Questions are so powerful, they are a great resource for getting more out of ourselves, other people and of course the potential of our business. As a coach they are, of course, the tools of my trade and I love the challenge of finding just the right question, for just the right time, asked in just the right way. The careful phrasing of the right question can shift limiting beliefs, reframe circumstances and unlock resources we didn’t know we had. 

Our brains are wired to seek in response to a question, we almost can’t help it. Whether we come to a definite answer or not, a question has the power to direct our attention and so, by its very nature can shift both our perception of the present moment and our entire experience. We can be the passenger to our fears, worries, insecurities and distractions or (with the right questions) be the drivers of our own thinking.

If we take questions in hand and wield them with skill we can consciously direct ourselves and our business and be rewarded with growth, productivity and satisfaction. Leave our thinking to chance, and there's the likelihood that we just default to unhelpful and familiar patterns and miss an opportunity.

I’m a great advocate for beginning the day with questions. When carefully chosen and diligently answered, they can set the tone for the day in a remarkable way.

What questions could you ask yourself to begin your day in the best way possible?

To find the perfect answer let’s explore a little. We all use questions daily of course, but to avoid wielding them like blunt instruments taking the time to sharpen and hone our questions, just as a carpenter would his tools, can be useful.

To do that let’s take a look at some of the aspects to consider when framing just the right question.

the anatomy of a question - aspects to consider when constructing just the right question….

Time frame. How tightly do you want to focus; this moment, this day this week, this year?

Hierarchy. Do you want your question to invite the sorting of information? Do you want to rank things in order of value and importance. Using ‘most’ or ‘least’ invites this thinking. ‘What am I most grateful for right now?’ versus ‘what am I grateful for?’ for example.

Level and context. Which level are you interested in focussing on? A question can be tightly focused on just one or span multiple… Environmental - Where am I going today? , behavioural - What am I going to do? , skills - how am I going to do it?, beliefs - what do I think is possible?, values - what’s important?, identity - who am I? , mission - what am I here for? The levels I’m referring to here are Dilt’s Logical Levels from NLP but you can just as easily create your own list of contexts that matter to you and the examples i’ve used are just one of myriad that could be asked at each level.

Explorative or decisive, open or closed? ‘Do you like ice cream?’ versus ‘what ice cream do you like?’ ‘An open question naturally invites more exploration whereas a yes / no response creates finality and has the potential to helpfully (or not) close down options, which is most appropriate?

Mood and scope created by tone and phrasing. Short direct questions invite pithy responses. “ What 3 things do I need to achieve today” Nuanced, softly worded open questions at a higher level prompt deeper reflection. “What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?“ The difference between words like ‘will’ or ‘might’ can change the whole impact of a question. ‘What will you do today?’ versus ‘what might you do today?’ for example. The same goes for “could” and “should”. What’s the impact you want to create with the words you choose?

Order. The primary recency effect will mean that in a list of topics or questions the first and last will often be remembered and have most impact. In order to answer a question you are taking your brain through a process, building a well thought out sequence of questions in just the right order can greatly increase the power of that exploration and the resultant feeling.

Take a moment to ponder the following questions.

What has been most challenging for you in the last few days?

What are you grateful for right now?

I’m guessing the impact was wildly different both in terms of what you came up with but also how each left you feeling. Having spent a few minutes pondering how hard life is will likely leave you feeling worse than equal time spent focusing on the positives. (the order was deliberate for that reason of course).

Looking deeper at how those questions are structured, we can appreciate the difference these subtleties can make…

What has been most challenging for you in the last few days?

We’ve set the time frame as the last few days so we are discounting challenges from last week or last year for example.

We are asking for the most challenging so we naturally have to seeking out all the things that were challenging and weigh them up against each other to find the most significant. On the way we will likely ignore those things that haven’t been challenging but instead be searching through the silt of difficulties.

We haven’t specified a level with this question so we could just as easily say the weather (environmental level) has been challenging as we could the fact that we didn’t get to achieve something important (values level).

It’s explorative and open so we could literally go anywhere with the answer.

Stacking the question “What are you grateful for right now?” to come after this one is a dramatic shift from broader time to right now in this moment, challenges to positives, and its also likely that you’ll be tackling the second question within the context of the first and making associative links. So if you’ve just been thinking about a challenging a conversation with your partner you might also think about that context (your partner) when searching for things to be grateful for. There’s no prioritisation or hierarchy prompted by the second question so the list could potentially go on ad infinitum. With the second question we’ve very tightly specified the focus as “right now” so this will naturally bring us into more present moment awareness.

Setting a daily practice of asking just three simple questions can be game changing. Whether they are designed to create the right state of mind, to move you towards your goals or simply remind you of what’s important, they are a simple and incredibly powerful tool for any empowered entrepreneur.

Questions to explore possibilities and what has meaning

What would I do if you knew I couldn’t fail?

What’s most important to me in this phase of my life?

What is most important to me right now?

What does success look like to me?

What brings me most satisfaction?

How do I know I’m living a worthwhile life?

If I could change one thing about my life right now what would it be?

Questions to improve focus and productivity

What is both urgent and important today?

What’s one thing I can do to move my business forwards?

What am I going to put in place this year to make sure I stay on track?

What might distract me today and what do I need to do to guard against that?

How am I going to make today as successful as it can possibly be?

Questions to support wellbeing

How am I going to take care of myself today?

What is the attitude and energy I am bringing to this day?

What is my body telling me right now?

Create your own daily questions

Take a moment to consider how you’d like to begin each day with focus and intention, with what matters most at the forefront and with the unique goals for your life and your business ahead.

What three questions are the best ones to begin your day?

I’d love to hear what you come up with so do share in comments or drop me a line.