By Mary-Jane Liddicoat

Einstein famously said, ``If I had 60 minutes to solve a problem and my life depended on it, I'd spend 55 minutes determining the right question to ask. Once I got the right question, I could easily answer it in five minutes.''

How much of our lives do we spend trying to find the answer, rather than asking a question? And not just any answer, but the ``right'' one; the answer that will bring us success and happiness?

How much of our energy goes into formulating answers such as: if I go to ``this school,'' study ``this subject,'' work at ``this company,'' invest in ``this stock,'' marry ``this person,'' buy ``this house'' in ``this neighbourhood,'' I will be successful and happy?

Do you usually get it right? Considering the unhappy faces I see in the streets everyday and the high rate of suicide in Korea ― especially among the so called successful echelons of the rich and famous ― I doubt most people in Korea feel they do.

What if, like Einstein, instead of spending time and energy on looking for the answer, we asked more questions? Could this make study fun and success easier?

What sort of questions could you ask? Here are a few of my favourites.

What truly excites, inspires and empowers me?: Do you find study or work difficult or tiresome simply because you are not interested in the field? What if you were so excited by your chosen field that study and work became a joy? How much more successful could you become ― what contribution to society could you make ― by simply doing wholeheartedly what inspires you, instead of half-heartedly doing what you think you should?

What else is possible?: If you're not yet ready to jump in at the deep end and choose wholeheartedly for yourself, try this question. Rather than coming to a conclusion or judgement about what you ``can't'' change, what's ``not possible,'' ask what else ``is possible.'' By asking yourself this and those around you, you are inviting new possibilities into your life. Perhaps even questions that might inspire you. Ask your teacher, your boss, your spouse, your parents. As they say, don't ask, don't get.

What's right about this that I'm not getting?: What happens when your plans suddenly change or go wrong, or you don't get something you want? Most people feel anger, frustration, disappointment, sadness, and even a sense of failure. What if, instead of reacting as if there were a problem, you asked yourself what's ``right'' about it? This question is a simple tool to get you to look from a different perspective. It is exactly what Nobel Prize winners do when their first 1000 experiments fail; by asking another question, they discover the unknown.

Answers, conclusions, decisions, and judgements will always limit your possibilities. Questions will invite new ones. What if instead of the normal question/answer paradigm, you adopted the habit of question/receive/question/receive ad infinitum?

What if you asked ``what would it take for study to be fun and success easy?'' Have you ever considered this as a possibility, or have you always been told it has to be ``hard?'' Instead of seeing yourself as a failure for not getting into ``that school'' or ``that company,'' ask what's right about it and what else is possible.

Finally, ask ``what's right about me that I'm not getting?'' Join me for more on this in my final article next week.

This is free and it won't hurt you or anyone else, so you would NOT try it for what reason? What else could be possible for you?

This is the second of a three-part article. The writer was head of the education section of the Australian Embassy in Seoul until June 2009. She can be reached at mj.liddicoat@gmail.com and www.ejg.com.au.