Often the difference between ordinary and extraordinary lies at the other end of a question.  In other words, you just need to ask for what you really want.

The trouble is we either don’t ask at all or we ask the wrong questions.

Asking the right questions can transform your life in just about any area.  It works in your marriage, your career, your spiritual life, your finances, your free time and even your health.

Three Questions for an Extraordinary Life

An extraordinary life is like a chair on a gorgeous beach.  It is just sitting there waiting for you to come and occupy it.  It is all yours.  All you have to do is claim it.  Don’t you want it?

If you do, then find out how to move yourself from where you are to that place where you want to be.

Of course, you’ve got to define a clear vision of exactly what you want first, but once you know, start moving towards it.

How do you do this?  Well, when you aren’t sure what to do, I think one fantastic way to get going is to start asking some powerful questions.  Questions that will take you toward what you want and illuminate the path ahead for you.

Here are three questions that will help you achieve an extraordinary life:

1.  What would have to happen for me to get <what I desire>?

Everything is possible.  You just need someone to say ‘yes’ to what you want.  What will it take for you to get that ‘yes’?  I suggest you start asking to find out.

Be specific when you ask.  Again, this means you have to know precisely what you want first.  I hope you’ve already defined that.  If so, then start asking for it specifically.  Let me give you a few examples:

• Honey, what would have to happen for me to get you to wash the dishes every night after dinner?
• Boss, what would have to happen for me to get a $400 per month raise?
• Prospect, what would have to happen for me to get you to sign the contract before next month?
• Investor, what would have to happen for you to put $10,000 into my business venture?
• Sales Manager, what would have to happen for you to pay my way to Hawaii for a week?
• Family, what would have to happen for you to live on a budget so we can pay off our debt?

Again, you are trying to uncover exactly what it will take for you to get what you want.  The person you ask may be a little flabbergasted at first by your question because so few people ask, be gentle and persistent.  If you are, then it is likely that the person that holds the keys to your future will tell you exactly what you need to do to get what you desire.

You may not like their answer, but you will know their terms.  It then becomes up to you.  How bad do you want it?  Are you willing to do what it will take?  Those that successfully reach their goals will find a way.

Remember, an extraordinary life is in the eye of the beholder.  How you define what you want is specific to you.  Don’t let anyone else try to define it for you or sway you off track.  Be clear and specific.

2.  How do you see me limiting myself?

Feedback is as valuable as gold.  It tells you what you can’t see for yourself.  It removes the blind spots that are holding you back from an extraordinary life.  The trouble is people usually don’t give us honest feedback if we ask for it because they are afraid of our reaction.

One way to handle this is to simply ask for feedback in a different way.  Asking, “How do you see me limiting myself?” is different.  It implies that you are interested in learning to improve.  This may be enough to get the other person to open up a bit.  Such feedback can be very enlightening and used wisely it can totally transform your life from ordinary to extraordinary.

Of course, you need to accept whatever feedback you get without arguing, getting angry or withdrawing.  Listen to what the person has to say and thank them for their honesty.  Tell them that you need to think about what they’ve said and digest it a little, but that you will try to implement their advice.

Ask enough people this question and you will have a goldmine of information that you can use to create an extraordinary life!

3.  What one simple action can I take today to move towards my ideal situation?

The final question is one that you need to ask yourself.  Gathering the information from the two questions above and then not acting upon it is fruitless.  It won’t get you anywhere.

You have to act in order to achieve an extraordinary life.  How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.  How do you accomplish a big dream?  One small baby step at a time.

Every large accomplishment is made up of a series of small action steps strung together all aimed towards one distinct goal.  What one little baby step can you take today to move you towards your ideal situation?

It could be as simple as:

• Making a phone call to a new prospect.
• Scheduling a meeting with your boss to discuss your future.
• Researching ways to start a personal finance budget.
• Starting a savings plan for the down payment on your new house
• Talking heart-to-heart with your spouse about the state of your marriage.

You’ve got to learn to stop procrastinating and start doing what it takes if you want an extraordinary life.  Doing one small thing every day will get you there.  It might take awhile, but doing nothing gets you nowhere.  A year from now you can either be right where you are today or 365 steps closer to your dream.  Which do you choose?

These Questions Can Make Your Life Extraordinary

Remember that chair on that beautiful beach?  Look at the picture at the top of this article again.  Don’t you want to sit in that chair?  Doesn’t it have your name written all over it?  Using the questions I’ve presented here today you can claim that proverbial chair for yourself.  You can transform your life from ordinary to extraordinary.  What are you waiting for?

