Self-reflection is one of the most important keys to understanding yourself and finding out what you want out of your life. And when it comes to self-growth, you can ask questions to help you further develop yourself, both personally and professionally, to reach your goals and attain higher success.
According to this article on Forbes, Steve Jobs asked himself one profound question that took Apple from near bankruptcy to a $1 trillion company.
In 1985, Jobs was fired from Apple, the very company that he started. But in a twist of events, Jobs managed to get back to Apple in 1996 when his company NeXT was bought by Apple.
However, at that time, Apple was at the brink of bankruptcy and had only 90 days of cash left in the bank.
And so, Jobs was forced to turn things around quickly and to get the company back on track. He asked himself this one question that helped the company got back its focus and profit:
Who is Apple and where do we fit in this world?
Steve Jobs
By answering the question, Jobs and his team got rid of most of the stuff that the company was trying to sell at that time. They ended up focused on the gems, which were roughly 30% of the company’s total product line.
This led the team went on to create the company’s iconic “Think Different” campaign and set it on a path to become one of the most valuable public company in the world.
That’s not all. In his Stanford commencement speech, Jobs also said that every morning, he asked himself one question that changed his life. This was what he said in his speech:
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like, “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Again, Jobs asked himself questions to help him discover what he wanted to do in his life.
Asking yourself questions can be powerful and life-changing, which is especially true when you ask the right questions.
In fact, we are constantly asking ourselves questions in our heads…
- “What should I do now?”
- “How can I do this?”
- “Should I lunch at X or should I just cook myself?”
- “What should I order? Mocha or latte?”
- “Should I read this article?”
So, when it comes to self-growth and understanding yourself, asking the right questions helps tremendously.
Do you want to grow and improve yourself every day? Do you want to align what you do each day with your inner values? Hence, ask yourself these 10 questions below…
1. “What was I doing last year?”
Asking this question can be fun. It helps you to identify where you were last year and helps keep this year in perspective.
When you look back at what you have gone through, you can tell the difference between the past and the now. This allows you to take note of what has gone wrong and what has been right.
Thus, it gives you an idea of what you need to do to avoid the mistakes you have been making, and at the same time, allows you to focus and do the things that are right this year.
2. “Who do I want to be?”
Yes, the right question you should be asking yourself is who do you want to be, not what. Most people get it wrong by asking what they want in life.
Knowing what you want to achieve is a good idea, but if you are not transforming yourself to become the right person, you will never attract the results you want to you.
In order to achieve the success/results you want, you need to become the right person. For instance, if you want to run a top tennis player, the only way to do so is to equip yourself with the skills. Without the skills, there is no point to talk about becoming the best tennis player.
And it is through becoming the person worthy of the success you want can you achieve the results. This is why you need to know who do you want to be, not what.
3. “Do I enjoy how I spend my time now?”
Do you like how you spend your day? If your answer is yes to the above question, it means that what you do is something that you love, and you are passionate about it. If your answer is a no, you may want to reconsider what you do.
There is no point to work on something that you don’t like. You should spend your time working on things that you’re passionate about.
When you love what you do, only then you can perform better and do great work out of it. Without passion and the love for what you do, you will never perform at your best.
Read: How to Review Your Life: The 4 Great Methods to Evaluate Your Life
4. “Who do I spend the most time with?”
Answering this question is important because you become who you spend the most time with. Thus, if you are spending most of your time with other positive and successful people who you aspire to become, then great. You should continue to do so.
However, if you are spending most of your time with people who are negative, who complain a lot, and your conversation is mostly around other people, then I suggest you spend less time with them.
Energy is contagious. And when you spend time with negative people, gossiping about other people, you will be affected and become a negative person too.
5. “What do I think about most of the time?”
Take a minute and think about this question now, what do you think about most of the time? Do you think about your career? Do you think about finding a new job? Do you think about how boring your work is going to be? Or do you think about your goals and dreams?
Most people are not living a proactive life because they are not conscious of their thoughts. They live a reactive life and respond to whatever that comes to them.
Therefore, take control of your life by taking charge of what you think about most of the time.
Switch your thoughts to think about your future. Do the planning. Constantly review your goals and practice positive affirmations to get back your focus.
Read: Success Mindset: 13 Thinking You Should Adopt to Succeed in Life
6. “What is my biggest fear?”
Do you know what is your biggest fear or the number one obstacle that is blocking your way? If you want to quit your job to start an online business, but your biggest roadblock is that you have no idea how to do it, you can interview those who have done it. Read and learn from other people.
The key is you must first identify your roadblock or fear that is stopping you. When you know what is holding you back, you can work on the solution.
Hence, be aware of your challenges. What is holding you back from reaching your goals?
7. “How can I challenge myself to do better?”
When was the last time you challenged yourself and did something uncomfortable? Do you know that the only way to grow is by challenging yourself and venture out of your comfort zone?
If you continue to do what you always do, you will get the same results as you always did. So, to improve, to grow, and to achieve better success, you need to challenge yourself to do something difficult. You can’t stay in your comfort zone all the time and expect things to change.
If you want to change, you need to step out of your comfort zone and do the uncomfortable.
- Are you afraid of being on screen? Challenge yourself and publish on YouTube.
- Want to improve your stamina? Challenge yourself to run a full marathon.
- Want to get more traffic to your blog? Challenge yourself to write and publish every day.
8. “What has to happen for me to be successful?”
How do you define success? Do you know what do you need to happen for you to feel successful? Most people don’t define the success they want, hence, they have no idea what success looks like to them.
And because they have a blurry idea of success, they are not sure what to do or what they want out of life.
You have to clearly identify what you want to achieve so that you can experience and do things according to your own term. If you don’t define your success, others will hire you to work for their success.
Read: How Do You Define Success And The Real Meaning Behind (Must Read)
9. “What are my top 3 priorities for the next 6 months?”
Answering this question is important because it helps identify your priorities and what you need to work on in the short-term.
Too often, people have no idea what they need to do to reach their goals. They don’t have priorities and they waste too much time on social media and games. They ended up feeling inferior in their career.
Never let this happen to you. Know what is important to you by discovering your priorities and focus on them for the next couple of months.
10. “If I continue to do what I do, will I be able to reach my goals in the next 5 years?”
This question works like a test to predict your future. And you have to be honest when answering this question. If you know that what you do can’t bring you the results you want, you need to make a change.
If you don’t change, guess what, you will fail to reach your goals and dreams. And one way to find out if what you do will be working is through learning from others who have done it.
Just like baking a cake. If you follow the recipe, there is no guarantee that you will succeed, but you greatly increase your chances of success by following the proven steps.
Hence, learn from others. Study their failures and successes. Do what work and improve what don’t. And if you find out what you do isn’t going to get you what you want, change your plan, and then do it again.
Conclusion
Questions are an important part when it comes to helping your self-growth. Ask yourself these 10 questions to spark inspiration and insights for change and growth:
- “What was I doing last year?”
- “Who do I want to be?”
- “Do I enjoy how I spend my time now?”
- “Who do I spend the most time with?”
- “What do I think about most of the time?”
- “What is my biggest fear?”
- “How can I challenge myself to do better?”
- “What has to happen for me to be successful?”
- “What are my top 3 priorities for the next 6 months?”
- “If I continue to do what I do, will I be able to reach my goals in the next 5 years?”
Do you find these questions helpful? And out of the 10 questions above, which one drives you the most? Let me know in the comment section below.