Recently I’ve been thinking about questions.
I guess it’s because I’ve been talking to a coach.
No, not one of those buses that takes you to London in 5 hours. That would be a strange thing to do.
I was taking to a person – the sort of person who helps you progress in life, who brings out your potential, who gets you to come up with solutions and ideas simply by asking you lots of questions and making the occasional suggestion.
Until the other week, I’d never sat down and had an official “coaching session” with a professional coach.
But they were offering them for free at work. So I jumped at the opportunity. You can’t turn down an offer like that, can you?
Anyway, this chap, Matthew Stone, asked me some great questions to get me thinking about solutions
….and about questions!
4 Questions You Can Ask Yourself to Stop Worrying
Dale Carnegie once wrote a book entitled How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. I read it a few years ago. Just so that you know, it’s not that I’m a worrier – I’d read another book he’d written entitled How to Win Friends and Influence People, and wanted to read more of his material.
Anyway, one part of the book which has stuck with me is this:
Whenever you’re going through a difficult time, instead of worrying, there are 4 questions you must ask yourself:
- What’s the worst thing that could happen?
- And could you live with that?
- What’s the best thing that could happen?
- What’s the most likely thing to happen?
I tucked these 4 questions away in the back of my mind, in case I needed them sometime in the future. Little did I know that soon I’d be able to help out a friend who was going through a difficult time in his life.
Those 4 questions helped my friend put things into perspective, and helped him to see and plan a way through the situation.
One Question Which Changed My Life For Ever
Questions can totally change the direction of your life.
Over 25 years ago, someone asked me “Do you take this women to be your lawful wedded wife?”.
I answered “Yes”, of course.
One reason was it had cost me a fortune to arrange that one single day – and I couldn’t afford to waste that!
But also, I loved Christine and wanted to spend my life with her.
A simple question. An easy answer. Life changing!
Where Are You God?
We’re fortunate to belong to a church which is very practical in its outlook.
The other Sunday, our senior leader, Dave Belfield, gave an incredible talk about breakthroughs in life. And during that talk, he came out with this statement which I wrote down:
Instead of asking God, “Where are you God?”, ask Him “What are you doing in my life at this time?”.
A different question, but it helps us see things differently, and gives an entirely different perspective.
You see, sometimes we want the quick fix. But by going through a difficulty – instead of getting out of it – can result in incredible character development and help us gain those significant and valuable life skills – whatever age we are, or whatever life stage we’re at.
Power Questions
Anthony Robbins, in his book Awaken the Giant Within, says that questions are the answer!
What he means is that by asking yourself empowering questions, you’ll be more able to solve problems. He gives lots of practical examples, but I’ll share just one here.
These are what he calls Evening Power Questions:
- What have I given today?
- What did I learn today?
- How has today added to the quality of my life, and how can I use today as an investment in my future?
If you haven’t read it, Awaken the Giant Within is a book I thoroughly recommend.
I’m Still Asking
So I’m learning to ask myself more questions, and to think about the answers. To investigate the possibilities.
Because of his questions, the coach certainly got me thinking a bit more.
What are you asking yourself today?
