Welcome to another episode of the Uncomplicating Business Podcast. I'm Sara Torpey. I'm a business coach and the founder of Uncomplicating Business, and all the things. So today, what I want to talk about are simple, simple questions. The other day, a client said to me, sometimes the questions with the fewest words that you ask me are the ones that are the absolute killers, and she meant that in a nice way, but she was saying how sometimes the simplest questions are the most powerful ones, and it got me thinking about the questions I ask most often, and I wrote down a list of 12345678, questions, some of them are related to each other, but none of them have more than three words in them, and they are the questions that I find myself asking people over and over and over again that create change and movement and progress in the work that they're doing in their businesses and in their lives

. Before we hop into these questions, I want to take a hot minute and talk to you about the Uncomplicating Business Lab. This is where a lot of these questions are getting asked right now. The Uncomplicating Business Lab is a community, is a place for you if what you're doing as a business owner is helping people, and the running of the business part feels really hard.

 It is a year-long membership for people like you, building service-based businesses built to make the running of the business part boring and predictable, and let the work you love be really energizing and fun. It's for you if you are really, really good at what you do. You're an expert, and you are. Please don't be like, "Well, that's not me. But what you really want is consistent income. You want to know what to do next without reinventing the wheel. You want support, but you're not really into the price tag that comes with one on one coaching, which is fine. And you want other people who are in it with you. The lab is really about making business boring on purpose, making it repeatable and predictable and common sense. I just want you to know what's in the lab. And then I'm going to get to questions in the lab. What you get is a full year of work in the framework that I teach, which is the four part ground plan connect sell framework, and they are the anchors of everything you do in your business in the best possible way. You start where you start, you walk in wherever you need to walk in. 

There is, by the end of June, going to be this very lovely getting started mini course library. There's one course per pillar, and they have four or five modules each. There's some reflection pieces, but it's like if you don't know where to start in planning or connecting, this is where you're going to start. Every week we have two live sessions, one is a themed focus session about planning or connecting or evaluating, and then the other is a co-working session. One of those co-working sessions a month is about offers, so it's called offer hours, but it is about giving you the time and space to actually complete the work you're trying to do in the lab. Also, the signature course I teach, called Selling for weirdos is baked in. It is a part of the lab at no extra cost to you. 

There are ongoing games and live sections and workshops and experts that are mixed in, because I can't help myself. And there's a cool self-assessment that I've just finished building that is a part of the lab, and it's going to help you direct your work. I would love to see you join the lab with us. It is a growing community. It is a container and membership that is really built to make your life easier, your business more successful, your work simpler. And so come play with us in the lab. It really is meant to serve you, and I will be in there with you. The other people in the lab are in there with you. 

We make the connections, and we do the work together. So, the simple, simple questions that I want to share with you today are, you know, like the ones you could put on a post-it note.

Mine are on a post-it note that you can just use to remind yourself when you're stuck, when you're off track, when you're feeling disconnected. Okay, so they are. I'll start with the start, and this is the one that, if you've ever worked with me one on one, or in any kind of container at all, you know this is the first thing out of my mouth every single time. Talk, and it's what's good, what's working is the other version of this, but for me as a coach, for me as a human, so much of what we do is built upon success and should be, but that is not our natural human inclination, you know this, so it is the reminder that I give to people every time we talk, of like, there are things working.

 Let's start with those. And when clients are like, well, I had this good thing happen, and also I have this problem, I every single time, like, okay, tell me another thing that's good, because yes, we will jump into solving the problems, but a lot of times what we find is the problems don't feel as big or as pressing, once we know what's working, the panic comes out of them, the edge of scarcity comes out of them, and then they are way easier to manage. The next question that I love, the second one that I use all the time, is, Is it true? So people will come to me and say, well, I know this person is thinking about this, I know I have to do it this way, I heard that this is going to happen, I know that they're probably thinking this, and my answer back every time I hear something that sort of connects that way, is is that true, right? Like, how do you know that's another one I love. How do you know, right? It's like the check of like, is this actually true, which is more often how I ask it in the forward form. It's like, is that actually true, because it's challenging assumptions we in our human brains assume all kinds of insane things all the time. 

We, the conversation I have with my 14 year old daughter all the time, is that she assumes the absolute worst is going to happen, that people are thinking the absolute worst of her, and that's never the case. So, it's like, is it true? Is it actually true? Can we challenge the assumption that you're making about what that other person is thinking? What, what's going to happen next? What has to happen or doesn't, right? It's right up there with how do you know. Okay, and the question that follows that is actually the same one that's on my list here, and it is, what's the evidence? Because here is the other thing that happens to us all the time as human beings, is our brains say one thing and the data says another. I just had a conversation with a client yesterday who said to me, you know what, Sara, I think that my business, she runs a franchise, she was like, I think my business is not doing as well with referrals as we've done in the past, and based on the conversation she and I have had over the last couple months, I don't actually think that's true. I think what actually is happening is they've had a really busy couple of spring months, the business is doing very well, and now as we roll into summer things are starting to slow down, which happens every year, and she's looking for things that are wrong, when in fact it's just kind of a time of year flow thing.

So I asked her what the evidence she has is, and she just looked at me, and she was like, well, I don't actually look at the data, and the thing I explained to her is like most of the time when I make an assumption and then I go look at the data I am wrong because my emotional brain is making a different decision than the data says we do this all the time as human beings this is why Vegas exists because we don't beat the house but we think we're gonna we're not using data, we're using emotion, and so for you, when it's like, I think this thing is going wrong, I don't think this is working as well as it used to be, I think I have to change this thing. 

