights of the semi truck you've been following for 100 miles. Thankfully, with a few slight modifications to your car and some old driving tricks you can make driving at night a more enjoyable experience.

Not a whole lot of advancements have been made to make night driving any less cumbersome. Those yellow night driving glasses you've likely heard about? According to at least one study in the book Forensic Aspects of Vision and Highway Safety, they don't enhance your ability to see at night. However, you can do a few routine things to your car to make the night driving experience far better than a pair of sunglasses can.

If you do a lot of night driving or you're gearing up for a big road trip, taking a few preventative measure before you hit the road will ensure your trip is a good one. Here's a few ways to fix your car up to make night driving better.

 Over time your headlights get a little out of whack and you need to adjust them so they're pointing the correct way. Badly aimed headlights can blind oncoming drivers, cause reflections to distort your vision of the road, and make it harder to see in rain or snow. It's a pretty simple process to adjust your headlight aim (detailed in the video to the left) and once you do it can make driving at night significantly easier. You only need to check your headlight aim about once a year, but it's worth it.

Over the years your headlights start to get a yellowish fog or haze around them. As you'd expect, cleaning your headlights increases the amount of light that gets through and makes it easier to see at night. You can pay about $15 for a cleaning and polishing kit from any auto parts store or you can use sandpaper and polish or toothpaste. On severely fogged up headlights the difference in the light that gets through after a good cleaning is pretty incredible.

You also want to make sure your windshield is clean. It might seem like common sense, but having a clean windshield makes a huge difference in night driving. It's not just the outside of the windshield. Clean the inside as well. Chances are, you've touched the windshield with your hand when wiping away condensation in the winter or a little water has just pooled up. When the windshield is a bit smeared, it creates a halo-effect around lights and makes it difficult to see (if you wear eyeglasses you've likely noticed the same thing when they're covered in fingerprints).

Most of us know you can flip your interior mirror to reduce the glare from headlights behind you, but you can do the same for your side mirrors as well. We've shown you how to properly adjust your mirrors before, but if you're doing a lot of night driving with cars behind you, it doesn't hurt to angle your driver side mirror slightly down. This means you have to lean forward a bit to get a good view when changing lanes, but it also makes it so the car behind you isn't blinding you as you drive.

Once your car is set up properly for a night time drive you still have to actually drive the car. Everyone has a decreased vision capacity at night, but it's possible to correct for common night driving problems by remembering a few simple tips.

This is an old tip that's seemingly been around since cars first had headlights, but it's still a notable one. Just like you're not supposed to stare at the sun, do not stare at oncoming traffic. If you're on a wide open road, it's easy to keep your eyes straight ahead, but if you're on a winding mountain path, look down and to the right at the white line on the side of the road. This keeps you driving on the road and prevents your eyes from getting flashed by the oncoming traffic. It's a life saver when the oncoming traffic doesn't turn their brights off in time. Photo by peter castleton.

After driving for a while, it's easy to get locked into that nearly zen-like state of staring blankly at the road. This is probably what causes those little illusions where it seems like the road is moving. While it's not easy to find other things to look at when you're driving through, say, the heart of Kansas, most roads have other things you can look at along the way. Keep your eyes moving and look at as many other things as you can in the dark while still keeping them on the road. This prevents your eyes from getting fatigued. It's the same basic idea as the 20-20-20 rule for computer eye strain.

If your car has a dimmer for the console lights, lower the light level as low as it can go with you still being able to see your speed. This decreases the glare off your windshield and makes it easier for your eyes to maintain focus on the road. If all else fails, crack open the window a bit. If you're staring too long your eyes will start to water and force you to move them around.

Just because you're now an awesome night time driver doesn't mean everyone else is. Pull back from your usual following distance to create a little extra room when you're driving behind someone. Not only does this help ensure you don't go crashing into them if they slam on their brakes, it also means you won't be blinding them with your headlights as you drive. If you're driving down a mountain, pull back even further because your headlights are essentially at eye level and directly in the car in front's rear view mirror.

Driving at night is never particularly fun, but you can make it a better experience pretty easily. Have any tips of your own for avoiding the glare of oncoming headlights or forcing your brain into comprehending the road better? Share them in the comments.

Title photo by Yuya Tamai.