Ask These Questions To Reframe Your Perspective On Life
Tony Robbins has said that the quality of your life is determined by the quality of the questions you ask. I couldn’t agree more. I think this is one of the most under-utilized psychological principles at our disposal.
You really can’t overestimate the power of asking the right questions. There are two types: questions you ask yourself and questions you ask other people.
Questions for Myself
The questions you ask frame the debate. Take Robbins’ famous question: Look at the worst thing that’s ever happened to you and ask, How is this the best thing that’s ever happened to me? You get what you focus on, and if you’re asking Why did this happen to me? or Why am I so unlucky? you’ve already solidified your base assumption that whatever happened is bad.
That then becomes the frame of reference from which you analyze the situation. That nearly invisible choice (most people don’t even recognize that it was a choice) has massive implications in the narrative that you will tell yourself about that event. The choice of asking Why did this terrible thing happen to me? versus How is this the best thing that ever happened to me? colors the inevitable repetitive thought pattern you will exist in following any major event—good or bad....
