Quality Questions

Here is another post from Lou Tice at the Winners Circle. In this post Lou talks about the questions we ask ourselves, and explores how we can make those give us a more positive outcome, by changing the emphasis of the question. It’s an interesting way of looking at things a little differently; and has, once again, really got me thinking.

No one ever has all the answers. However, people who ask good questions are the ones who interest me. Albert Einstein once said that, “The important thing is not to stop questioning.” His words emphasize something I believe to be extremely important: It’s not so much the answers you already have, but rather the quality of the questions you ask that determines the direction of your life.

For example, what sort of questions do you ask when calamity strikes? Do you ask, “Why me, Lord?” or “What’s the use of living if this is what happens?” Or, do you ask questions like, “How can I use this to learn and grow, maybe even to help others?”

What kind of questions do you ask your kids? Do you say, “What’s the matter with you?” “Why are you so stupid, or lazy or mean?” Or, do you ask, “What are you looking forward to?” or “How will you show your teacher how smart you are?”

When it comes to your relationships, do you ask questions that can be answered with just “yes” or “no” or do you ask open-ended questions that encourage people to tell you more about themselves? And finally, what kind of questions do you ask yourself? Do you say, “How am I going to get through the day?” or “What can I do to make today really great?”

Do you ask, “what if” questions that help you explore possibilities? How about questions that encourage you to think about the purpose of your life and your reasons for doing what you are doing? Change the quality of the questions you ask, and you will be changing the focus of your attention. Change the focus of your attention, and you will change the results you get. Go ahead. Try it and see.

Lou Tice
The Pacific Institute

Lou Tice certainly has the knack of getting me to think about things in these posts from the Winners Circle. I know that do have a tendency to ask questions of myself in a quite negative way. And I really wouldn’t have expected it to make the difference it obviously does from the examples given. So I’ve obviously got some thinking to do around that. I think I’m less negative when I’m encouraging others to question themselves, but am sure I could be far more positive still. But I do tend to ask people closed questions in my relationships with others, just requiring a “yes” or “no” answer; and that is something I can work on.

So, all in all, lots to think about as always from the Winners Circle, and lots to work on. Now I need to get my memory working sufficiently to allow both.

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