Before you do that, ask yourself, what is the evidence, what does the data actually say, because without the data I don't know, right, the data is the decision, and so the other one that the other example of this that I always find really interesting is people will be like, well, I think my business is slowing down, I think things aren't working as well as they were this time last year, and I'd say seven times out of 10, when I have that conversation with clients, they are ahead of where they were last year. It's just working more efficiently, and it doesn't feel as like they're working as hard, so they think something is wrong. That is the point of something like the lab, by the way, so that you can get to the point next year where things are working so smoothly you think you're messing it up. That's a really lovely place to be as a business owner. 

The next question is sort of a different one than this, which is, does it matter, because one of the things that happens to us as. Business owners is we start thinking, if I do this, then I have to do this, then I have to do this, and then, and we get 20 steps ahead of ourselves. Right? I was talking to another client yesterday, who is a former teacher, who is a planner. My friends, just like we all are, I want to know what I'm doing on april 22 2030 also, but that's not how life works, and so sometimes we get really wrapped up in whatever it is, and the key question is, Does it matter? Does it matter if it's blue or green? Does it matter if it's perfect or not? Does it actually matter if it's got a typo in it, probably not. Does it matter if does it matter if I hold on to it or let it go, right? Does it matter if that person said that thing right? Another way I ask this question all the time is like, what's the impact, right? Is there an impact if I do that thing? What's the impact? I know, I know. I just paused there for a second, because, like, what's the impact? It also should have been on this list. 

No, I'm sad I left it off, but it's in this podcast, so even better. Here's the thing, sometimes we get out over our skis as human beings, and the simplest question is, like, does this matter? Is like, oh wait, no, what I'm actually trying to do here is grow a business that serves people. So, does the color does finding the right yellow for my logo, actually, matter right this second, maybe not, because is that helping the people I meant to serve? I don't know. It could be that you're.. does it matter? Does it make an impact? Is how you help yourself prioritize over the long run, because for me, one of the things I do when I look at my to-do list every day is like, okay, I'm gonna do that, and then this, like, well, which one actually matters, right? For me today, for example, the thing that mattered more than anything was getting the stitches out of my finger, and that was the first thing I did this morning, like, that's what mattered. Is it a work thing? No, but did it matter? Yes, and then I'm doing this podcast, but I took the notes before I left. Look at me go.
The next question that I think is really key that I ask all the time is sort of the flip side of, does it matter? Sort of not exactly. It's not why doesn't it matter exactly, but it's why not. 

This is the question I should have tattooed on my forehead, because people will say to me, this is literally people will say to me, but I can't do it that way. And then the next words that clients who have been working with me a long time will be like, oh shit, but why not, because that's the question, when you're like, but I can't do it like that. Well, why not? Who says is the other cousin of that? Like, I think this one has two cousins, one of them is who says, and the other one is so what, because it's like, wait, it's another assumption challenger, right? It's like, I'm not sure I can do this this way. 

Well, why not, right? I have a client the other day who said to me, you know, I'm not sure that that sales call I had went the way I planned, and I don't know if I should follow up with her. The question I asked was, why not? Like, what are you losing if you don't, you do it doesn't hurt you, right? Why not do it the way that suits you? Why not follow the needs you see? Why not ask the question? Why not send the offer? Because as long as you're not causing harm by doing something differently, and you're not right, like you are not someone who is like, well, but that's gonna hurt some people. I'm fine, like in the dystopian romance novel I'm reading right now, where they're like, yes, we will fry people's brains, it's fine, but that's that's we're not going to do harm, and so the question is like, why can't you do it that way, so what? That's the rule, quote unquote. Why not do it the way that you actually like? Why not skip Instagram if it's not for you, right? Why not share that thing also on LinkedIn if you know that's where your people are? Why not, right? There's the last one, and this is actually a question I'm asking a lot of clients right now, because we're getting towards the middle of the year, and what's happening is, as we kind of come towards the end of quarter two, a lot of the plans people put into place at the start of quarter one are are working.

 And things are swimming along like the client they were trying to acquire is on board, the systems they were trying to change are humming, the money they were trying to create is present, the lifestyle they were trying to shift is happening, and so the question when that is happening, that comes next is now what, right? And sometimes people are like, what do you mean, go away. But you know, when I was talking to a client last week who was in the lab, who was like, okay, I've got this new client, I did the thing I set out to do, and I said to her, now what? And she was like, oh damn, right, we're thinking about the next one, right? It's easy for us to be like check box, move on, but you know it's like, okay, wait, let's recenter the goals, let's reorganize the thinking, and then we can have clear next steps that are not just keep doing what you were doing, even though now it's sort of directionless, because it's done, so that is a question for now. 

So I'm gonna run you through the list real quick, so you have them all. What's working? Is it true? What's the evidence? Does it matter? Why not? And now what? Those are the core right, like you can get really far with just those six, and they're not even.. I don't even think it's 20 words if I count them all. So, for you today, your first job is to ask yourself which of these questions is for you right now, because one of them is every time. For me, it's now what? Right now, the second job is for you to consider the lab.

If this is a podcast that's really useful to you, if you find the work I do and the way I do it helpful, the lab is an incredibly cost-effective way for you to get the help you want. You, you want, and you need to get the community and the support and the groundedness and the consistency that you've been working at, so that you can also be the person I'm talking about in six months who has the systems humming, who knows what they're doing, who has the connections working, has the sales going the way they want, because that's the whole point of the lab.

 If you have questions, you should reach out. I am a human, I live on LinkedIn and Facebook, and all the places I answer emails. Please say so. And from there, I'll see you guys in two weeks. There are some interviews on trust coming this summer that are getting recorded, and that's hopefully what's coming up next. I'll see you then.