Boost Your Bottom Line by Asking Powerful Questions

Copyright ? 2005 Kathy Paauw

"He who asks questions cannot avoid the answers."
-African Proverb

Powerful questions yield powerful answers. Here's an example...

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My beloved grandson, the battle inside every person is between two wolves. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, false pride, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee gently grasped the boy's shoulder and replied, "The one you feed."

Are you getting the results you want in your life? Do the questions you ask get to the bottom line?

Last December I wrote an article called The Power of Personal Accountability. In the article, I mentioned that asking the right questions can help us find the right answers. After publishing this article, one of my subscribers -- Lee Wise -- sent me a list of powerful inquiries he wrote. Lee has graciously given me permission to share them with you.

There is great power in asking a good question, especially when asked in the form of an inquiry. (An inquiry is a question you ask over and over, that does not necessarily have one "right" answer.) The potential for meaningful change may lie before you in the form of your own seriously considered answer to a selected question. Any one response to any of these questions can have a powerful impact on your life.

Here are Lee's questions...

19 GOOD QUESTIONS FOR LIVING THE GOOD LIFE
(Asking Just The Right Question To Get Just What You Desire)
? Lee Wise All rights reserved.
http://abeautifulmomentintime.blogspot.com

What one small thing is holding me back from doing my best today?

What one small thing is hindering me from becoming the person I be could be today in one area of my life?

What action could I take today to brighten someone's world? (Key: make it simple, doable, and even fun!)

How can I double my value as a ___________ this year? *As a... husband, father, employee, friend, etc. Suggestion: ask this question many, many times.

Where should I influence my world in a positive way?

Are negative thinking patterns eating away my potential in any area of my life -- no matter how small?

Am I saying "I can't" when I should be saying "I can" or "I must!" anywhere in my life?

My greatest area of tension at work or home right now is ____. How could I improve just 10% in this area?

What positive discipline have I let slip lately? What price am I paying for this slip?

Where can I, or should I, make a positive difference?

If I took a thirty second "happy memory break" right now, what would I remember?

How can I schedule a small break in my life -- just enough to be refreshed and recharged a bit?

What untapped potential could I bring to my world?

Am I learning what I need to learn?

Are my associations making me or breaking me?

Who is challenging me or inspiring me right now? Who could?

Should I procrastinate on anything, or set aside anything, that is not important for what is most important?

Is there anything I should stop doing?

Am I out of balance anywhere in terms of striving to perform? Am I seeking a standard of excellence in the right way, for the right reasons?

Use these strategies to get the best results...

Pay attention to your initial feelings about an inquiry you read.

Should you notice a "first impression answer" that ushers in a sense of excitement, challenge -- or a deep sense of "I should do this" -- be sure to slow down your internal speed of life and park there a moment or two.

Repeating a question over and over sets in motion an on-going search to discover just the right answer for you.

Consider recording your thoughts in a journal.

Enjoy the process!

For additional reading about the power of asking the right questions, visit our article The Power of Personal Accountability at the link below.
http://www.orgcoach.net/newsletter/dec2004.html

About the Author:
Wouldn?t you love to stumble upon a secret library of ideas to help you de-clutter your life so you can focus on what?s most important? Kathy Paauw offers simple, yet powerful ideas, on how to manage your time, space, and thoughts for a more productive and fulfilling life. Visit http://www.orgcoach.net.
Kathy Paauw helps busy executives professionals and entrepreneurs de-clutter their schedules spaces and minds so they can focus on whats most important. She is an organizing productivity consultant certified professional personal coach and speaker. Contact her or visit her website at http:www.orgcoach.net or contact her at kathy@orgcoach.net and learn how you can find anything you file or store in 5 secondsguaranteed! 

View all articles by Kathy Paauw

View the original article here

Read More

Do Questions Help or Hinder You?

We often think too much and talk too much and sometimes we talk and ask questions because we are reluctant to act. We may need to copy Tarzan of the Apes.  He used words sparingly but was always poised for action whether this meant diving in with a crocodile or facing up to the king of the jungle!

Football teams start questioning the referee when they are failing to win. Instead of working hard and concentrating on the game they spend all their energy complaining and harassing the match officials. Their failure to recover from their losing position is almost certain.

