The questions you ask yourself drive who you are and who you are becoming. Powerless questions keep you mired in a powerless daily cycle of reactivity and lack. Powerful questions raise you step by step upwards, above the crowd and into a place of thriving and profit. Are you asking yourself the right questions?
Powerless questions typically focus on lack, loss, bewilderment, or attempting to court or please an uncaring individual. They stimulate a continued cycling through the same question over and over -- sometimes they ask a question where there is no resolution, merely a rhetorical carousel of self-punishment. Their horizon is small, usually within the scope of personal life. They are most often framed around maintaining or coping with the status quo.
"How can I please my disapproving (insert person here: mother, father, partner, boss) and make them see I really am valuable?"
"Why am I such a loser?" (failure, screw-up, etc.), repeated as internalized self-punishment.
"Why do others have all the luck?" (success, profit, opportunity, hustle, smarts, etc.)
"Am I a bad person?", more of the internalized self-punishment/self-guilting.
"Why didn't I go for my (degree, promotion, etc.) 1, 5, 10 years ago, when I was 1, 5, 10 years younger and it wasn't too late?"
"How am I going to make it through this wretched day... How am I going to make it through to retirement working like this?"
In contrast, powerful questions stimulate the subconscious to greater heights, to forming solutions, even to assembling around you the opportunities and connections that create the life you desire. Their horizon is large, even "way big huge!" large :).
"Powerful questions stimulate the subconscious to greater heights, to forming solutions, even to assembling around you the opportunities and connections that create the life you desire." Click to tweet.
Powerful questions even dare to ask the difficult things, like when to break away from a bad situation and seek new opportunities. They serve as stepping-stones that lead you upward, and they always inspire expansion, interest, and an intriguing set of possibilities.
"At what point will I choose to leave this bad situation where I'm not valued or approved of? When does it make sense to leave and what NEW opportunity can I create by leaving, even if it takes courage?"
"How much is staying in this bad or stagnant situation costing me in life years, monetary loss/wages, in damage to my happiness? How many years of my life will I waste before I take action?"
"In what ways am I well-suited to be the leader of a multimillion-dollar company? What skills can I add to my skillset to expand on that? What opportunities will I seek?"
"What's on my to-do list today, and how much of it is REALLY serving the visions and goals I want to bring into being? What can I discard to make room for more targeted action?"
"How will I take the leadership role as Team Leader of my life today? What tough spots will I lead myself victoriously through today? What high-end vision will I believe and achieve?"
"How can I most effectively deal with people who disapprove of me? What do I need to change in my locus of power, my feelings and responses to be effective in this area?"
"What would I most enjoy learning about next in my professional skillset? How will I enjoyably master a subject I feel is my 'worst', such as being an introvert, yet learning to be a smooth networker?"
Assess Your Questions! Think about the daily questions you pose to yourself. Assess them with these three criteria:
How they make you feel inside. Good, strong? Bad, a failure?
How far out they set your vision-horizon. Lack, loss, in the past? Looking forward to the future?
Whether they create a feeling of expansive possibility. Do they lead you to a better version of yourself?
Your questions can create clarity, confidence, and power - but only if you begin to curate what you ask.
How will you change the suite of QUESTIONS you ask yourself today?
Keep Growing,
