What is the power of a question?
As a radio personality, it is my job to ask insightful and intriguing questions for my listening audience. I have to take on their thoughts, concerns, misunderstandings, and general curiosity. Sometimes, I have to think like my listener and get in their heads to make sure I get the answers they need, even when they don’t know what to ask.
Then I thought about you.
I thought about how we don’t take time to ask ourselves the questions we need to ask to improve our outlook on life. I thought about the questions that we fear the most because the answers might be the truth we didn’t want to hear. Sometimes, the question we need to ask ourselves has been asked be others and, now, we can’t run from it.
This type of personal exercise is difficult at times. We know the world keeps spinning and our energy keeps depleting with every tick of the clock. With all we have to do in our lives, who has the time to answer some silly questions about ourselves? Why would we even do that when we have real life staring us in the face?
Here’s why.
It’s true. We do live in a hectic, fast-paced, constantly evolving world. In this world, we have to quiet our minds and give it time to take record and inventory our lives so we don’t miss our lives. Too many time we hear about birthdays missed, loved ones leaving sooner than we thought, and relationships ending without reason. Most of this is solves with mindfulness. The root word is mind. So it leads to this question:
How much do you mind your mind?
What is a right question
For each of us, we have thoughts, concerns, misunderstandings, and general curiosity about ourselves. Wether we understand what that is for ourselves is something different but it is a universal truth. We are unique but we are all the some in one way…we are individually complex.
Our complexity is the key to discovering our areas of work. Think about your day today. How many times have you made an adjustment to your plans to fit your task, goals, or regular needs? According to an article on UNCTV.org, “It’s estimated that the average adult makes about 35,000 remotely conscious decisions each day.” The you’re faced with so many opportunities to rewire, it’s no wonder focusing on ourselves becomes a chore. Somewhere within these 35,000 remotely conscious decisions, we can make an effort to switch our attention to our hard-working mind.
It starts with a right question that takes our focus but what is a right question?
A right question is a question we believe moves us towards our deepest desires. It’s a question that gives us power to change our energy, ambitions, and vision to a more enriching state. It’s also a question that has the ability to move us to tears. These are self-defining questions that rock us to our core and excite us just from the thought of it.
How do we discover questions that excite us
Think of when you were a child and someone special to you gave you a gift you asked for. It has to be something you thought you had no chance to ever get. Now, how did it make you feel when you received it? Hold that feeling.
The right questions are inside of you. How we discover those questions comes from a simple process of creating clarity. Napoleon Hill was once quoted in saying, “There is one quality that one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.” Clarity is a conscious exercise that takes mindfulness and time.
- To discover what we can ask of ourselves starts with knowing what we want. We need to be clear on defined, measurable task or goals that gets us motivated to take action.
- To become certain that we are asking the right questions, we must challenge our beliefs about the question. Impulse is sometimes mistaken for certainty so we must have the wisdom to understand the difference.
- Every question must have an answer. Our answers are our honesty to ourselves. When we shortchange our responses, we cheat ourselves on life, love, and happiness. Conviction to an absolute answer makes our questions improve over time.
What to do with our answers
Simply put, take action. For all the times I’ve interviewed guest for my show, the final thought that most guest say is take action. I agree. Life you want is a question away. Love is also a question away. Happiness as well. It doesn’t matte where you are today if you now where you want to be.
Just ask for it.