How to Solve Your Problems & Increase Self-Awareness Using Only One Powerful Word…
The Art of Questioning
5 min readJul 4, 2017
“WHY?”
“Why” (n): a question concerning the cause or reason for which something is done, achieved
WHY is a powerful question that leads you to understand the intentions, thoughts, desires, emotions, and true essence of yourself and others. Asking WHY is the first step to uncovering truth. “Why” leads you down a pathway of exploration to gain understanding.
“Why” has the power to uncover and dismantle limiting thoughts, behaviors, and actions. Asking why shines the light of awareness on you and others to discover the heart of the matter.
*KEY: In your daily life, before making decisions, practice asking yourself and others the question WHY repeatedly.
Benefits of asking “WHY?”
-Reach the root of problems
-Gain self-awareness
-Gain understanding & truth
-Find the answers you need
-Connect with others
-Satisfies your curiosity
You can use WHY to…
-Solve your problems (find the root cause)
-Examine your beliefs
-Connect with others on a deeper level (empathy)
-Examine motivations & reasons for decisions/actions
-Examine reasoning
-Examine power systems
-Dissect thoughts
-Understand intentions, desires, emotions, behaviors
-Uncover truth
So let’s try it on for size and learn how to use WHY so you can become realized and wise…
How To Use The 5 WHY’s Technique:
1. Write down the specific problem. Writing the issue helps you formalize the problem and describe it completely.
2. Ask why the problem happens and write the answer down below the problem.
3. If the answer you just provided doesn’t identify the root cause of the problem that you wrote down in Step 1, ask Why again and write that answer down.
4. Loop back to step 3 until you agree that the problem’s root cause is identified. This may take fewer or more times than five Whys.
Ways to use WHY with YOURSELF:
Why do I need to?
Why do I have to?
Why should I?
Why do I feel__________?
Why do I want __________?
Why do I desire __________?
Why do I crave __________?
Why do I feel the need to ______?
Ways to use WHY with OTHERS:
Why do you do _____?
Why do you feel ____________?
Why do you act ______?
Why do you say ______?
Why is that true?
Why do you believe ______?
Why is that the case?
Why do you see it that way?
Why do you want ____?
Why does _______matter to you?
Why do you feel the need to ______?
Limiting Beliefs:
Why is ______true?
Why do I believe ____?
Why do I follow ________?
Why do I follow _______rule?
Why does _______matter to me?
Why do I have to do ________?
Actions:
Why did I do ____?
Why do I perform ___________action?
Why do I behave _________?
Why do I have ___________habit?
Why did I have to do ___________for _____________?
What do you do once you find the reason why?
Answer- Address the root cause by TAKING ACTION
1. Brainstorm ways to solve the problem
Create solutions that align with your values, because you’re more likely to follow through with them.
2. Reach out for professional help (counseling, medical, etc)
3. Talk to someone you trust (family, guardian, friends, etc)
4. Create a plan of action
5. Empower yourself to be able to fix the problem.
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Consequences of not asking why…
-Waste valuable time, energy, effort trying to figure out your problems.
-Others can take advantage of you when you don’t question their reasoning.
-Become confused and lost in life
-Keep repeating the same mistakes because you haven’t identified the root reason for your problems, causing you frustration.
-Become ignorant
-Don’t feel confident in your own opinions, beliefs, and knowledge.
Remember: ASK WHY until you find the root cause/reason. If you’re unable to find the root cause/reason, then explore deeper, or get some outside help.
Individuals Aspiring Mastery & Medium.com/@IAspireMastery.
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