CONTENTS
Positive power
The power of negative questions
The key power question
Engaging the built-in "right-notright" mechanism
Engaging rationality and factual thinking
Directing thought to positivity
Possible reminder card
Other power questions
If you want to be unhappy, try these "depowering" questions
When you don't heed the answer
A higher state of resourcefulness
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The power question that now works for me is: What would my higher brain have me do? (Then I just do it, not letting my lower "stupid" brains run the show!)
Keith
"Follow the guidelines of the Positivity Ratio and you'll be happy. Use the power questions to facilitate that!"
The BuddhaKahuna
"You have an implicit feel for what is right. Use that to leverage yourself into living powerfully. Yes, you can learn all the rules and techniques you can, but if you leverage your operating power with but one question, one that you use constantly, that question would be 'what is the right thing to do now?' It seems trivial and/or perhaps too simple - but please do not dismiss it. Use it and you will be truly powerful."
The BuddhaKahuna
"A person's life is determined by the quality of the questions he asks himself (and others)."
Unknown
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POSITIVE POWER
It is proven. Think about something positive and your physical strength increases. Think about something negative and it decreases. If you just use the "arm straight out to the side resistance" test (one holds up the arm as strongly as possible, but notes difference in strength after various questions), you'll see a huge difference in arm strength.
The effect of consistently practicing asking power questions has a remarkable uplifting, upgrading effect on a person's life. It is a powerful and directly effective tool, not some "someday I'll be better" tool.
ENGAGING THE HIGHER BRAIN
Asking questions also engages the higher brain, so that one does not end up being a "victim" of the falsehoods of the primitive brain.
The more you do this, the more the brain is trained to do it automatically, including the left pre-frontal cortex screening out nonsense thoughts before they come to consciousness and automatically sorting for positives and powerful actions.
The gurus, such as Tony Robbins and Marshall Goldsmith, recommend that you start the day with power questions. They also recommend that you get so good at asking those power questions that you can bring them to mind at any time, instantly, during the day, especially when one is feeling fear and thus lacking power.
These questions are merely questions that cause one to think of what one truly wants and how one wants to be such that they are operating in their power.
It has been purported that the power of one's questions are what determines the quality of one's life and one's effectiveness.
THE ALTERNATIVE KIND OF QUESTIONS
Imagine the effect of the question (and implicit declaration) of "Why am I so screwed up?" or "Why don't I ever get better?"
Or the possible effect of:
Shall I be strong and powerful today?
Who shall I choose to be today?
What am I committed to doing today that will serve me and increase my power?
Some questions are "comforting" or "seeing reality" questions, such as:
Who loves me? Who do I love?
What is good about my life?
THE POWER OF NEGATIVE QUESTIONS
Imagine the quality of life involved in asking:
What's wrong with this? [Thing, person, me] This is a super-sapper of energy and mood. Or "how can I be so stupid?", which is very much like a statement, instead of a question, about you.
The powerful person asks "what can I find good in this?" [Thing, person, me] and "what can I learn from this?" [In other words: obviously if I didn't produce the result I wanted, there must be something I don't know, so therefore there is an opportunity (and an imperative) to learn what is missing. This is how one attains 'wisdom'. ]
THE KEY POWER QUESTION
The most powerful, per Brian Tracy: What is the right thing to do now?
A variation: What will work for the best? or What will produce the best results?
This is a primary question to build into your life, just as Brian Tracy suggests that you use one of his key phrases "Is this the best use of my time right now?'
And when the question fails to get you into the right mode, you must keep repeating, as you implicitly know the answer but must make it clear to your primitive brain that this is the best thing for you. (Perhaps, what your next priority would be could be to rest and rejuvenate, if you are foggy and unclear or think you need relief, which is mostly not the way to go if you are relieving it strictly through distraction...
How do you build it into your life? One way is to do what it takes to get to the Carnegie Hall of automatic thinking and recall: practice, practice, practice.
As we sometimes "flake out" on our practice and get busy and forget to do things we should do, setting up a reminder structure is necessary as a back up. Your "One Master Notebook" table of contents/reminder system page is a good place to have it. Your "to do" list form or some system that will remind you when you do your daily to do list. I would put a list of your power questions on a card to carry with you until you've fully installed them, plus having it in your Reminders Notebook to be accessed during your grounding sessions is very useful.