This article was inspired by what I’ve been reading in The Success Principles by Jack Canfield.  His book is my featured resource for Super-Charged Living right now.  Check it out!

 Photo by muha

Get ready for extraordinary!  It is time to kick what doesn’t work out the door so you can start living the best life possible.

A great life is available to everyone.  It is just a matter of embracing the right things to get the results you desire.

How do you find the right things?  First, you need good information.  This can be daunting because of the sheer volume of material out there in books, on blogs and in the media.

The good news is that a new network of bloggers is on the scene to help you!  We have banded together to offer you great advice in the most critical areas of life.  I’m convinced these sites really will help you to transform your life from ordinary to extraordinary!

Pack Up The Ordinary and Move On to Extraordinary

Kick ordinary out of your life!  Ordinary won’t take you to the next level.  It won’t help you to live life to its absolute fullest.  Ordinary is broke, lazy and dysfunctional.

It is time to wrap your arms around the extraordinary in your finances, your relationships, your family, your career and everything that matters the most to you in life.

I’m extremely excited because I firmly believe the Extraordinary Life Network will do this and more for you.  All you’ve got to do is follow our sites.

The blog sites that have come together to move your life from ordinary to extraordinary include:

(sites appear in alphabetical order)

1.  Enemy of Debt

Brad Chaffee provides motivational money management to inspire financial discipline at Enemy of Debt.  I think Brad provides some fantastic personal finance advice on his site.  I especially like his commitment to total freedom from debt.  Brad will not lead you wrong!

Here are a couple of Brad’s articles that you might enjoy:

• 12 Steps To Debt Freedom
• Your Comfort Zone – Is It Really Your Friend Or Actually Your Foe?

2.  Engaged Marriage

Dustin Riechmann writes candid marriage advice for today’s active couples at Engaged Marriage.  Dustin aims to fill a gap in information geared toward younger couples working through the critical early years of marriage.  I think Dustin’s advice can benefit anyone in a serious relationship! 

Here are a couple of Dustin’s articles that you might enjoy:

• Take 15 Minutes Each Day to Just be a Couple
• Fight Fair!  6 Simple Conflict Resolution Skills for Your Marriage

3.  Mama Notes

Samantha Mellen is a wife and stay-at-home-mom.  Mama Notes is a parenting resource and a journal of Samantha’s experiences during motherhood.  Samantha’s site is also the home to the Body After Baby challenge that supports women in their effort to get fit and healthy again after having children. 

Here are a couple of Samantha’s articles that you might enjoy:

• 8 Tips for Moms to Function at Your Best
• Are You Talking to Your Kids Enough?

4.  The Wisdom Journal

Ron Haynes is a long-time blogging friend.  He and I have been members of the Life Skills Network since its inception.  Ron helps his readers at The Wisdom Journal to make wise choices, improve their finances and achieve a better life.  He doesn’t claim to be wise, but I know better!

Here are a couple of Ron’s articles that you might enjoy:

• Insurance Potholes – Where Are the Gaps In Your Coverage?
• 10 Critical Money Management Skills Your Children Need You To Teach Them

5.  My Super-Charged Life

Of course, my site rounds out this group.  I’m honored to have you read what I write about living life to the fullest!  It is a journey that never grows old for me.  I hope you’ll come along and see where life will take us.  This band of bloggers represents another chapter in my quest to live an extraordinary life!

Here are a couple of my articles that you might enjoy:

• Smart Living: A Deep Look Into Living Life to the Fullest
• 17 Good Habits For A Successful Life

Join Us and Make the Ordinary Obsolete in Your Life

I hope you’ll visit each of these great blog sites and subscribe to receive our articles for free.  You can also visit the Extraordinary Life Network site where you can subscribe to all our articles in one place.

I completely believe that these authors can help you take your life from ordinary to extraordinary!  Won’t you join us?

What do you think of our new network?  Please leave me a comment and let me know.

The ELN logo that appears above was done by Brad Chaffee at Enemy of Debt.  Thanks Brad!

I believe every one of us has the ability to transform our lives from ordinary to extraordinary!  I really do.  It is 100% available to you if you’ll just believe it and go for it.

The thing that gets us off track is our expectations.  Often the extraordinary life available to us doesn’t look exactly like what we imagined.  Therefore, we derail our own transformation by clinging to incorrect expectations.

However, I know a way around this and it is very easy to implement!

The 3 steps to transform your life from ordinary to extraordinary

It is much easier to accomplish anything in life when you have some basic steps to follow.  Therefore, I’ve laid out a recipe of sorts to help you transform your life from ordinary to extraordinary very easily.

