Questions seek answers, but sometimes the questions we ask are still on the level of our 7 year old wanting to know when we’re going to eat. I once heard Tony Robbins say this about asking better questions:

  Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result,      they get better answers.

So often we get stuck in disempowering questions like, “What do I always screw things up?” I think it’s easy to see the answers our brain will give us to this question won’t serve us well.

Most of us want to obtain better answers to the problems we face in life or to achieve a new level in some are of our lives. So, how do those questions change our lives?

 Great Questions Reframe the Problem

First of all, great questions or series of questions can help us reframe the problem to get a new view of that problem and lead to the way we might find new answers. Tony himself might simply ask himself,

    What’s good about this problem? What can I learn from this?

I often ask, 

   What new direction might this lead me in? What if I did the opposite thing for a week?

   What am I not seeing right now?

 Great Questions Help Overcome Our Fears

Secondly, quality questions can help us overcome our fears. Often the fears we have about something is what will keep us from solving those problems.

I’ve learned that the way past a fear is to try to determine what’s holding me back. Here are questions I’ve asked myself: 

   What’s the worst case scenario if I pursue this course?

   Is this something that is fatal or is it final in any way? Am I making this black and white?

   How could I effectively reduce my risk with this?

 These questions help me to navigate past what I’m afraid of and embrace taking action to move forward and to minimize my fears.

 Great Questions Help Achieve Our Goals

Lastly, the quality answers we seek are the pathway to achieving our goals. When we seek a new path or a new level, we won’t always know the “how” of getting there. This keeps so many (myself included) from taking action and thereby thwarting achievement. Here are some questions I ask in helping me to achieving new things:

   What must I believe to get there? What am I believing now that is limiting me?

   What small steps can I take today to move me in the right direction?

   What is my WHY? What is it that motivates me & will keep me in the game?

   What are some milestones I can celebrate along the way?

 What About You?

What quality questions have you discovered that help you find quality answers? Or, have you gotten stuck in disempowering questions that don’t serve you? If so, what new questions might you ask that will change your course? If your life depended on finding better answers, what would the questions look like?