[Note that my reaction to this power question was that I didn't "get" the power of it. But give it a chance, as it'll do right by you. Try it for at least 7 days, every chance you get - and see if your decisions aren't changed more to the positive...]
ENGAGING THE BUILT-IN "RIGHT-NOTRIGHT" MECHANISM
"What is the right thing to do now?"
Could something else be better?
What could be a positive practical alternative?
How can I take the best care of myself right now?
ENGAGING "WHAT WOULD... DO?" THINKING
Some might argue that this is the most powerful question, as it draws one into an image and a way of being and thinking that corresponds with it - expanding our thinking into more of what we have in our brain.
The base question is: What would an effective person do?
Or modify it with other adjectives that might work for you, such as "powerful" or "happy" - so you can access answers from the point of you of what you want.
It is also always helpful to put in the name of a person you admire in this particular area or for reasoning, qualities, traits, etc. What would Buddha do? What would the wisest person in the world do? Jesus, Gandhi, Mandela, etc. - pick a couple to be your allies or alternate personas to operate from.
ENGAGING RATIONALITY AND FACTUAL THINKING
Is it the truth? Is it absolutely provable?
(Since suffering is based all on non-truths, suffering nosedives if one uses this one practice, as Byron Katie will attest. See The Truth Test.)
DIRECTING THOUGHT TO POSITIVITY
Did I enjoy today? What would I do in the future to better enjoy my day?
What do I appreciate about today? What am I grateful for?
What did I do right today? What can I give myself credit and acknowledgement for?
(The more this is asked and answered the more the brain becomes re-wired to look for these things - and much greater happiness results. It is part of "Inputs Determine Outputs".)
POSSIBLE REMINDER CARD
Cut this out and put it on a reminder card, to use frequently during each day.
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POWER QUESTIONS:
WHAT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO NOW?
How can I take the best care of myself right now?
IS IT THE TRUTH? THE PROVABLE TRUTH?
IS IT LOVE OR FEAR?
WHAT CAN I APPRECIATE HERE?
What can I find that is good and/or useful here?
WHAT WOULD ________ DO?
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OTHER POWER QUESTIONS
You might scan these and see which you might want to have on your reminder card or "top of the mind" (memorized). The power questions should be kept in a place where you can access them, such as your Reminders Notebook.
I would suggest that you read these over every day for 30 days and answer them.
Screening criterion
The ultimate gauge is included in this question, as all bad feelings are indicators of some untruth or something that simply needs to be handled:
How do I feel right now? (If the answer is "bad", then find the untruth or unhandled and make it right.)
Choosing
Will I create empowering myself from this or allow disempowerment?
Changing Focus
What can I focus on right now?
Looking for the good in it
What can I learn from this?
What can I be grateful for?
What was good/great about today?
What is good in my life and always there for me? (See a list you've done, probably
kept in your Reminders Notebook.)
Acknowledging and appreciating myself
What have I done right today? What accomplisments, even small, have I done?
Problem solving
How can I make the best of this?
What steps can I choose and take now?
Who can help me? What resources can I access?
IF YOU WANT TO BE UNHAPPY, TRY THESE "DEPOWER" QUESTIONS
Yes, you can continue asking these questions to yourself, if you're willing to continue the rate of progress and level of feeling good of the past.
Why did this happen to me?
Why can't I get it right? Why am I so stupid, lazy, and blind?
Will I ever learn?
What's wrong with me?
I am too weak to handle this. My urges are stronger than me...
WHEN YOU DON'T HEED THE ANSWER
If you don't do the right thing and you know it, your power is sapped. But it is imperative at the time to minimize the damage, using a coping statement "Oh, well, that is part of life AND next time I'll try my best, as I know this will help me."
A HIGHER STATE OF RESOURCEFULNESS
When you ask power questions and avoid depowering questions, you feel better and your ability to be resourceful increases substantially.
However, the other side of this is that when we are in a lower state of resourcefulness, we'll not be as likely to even ask the power questions. So it is vital to keep your physical body in homeostasis and keep yourself well-grounded (as in your grounding sessions).
Be sure your maintain a high state of resourcefulness, as if your quality of life depends on it - as it does! Pace yourself in life so that the state is not sapped of its energy.
NOW, WHAT?
Honor yourself, by spending some time selecting the questions that you think will work for you. Put them on a little card (plus another findable location) and keep the card in a wallet - plus a copy, for now at least, on the bathroom mirror, to review every morning until at least 30 days have passed.
