When my dad starting affectionately calling me “The County Persecutor” sometime in junior high school, I got the feeling he thought I asked too many questions. Well, what can I say? I had a lot of questions, and I still do. As a matter of fact, I love questions.
The difference from then to now is that I used to be looking for the answer. Now, questions are the catalyst to creative thinking about challenges that are facing me.
Questions that are looking for the answer, and are thus focused on the problem and the past, usually begin with Why, When, Who, and How. (Why did I eat that much at dinner?? Who’s brilliant idea was it to leave this undone?) Questions that are looking for A SOLUTION, and thus are focused on A SOLUTION and THE FUTURE, usually begin with the wonderful word, WHAT. (What do I want? What can I do to make this situation better?)
A little book by John G. Miller, QBQ! The Question Behind the Question, discusses this idea in the context of personal accountability, and suggests Making better choices in the moment by asking better questions. He suggests that each question we ask contain an “I” because asking What can I do is a very different question than Who got us into this mess.
What is your attitude toward having unanswered questions in your life? What do you want from your day today?
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