What was the last question you asked … yourself?
We communicate with people around us throughout the day. The main element of most communications are questions. We ask questions to people around and would like to get answers in return.
We ask questions
- to our friends — “Will we go out together on Thursday night?”
- to our children — “Did you finish your homework?”
- to our co-workers — “Have you called the customer asking for proposal?”
- to our spouse — “How was your day?”
We can propagate the examples. A conversation without questions would be inadequate. It will not satisfy your curiosity and also will not show your interest about the subject.
We ask questions to almost everyone. But, do you think that you are missing someone you know well? Yes, that’s ourselves!
We omit asking questions to ourselves. Do you know why? Because…
- We are possibly afraid that our answers might disturb us
- We don’t have “enough” time
- We stick to the bright screens of our “smart” phone everywhere — at work, at subway, while waiting elevator, while stopping at red light in traffic, etc…
- It requires some thinking. We don’t like to think.
- We reward ourselves by being reactive rather than being proactive . We choose to respond to events after they happen instead of thinking or planning.
Do you remember the last question you asked to … yourself? And also the time you asked that question? Even if you asked, do you think you had a fair answer? If so, well done! If not, no problem. I’ll tell you why you would want to do that.
When you are “not” aware of what is happening in your life, you will be just like a boat drifting down the stream. You can’t know and can’t decide where you are going.
If you ask questions to yourself “regularly” and answer them “honestly” you have the chance of
- setting a goal/direction
- evaluating your current situation
- understanding yourself better
- determining the meaning of life for you.
If you can’t determine your current situation, you can’t set targets for your life. Asking questions to yourself will help you accomplish this first step.
So, let’s come to some action.
Take a piece of paper or open a new text file on PC. Answer the following questions. Try to be “honest”. You can add your own questions.
- What is my biggest reason to wake up in the morning?
- Am I happy or sad today? Explain the reason of your feeling.
- Do I have a life goal/goals? What did I do today / this week / this month for my goal?
- Do I live the same day everyday? What did I do to differentiate from yesterday?
- Am I happy with my job?
How did it go? Was it easy? It might be a bit challenging for the first time. Try to
- Ask questions to yourself regularly and record your answers. Be honest to yourself. You don’t have to share them with anybody.
- Compare your current situation with previous ones. Your answers will give you clues about your current situation.
Thinking, asking, curiosity… These all help us to challenge ourselves for a better life. We all know this, but sometimes within our busy lives, we forget. I just wanted to remind this to both myself and readers of this writing.
