5 Questions To Start 2021 Strong
Tips to use questions for growth and development.
I passionately believe in the power of questions to inform and transform.
Questions are the most obvious tool that we have, yet we don’t use questions as strategically and intentionally as we should. I’ve spent the past several years thinking and writing about the power of questions. I’m so often surprised by the feedback I get from people. Questions are simple, free, and powerful tools. They cost us nothing but time to use.
When we pose simple, thoughtful, intentional questions to ourself we are stretching the muscles of self-reflection and personal growth. Like all muscles they need to be used, sometimes using them is painful, other times the stretch is worth the effort.
The late Irish poet and author John O’Donohue wrote the following about the power of questions.
“The question is the place where the unknown becomes articulate in us. A good question is something that has incredible grace and light and depth to it. A good questions is something that always, in some way, plows the invisible furrows of absence to find the nourishment and the treasure that we actually need.”
(John O’Donohue in Walking in Wonder:Eternal Wisdom for a Modern World)
O’Donohue isn’t the only writer to observe that questions help us articulate the unknown. Parker Palmer in his book A Hidden Wholeness says this about questions.
“Honest, open questions are countercultural…such questions, asked in a safe space, invite the inner teacher to say more about the matter at hand. And they give the speaker a chance to hear that voice free of the static we create by imposing our prediction on one another.”
(Parker Palmer in A Hidden Wholeness)
Endings are clear times to use the power of questions. 2020 has been a year unlike any before. It’s important now more than ever to ask ourselves a few simple questions. The questions are simple, but the answers may be less so. That is okay.
When asking questions for growth and development it’s important to keep a few gentle reminders in mind.
- Give a question time. Choose a question and live with it for a day or two. Don’t rush to answer it. Just ponder the question and see what emerges.
- Be Curious. There are no wrong answers when you are using questions for growth and reflection. Be curious about your first answer and about what comes after.
- Be Kind. Questions are simply tools. Be kind to yourself. I have sat with a friend who couldn’t answer the question, what brings you joy? She was kind to herself and watched over time what DID bring her joy.
Here are five questions to consider asking yourself as we end 2020. Let the questions be a start. You might discover other questions as you think about these. Of course, it’s always great if you write your answer down. But it’s not required. There is a benefit in just holding a few questions in your mind and seeing what you learn as you walk with them for a few days.
Year-End Questions
1. What has worked well for me the past year?
2. What do I know? (The corollary to this question is: what am I going to do about it. These are the questions of intuition, read more about them here)
3. In the difficulty of the past year, where did I find joy, happiness, and/or a sense of flow?
4. Are there two or three small changes that I could make to make my life flow better?
5. What has always been true of me?
Questions are tools for transformation. Questions are an invitation to change.
“Courage doesn’t happen when you have all the answers. It happens when you are ready to face the questions you have been avoiding your whole life.”
― Shannon L. Alder
