We ask ourselves questions every day. And it is the answers that we get from our minds that tell us what to do and what not to do. In other words, our lives are greatly impacted by the questions we asked each day.
Therefore, if you want to change your life and start living a more fulfilling life, start with asking yourself different questions, life-transforming questions, in particular.
Think about it, have you asked yourself these questions before:
- “Why do I have to wake up so early?”
- “Why does this happen to me?”
- “Is this the kind of life I want to live?”
- “Am I destine for success?”
- “What should I eat for dinner tonight?”
- “Why is life so hard?”
- “I should just give up on my goal, right?”
According to this article from Forbes.com, on average, we all have 60,000 internal thoughts per day and 90% of them are repeated.
And most of our internal thoughts are questions. We consistently talk to ourselves in our mind, asking questions and searching for answers.
As what Tony Robbins said:
“Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.”
It is not whether you should have internal dialogues with yourself, it is about asking the right questions so that you can get better answers and make better decisions to live a better life.
Hence, if you are ready to make a positive change in your life, get ready with pens and papers.
If you want to get the most out of these life-changing questions, you need to write down the answers.
Don’t just ask these questions in your head, write them down and put your thoughts onto papers.
So, are you ready? Here are some of the life-transforming questions you can ask yourself to live a better and more successful life…
1. “If I could change one thing in my life, what would that be?”
Asking yourself this question allows you to be clear of what is the one thing that you can do to move your life forward.
Most people are stuck in life because they keep repeating their days without making many differences. If you want to make a change, you must start by doing something different.
It doesn’t matter what you answer. The answer can be as short and as impactful like “changing your career” or “quitting the job you hate”, the key is to get clear with the positive change you can make.
Once you understand what the one change is that you need to make in life, it is then up to you to change it.
2. “What has to happen in order for me to feel successful?”
Yes, what has to happen so that you will feel like a success? Everyone wants to be successful, but most have no idea what success means to them.
You must first define the success you want before you can achieve it.
It is just like saying that you want to travel but you don’t know where to go. You need to identify your destination before you can plan for it and make it happen.
Thus, write down what has to happen in order for you to feel successful. When you know exactly what you want, then you can make plans and take real actions to get there.
3. “What would I attempt to do if I knew I couldn’t fail?”
Don’t be afraid of failure. Asking yourself question helps you get rid of your fear of failure.
A lot of people wanted to start a business and investment plan, but they are afraid that they may fail.
So, asking yourself this question helps you overcome your fear and at the same time, identify what you need to do to achieve the success you want.
Tell me, if everything you do will be a definite success, what would you do? If you know that you couldn’t fail, what would you do?
4. “What is the one thing that if I were to act on it, would produce the greatest difference in my life (or goals)?”
This is another life-changing question that is designed to help you identify what you need to do to achieve what you want in life.
This question is meant to help you focus on the right thing rather than doing everything and becoming everything.
Success is like shooting an arrow. You must identify the target and then do the right thing to get there.
You don’t want to split yourself too thin by doing whatever you think can work. You want to be productive and do the high-impact actions that will get you the right results, not just any result.
5. “What is the one obstacle, that if I get rid of it, will get me to my goals faster?”
Sometimes, life is not just about knowing what you want, it is also about knowing what is stopping you and overcoming it.
You see, if you want to be a professional speaker and speak in front of a large audience, but you know that you can’t speak English that fluent, what you need to do then is to upgrade your skill to speak.
If you want to start an e-commerce business, but you have the technical skill and you don’t know how to set up a website, are you going to let this obstacle prevents you from reaching your goal?
Or are you going to either learn the skill or hire someone else to build the website for you?
When you get rid of the obstacle that is preventing you from success, you allow yourself to move faster and go further to reach your destination.
6. “If I continue to do what I do every day, would that get me the results I want in life?”
You have to be honest when you ask yourself this question. So, if you do what you have always done, are you going to get the results you want in your life?
If your answer is yes, then you should work harder and continue with what you do now.
But if your answer is no, then you should make a change.
You know that if you do what you did every day can’t get what you want in life, why do you still keep repeating it?
Make a change. It is time to do something different to get different results.
“If you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always gotten.”
7. “If today is my last day on Earth, what regrets do I have?”
Don’t live a life of regrets, so ask yourself this question before it is too late. You don’t want to wait until you are 80 years old only to realize that you should pursue your dreams.
In her book, The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying, Bronnie Ware recorded the most common regrets of people who are at the end of their lives. And here are the 5 regrets:
- I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
- I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
- I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
- I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
- I wish that I had let myself be happier.
Now you know these top regrets, so don’t let them become your regrets.
It is not too late to do what you have always wanted to do or be who you wanted to be.
8. “If I have $100 million dollars in the bank, and I have the time and health, how would I going to live my life?”
So, you don’t know what kind of lifestyle, success, or what you want out of your life? Ask yourself the above question.
What would you do if you have the money, time and health? How would you live your life from now on?
Are you going to still go to work tomorrow, not because of the money but because you love to?
Are you going to stay where you are or are you going to move somewhere else?
Will you buy a first-class flight ticket and bring your family for vacations?
Are you going to donate a portion of your money and help others?
So, what would you do? Write down your answers.
Conclusion
Now that you have answers to these life-transforming questions, what should you do?
Well, there is a saying:
“We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.”
Look at the answers you have written down. Review them and reflect upon them.
What changes can you make? How can you change your life so that you get to live the life you truly desire?
Through answering these life-changing questions, you get to know yourself better. Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.