If I wrote such a post would anyone read it? What would be the point of such a post? How could I get that point across only with questions? And how could I answer those questions only in the form of other questions?
Do you understand the value in answering questions that you don’t want to answer?
How about questions that you just can’t answer?
What about questions that you’re afraid to answer?
Can you see the tremendous value in answering them?
What questions would be so provocative that they’d inspire you to action in your quest for work life freedom?
Would answering the following questions serve you well?
What brings you alive and what are you doing about it?
What dreams have you put aside because you haven’t yet solved work life freedom or money issues?
What is the deep meaning of your work life?
Do you know what’s most missing in your work life?
What scares you the most about aligning your work with your authentic self?
Would you even know how to do that?
What do you care about so much that it hurts when you are out of alignment with it?
Which of the above questions were you compelled to answer?
Which of the above questions are you inspired and determined to answer?
What good might occur if you exercised the courage to answer every one of them?
What is really stopping you from doing so??
What’s one small action step you can take today that will move you towards the thing you most want to accomplish?
Are you willing to take that action step?
When will you take it?
If not now, when?
If you read this post, will you please comment by telling us which question you found most valuable?
Tom,
Your creative article reminds me of one of Habit 5 from Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” You remind me of how important questions are, and how we’d all communicate better if we asked more of them–especially powerful ones. I particularly like your question on what brings me alive, as I’m particularly fond of Howard Thurman’s well-known quote, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” That has been particularly helpful in my own life.
Dave, welcome, that’s a very good point about communication. When we’re asking questions obviously we have placed ourseves in listening mode where we are much more effective communicators. Yes, I love that quote and I love feeling alive! That’s the key; what triggers that feeling of authentic aliveness is unique to each of us and that special thing is what we all need to do more of.
This is my favorite question in this article: What do you care about so much that it hurts when you are out of alignment with it?
What would happen if we asked this question every morning and let the answer guide our choices that day?
A powerful book on this topic is The Right Questions by Debbie Ford. Subtitle is Ten Essential Questions to Guide You to an Extrordinary Life.