Yes, it will take some time and a little effort, but it is absolutely worth it!  Why live another day without really living life to the fullest?  Why not give this a try just to see what happens?

I think you’ll be amazed at the transformation that takes place!

Now some of you are going to read these steps and totally dismiss them as entirely too simple and naive.  Well, the steps are simple, but they are powerful.  In fact, their beauty lies in their simplicity!   That’s what makes an extraordinary life available to everyone!

Put your whole self into these steps and a few months from now, you won’t even recognize your life!

Step One – Unblock your mind to release extraordinary thoughts

Our ability to think extraordinary and creative thoughts is blocked.  Try this.  Think of your dream life.  What is it that you’d love to do if money were no object.  Close your eyes and imagine living that life for a moment.  Now open your eyes and think for another moment about how you could get from here to there.

Hear all the resistance starting to swell up in your mind?  That’s our blockage!  I hear things like, “How would you make a living doing that?” and “How’s that possible with a family?” and “Your not good enough to make that leap!”  What do you hear?

This blockage prohibits us from transforming our lives from ordinary to extraordinary.  We have to go through a process to unblock our minds to release the potential inside us.

My advice?  Go buy a copy of The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.  Read this book and do the exercises that Julia recommends.  You have to do exactly what she says if you want extraordinary results.  It won’t all make sense or seem like it’s working, but it will work!

I’ve been going through this book and trust me, it will be the best $10 you ever invested in yourself!  If you do what it says, things will start to unfold for you!

By the way, it doesn’t matter if your dream has anything to do with being an artist.  Julia’s book will unlock your creativity which is what you need to lead an extraordinary life regardless of what it is.

Step Two – Pursue the idea that bubbles up in your mind

As you work your way through The Artist’s Way, creative ideas are going to start bubbling up in your mind.  This is your creativity starting to be unleashed.

Capture these thoughts on paper as quickly as possible!  If you don’t, they will evaporate from your mind never to be retrieved again.  It happens to me all the time.  I’m sure I’ll remember, but I don’t.

Over a few weeks or maybe just a few days, depending on the severity of your blockage, a dominant theme or idea will start to emerge.  It will be something that excites you and that seems totally plausible as you first mull it over.

This idea might not have anything to do with your dream life that you have in your mind.  Don’t let that concern you.  Remember the part I mentioned earlier about how clinging to our expectations often sabotages our transformation from ordinary to extraordinary?

Well, this is exactly where it happens.  We get a great idea, but we don’t see how it can lead to where we think we want to go.  We discount it as a distraction.  Big mistake!

The transformation from ordinary to extraordinary doesn’t follow a linear path.  It jumps around and comes in spurts.  Ultimately, multiple seemingly unconnected interests and events in your life will suddenly coalesce into the final leap from ordinary to extraordinary.

You just have to keep pursuing the creative ideas and pursuits that bubble up in your mind!

Step Three – Believe you can be extraordinary

Some might think that believing in yourself should be Step One, but it is not.  I can assure you most people don’t believe they can be extraordinary at first.  That’s okay!

In the beginning, it isn’t critical that you believe.  You don’t have to believe you are extraordinary or that an extraordinary life is even possible.  If you simply desire it enough to follow Step One and Step Two, then that’s all I ask.

You will be on your way to transforming your life from ordinary to extraordinary! 

As you proceed through this process, I have found that most people will start to believe as they experience some success.  First, it is a tiny little nugget of wanting to believe.  It isn’t actual belief, but the desire to believe starts to peek its shy little head out from under that rock in your heart.

Your adult cynicism starts to melt just a little around the edges and you begin to wonder, “Is this really possible?”  Many people, including me, try to stifle this because it is dangerous thinking.  It challenges the status quo.   It leads you beyond your comfort zone into uncharted territory which is scary!

This is where you have to take the leap across that chasm and begin to really believe.  It takes courage and faith, but the life available on the other side is worth it!

If you’ve followed the first two steps, it won’t be as hard as it sounds.  You’ll know when you’ve reached this place in your journey and the only advice I can give you is don’t turn back now!  Close your eyes, trust in your heart and jump as hard as you can to the other side!

The transformation from ordinary to extraordinary is up to you

Okay, I’ve laid out the steps.  I’ve done all I can do.  Now it is up to you.  Do you have the desire to live an extraordinary life?  Are you willing to try?

You know what they say, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.”  No matter how good you know it is for him to do so.

Remember, at the outset, all you have to do is follow the steps.  They really will transform your life from ordinary to extraordinary!

Photo by Will Foster