Ten Questions to Ask to Enhance Your Effectiveness
I believe that questions are the answers. What I mean is that the process of asking good questions — questions that lead to more clarity — lead us to power.
After all, isn’t that what a good consultant or therapist does?
A good counsellor doesn’t give us the answers. They help us get clear on the problems we face and allow us to uncover how best to resolve them. Much of the value of a coach/consultant/therapist session is that we’re forced to take the time to think and ponder the answers to good questions. [Speaking of coaches … Yogi Berra always said, “You can see a lot just by looking.”]
A great deal of this can be done by ourselves if we take the time to generate and consider elegant questions. By using these questions as a tool, they’ll move you further along the path of success, and you’ll have a more fulfilling journey.
1. What is my purpose? My mission? We need a mission that motivates and inspires us to be our best. Is mine clear? Does it empower me? Do I feel impassioned by it?
2. What are my three most important goals right now? These should be at our top-of-mind awareness. These goals must be measurable, personal and have a target date for completion.
3. What actions can I take today to move me closer to accomplishing these three goals? Actions are just that — measurable steps over which we have control. Do it now!
4. What are my three biggest roadblocks to accomplishing my three most important goals? What are my biggest problems? What stops me? What discourages me? What do I need in order to get the job done?
5. What can I set in motion today? Too many people wait for their ship to come in when they’ve never sent any out. What can I cause to happen? What can I begin today? Remember, beginning is half done.
6. What can I complete today? Completions empower. We can’t be totally present unless our past is fully complete. Those things left undone drag us down and hinder our progress. Check something off today. Put it behind you. “Do it, dump it or change it.”
7. What are three things I’m now tolerating and want to eliminate? We get what we settle for. By getting rid of what we don’t want in our lives, we make way for what we do want. It’s the principle of vacuum. By eliminating our tolerations, we free up our energy, reduce our frustration and increase our creativity.
8. Who and what am I most appreciative of in my life? Another meaning of the word appreciate is to increase in value or price. An attitude of gratitude is worthy of cultivation. By focusing on what/who we have in our lives, we’ll eventually have even more to appreciate.
9. If I had six months to live, what would I do with it? We each have 100% of the rest of our lives left. But the fact is, we may not even have six months to live. Shouldn’t we live the next six months as if they were our last?
10. What are the three most important things in the world to me? We love what we give our time to. Am I giving my time (loving) what’s really important to me?
Naguib Mahfouz is credited as saying,
“You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.”
Suggested reading: 101 Best Ways To Be Your Best — Practical Wisdom to Help You Maximize Your Unique Potential by Michael E. Angier … 🙂