Powerful Questions to Fast-track Your Success

By: Zoe Routh
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:41:51
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Help with making decisions is one of the main reasons people hire me as their coach. People find it extraordinarily difficult to make decisions they feel confident in. The process of labouring over a decision is often a lot worse than any outcome that comes from the decision they finally choose. It does not have to be this difficult! By asking good questions you can get good results. By developing a set of key questions to ask when faced with decisions, you can "filter out" the wrong decisions more easily. Hence the term, "filter questions".

There are a few key tips for asking good questions:

1. Know your outcome.

By knowing the result you ultimately want (whether from a goal, personal mission, or living your life based on your values), it will become easier to formulate empowering questions.

For example, you might use one or more of the following questions:
"Does this support me in achieving my goal (s)?"
"Does this align with my personal mission?"
"Does this support the lifestyle I am creating?"
"Does this support my organisation's goals/mission/vision?"
"Is this going to be fun/rewarding/a growth experience?"
"Will this harm or nurture me?"

2. Remember you get what you focus on.

The mind will find answers to anything you ask it, so make sure you ask good questions. If you ask bad questions, you will get bad answers. For example, if you ask questions like "Why am I so fat?" It will find answers to this such as "because you are lazy, because you are a pig, because you can't help yourself". A better question would be, "How do I become fit and healthy?" This type of positively focused questions keeps you on target with your goals and creates positive momentum. Here are some examples of some bad questions with some good alternatives:

Bad: "Why can't I earn more money?" Better: "How can I earn more money?"
Bad: "Why can't I find a boyfriend/girlfriend?" Better: "What kinds of qualities do I need to develop to attract my ideal mate?"
Bad: "How did I end up in this dead end job?" Better: "How can I create new job opportunities for myself?"

3. Life has no meaning except that which we give it.

The mind talks incessantly to us. Monitor your internal dialogue and take control of how you feel about what is happening in your life. Use good questions to determine how you feel and think about events. Questions can also be used to filter actions and growth from experiences.

Here are some more examples of bad and better questions to help empower you:
Bad: "Why did this happen to me?" Better: "What is good about this situation?"
Bad: "Who did this to me?" Better: "What did I do to contribute to this situation?"
Bad: "How did things get so bad?" Better: "How can I take control and make things better?"

Did you notice a difference in the energy as you read the better questions? Being aware of your internal dialogue and using questions to empower you instead of persecuting you will make an enormous difference to the quality of your outcomes as well as the way you feel about events.

Article source: Expert Articles