Daily Questions

We recently bought The Earned Life, a documentary film about Marshall Goldsmith, starring Goldsmith himself. (The film shares the same name as Marshall’s latest book.)

The movie begins with Marshall answering a call from Yasmin, his accountability assistant. Over the phone, Yasmin asks Marshall:

— Hello Yasmin.

— Good morning, Marshall. How are you today?

— Life is good.

— Wonderful. How many steps?

— 10,344.

— How many push-ups?

— Ah, 2.

— How many sit-ups?

— 50.

Did you do your best to be happy?

— 10.

Did you set clear goals?

— 10 on setting goals.

(… the conversation goes on.)

This is what Marshall Goldsmith calls “The Daily Questions”. The daily questions, says Marshall, reinforce our commitment, and ignite our motivation where we need it, not where we don’t. They shrink our goals into manageable increments.

This act of self-questioning changes everything and can be the difference between just having good intentions and making actual progress. Use a set of questions that helps you become the person you want to be. This practice, of course, may go back hundreds of years into the past.

Accountability is a progress booster. So Marshall also hired an accountability assistant to call him each day and ask him these questions. That’s what we are seeing at the beginning of the movie.