Some people may have given up jogging because of the questions raised when one of the great jogging gurus died young. Why bother to jog when you can die early just like the majority who spend their leisure time watching TV?

No one doubts that many people have fallen ill because of their own actions such as eating too much of the wrong food or because of their inactions such as failing to go for a daily walk or workout.

But some of the fittest men and women have suddenly succumbed to disease and died young. Does this mean that we should give up eating in a healthy way and stop going for daily walks? I think not but some think yes. Why bother to live a healthy lifestyle when you may die young anyway?

When I started the martial arts, after watching the Kung Fu series which featured David Carradine as a Shaolin monk, questioning the teacher was not a good idea.

If you ventured the opinion that a certain move might not work, the teacher would demonstrate how well it worked and guess who they demonstrated on: the student who had had the cheek to question their methods!

A less dictatorial teacher would just laugh at the question and the majority of the class would laugh with him. I was always one of the keenest questioners until I learned the painful lesson that it was wiser to keep my questions to myself.

We need to realize that questions can often be an excuse for not getting on with the hard work of training and that as you train you will learn the answers for yourself without wasting the time of the whole class.

There is much then to be said for taking massive action with maximum effort and keeping any questions for later. You will get much better at whatever you are doing and will find you can answer many of your own questions.

Instead of second guessing your copy writing tutor, try following his or her suggestions and see what happens.  Instead of doubting your health adviser just do as they say and see how you feel after a few weeks.

On the other hand, some questions deserve an immediate answer and can lead to new and powerful developments.

In the martial arts world, people started to question whether some of the traditional techniques would work in a street fight situation.

I once asked a world renowned martial artist at a seminar in London why people would choose to put a lock on someone's arm by lying on their back with one of their legs dangerously close to their opponent's teeth. He and his associates laughed at my question but neither he nor they answered it.

I have since realized that I was right about the danger of getting bitten when using this lock. In addition, lying on your back in order to put on an arm lock is suicide in a street situation.

Even if you are not bitten in the leg, your arms and legs are tied up controlling your opponent and one of his friends or even a complete stranger could easily kick you in the head. You could also be run over by a car or bus!

Questions like the above and other questions like "Why train for hours to be able to kick someone in the head when it is so much easier to punch them instead?" have lead to the development of reality based self-defense systems which concentrate solely on what will work when you are faced by a psychopath who does not care about rules of engagement or whether you will live or die.

These systems make sense and could save the lives of those who do not have the time or determination to train for years in the more traditional systems. They could also save a lot of wasted time learning and practicing techniques that are impractical for the majority of people.

So then, questions do have value.

We are left with the question whether we should question what we are doing or not? The answer, as is often the case. is to compromise or reach a balance.

Questions have their uses but not when we are supposed to be taking action whether we have planned the action or are following the training of an instructor we respect.

Questions will still pop into our minds like: 'Is this really necessary?' 'Do we have to do this?" Save these questions up until you have completed the suggested actions and then you will be in a good position to have an informed answer.

Ask questions at the start of any project and after it is over or if it goes drastically wrong but, if at all possible, avoid questioning what you are doing while you are still in the process of doing it.

Last week, one of my students told me cheerfully that he had just been offered a job in the Royal Navy which would lead to exceptionally high engineering and diving qualifications. The job was clearing mines.

I hated pouring cold water on his dreams but felt it was my duty to remind him of the potential drawbacks of his proposed career like getting killed or badly injured. One of my teachers had been blinded when disarming a land mine. This had ruined both his life and his family's.

The time for serious questioning or counting the cost was now before my student signed up and found himself in cold, murky water with sharks nibbling at his flippers whilst he was faced with the terrifying task of disarming a strange mine!

Questioning at the right time has great value but try not to mix it in with your actions. Once action is started, focus on the end result and only stop for questions if things go disastrously wrong. Feeling tired and discouraged is not a good reason to start questioning what you are doing.

If you cant resist asking the questions early on, at least keep going with your original plan until you receive some kind of an answer.

About the author

John Watson is an award winning teacher and fifth degree black belt martial arts instructor. He has recently written several books about achieving your goals and dreams.
One of these can be found here

http://www.motivationtoday.com/36_laws.php

View the original article here

Read More