The Power of Questions

What are you doing right now? Are you happy doing it? Is this what you wanted to do today? Had you thought about what you wanted to accomplish today? Are these questions you’ve asked yourself? Are you aware of the questions you ask yourself through the course of the day, the week, the year, your life? The questions you ask yourself have more influence over what you accomplish in life than you might think.

Throughout my career, I’ve talked about the power questions have on our lives, both good and bad. Questions focus your thoughts. The questions you ask yourself determine which direction you go, what you’ll get done, what you’ll achieve. They influence whether you have a positive or negative outlook on life.
You may say that you don’t really ask questions, but you’re doing it all the time. You ask yourself what you’re having for dinner, what’s that driver ahead of me going to do, what is my boss going to ask me? Most of our questions aren’t conscious. As a matter of fact, you may not even think of them as questions, but they are. Imagine how much fuller your life could be if you consciously queried yourself.

Instead of allowing things to just happen to you and get angry about it, what if you asked how you would use a situation to your advantage? Instead of asking, “Why me?” what if you asked, “What can I do to make this better?” Let’s face it, life throws you some curve balls. Things come at you that you could have never imagined. You have reasons to be angry, scared, or annoyed. But rather than being drawn in and allowing those emotions to rule you, control your emotions. Learn from the experience. What could you have done better, different? Could you have changed the outcome by reacting differently? I’m not suggesting you dwell on the past, but to learn from it and then move on.

Use the power of questions to your advantage. Most experts are happy to share their knowledge if you ask. You can learn from your experiences if you ask yourself specific questions. The answers are out there, you just have to ask the right questions.