[MUSIC]
I'm now going to teach you a process that takes about two minutes a day, costs
absolutely nothing... And
it's going to help you get better at...almost anything.
You might be a little skeptical right now. Two minutes a day? Costs nothing?
Help me get better at almost anything? Well, that sounds too good to be true!
I'm going to make a second prediction. Half of the people I teach this to,
you're going to quit doing this within two weeks--and you will not quit doing
it because it does not work. You will quit doing it because it does work.
You see, what I'm going to teach you next is incredibly easy to understand.
It's just incredibly difficult to do. This is called the daily question process. Now,
how does this work? Here's what I want you to do. I want you to get out an Excel
spreadsheet. On one column, I want you to write a list of questions--questions
that represent what is most important in your life. It could be friends, family,
colleagues... Every question must be answered with a yes, a no, or a number.
A yes is recorded as 1, a no is recorded as a 0,
or a number, whatever that number is. And then seven boxes across, one for
every day of the week--Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
Sunday. Fill it out every day. And at the end of the week, that Excel
spreadsheet will give you a little report card. I've been doing this for years, and
let me warn you... That report card at the end of the week might not be quite
as pretty as that corporate values plaque you've got stuck up there on the wall.
When you do this every day, you know what you learn very quickly?
Life is real easy to...talk. Life is real
difficult to...live. Now, I'm going to share some of my daily questions.
Mine are not intended to be yours. The idea of this exercise is,
you write your own questions every day. For example,
what is one of my questions every day? How many times yesterday did
you try to prove that you were right when it was not worth it?
I've almost never scored a zero in my whole life. Kind of hard for
that old professor not to be right all the time. How many angry or
destructive comments did you make about people yesterday? Well,
if I want to be a good person, why am I stabbing people in the back? How many
minutes did you walk? How many push-ups did you do? How many sit-ups did you do?
Did you say or do something nice for your wife? Did you say or do something nice for
your son, for your daughter, for your son-in-law, for your grandkids?
How many minutes did you write? Well, a friend of mine, Jim Moore,
has been doing this for years. And when he began doing it, one of his daily questions
was: Are you currently updated on your physical examination?
The first 90 days he did this, he said no, every day for 90 days. No, no, no...
After 90 days he said, This is embarrassing. It's embarrassing.
I've got to get the dumb exam or quit asking the question...
It's embarrassing. He got the dumb exam. What did the doctor say?
You have cancer. Now, he's going to be fine, that was many years ago...
The doctor also said, Had you waited seven more months, you would be dead.
He knew he should've got a physical exam, he's not a stupid man.
Chief learning officer of three multi-billion dollar companies...
He knew he should've done it, but he didn't do it. In my classes,
I ask people, How many of you have ever put off getting a physical exam before,
and told yourself, I'm getting that exam after I go on my healthy food style...
I'm getting that exam after I begin my exercise program...
Pretty much half the class raises their hand, and
then I say, Did you really trick the doctor with that strategy? Well,
I was teaching at the University of Michigan, this guy raised his hand.
I said, Sir, did you trick the doctor with that strategy?
He looked at me and goes, I am the doctor. [LAUGH]
Well, why don't we ask these questions?
We're afraid of the answers. If you have the courage to write down the behavior
that's most important in your life, and the discipline to do this every day,
you're going to get a lot better. Now, I pay a woman named Kate to
call me on the phone every day. She called me today. She's going to call me tomorrow.
She called me yesterday. She calls me every day.
Every day she listens to me read these questions that I wrote and
provide the answers that I wrote every day. Now, someone asked me,
Why do you pay a woman to call you on the phone every day? Don't you know the theory
about how to change behavior? I wrote the theory about how to change behavior.
That's why I pay a woman to call me every day. I know how hard this is.
I have over 12 million frequent flyer miles just on American Airlines.
That's an excuse to be a bad father, a bad husband, out of shape...
How many excuses do I get with the 12 million miles? Many excuses...
Excuses don't help. It's hard for me, it's hard for you, and it's hard for
all of us. Why do I pay a woman named Kate to call me on the phone every day,
just to listen to me read questions I wrote, and provide answers I wrote?
My name is Marshall Goldsmith--and the world's top-ranked executive coach.
I am too cowardly to do this on my own, and
too undisciplined to do this on my own. Why do I pay someone to
call me on the phone every day? My name is Marshall Goldsmith, I need help, and
it's okay. Now, let me help you. Next steps... Get out that Excel spreadsheet.
Write down those questions. Every day test yourself. If you have the courage and
discipline to do this on your own every day, knock yourself out, do it.
If you notice that you're quitting, you make excuses like, I got too busy,
I didn't have time... It takes two minutes a day. You aren't too busy.
I got bored. You didn't get bored. Why did you quit? It's hard to
face the reality of our own lives every day. If you have the courage and
discipline to do this by yourself, do it. If you do not have the courage and
discipline to do this by yourself--which most of us don't, like me--get
somebody else to help you. And get over that shame and pride thing, and say, Hey,
I need help. It's okay. It's okay. If you try this,
you're going to find out it will help you get better at just about anything.
And it doesn't take a lot of time... It just takes a lot of courage.
[MUSIC]