Much of what we feel, understand and accomplish every single day happens as a result of our self-talk. Our ability to work, solve problems and respond to our environment is controlled by this self-talk and the questions we ask ourselves consciously and unconsciously. It is critically important that we understand the importance of our self-talk.
Importance of Self-Talk
The basic purpose of our brain is to help us make decisions which keep us alive and self-talk plays a major role in this.
When you ask yourself a question, your brain searches until it finds answers that are acceptable to your conscious mind. What is acceptable is determined by what you have been conditioned to through language patterns, experiences and repetition over time. You can ask yourself any question and your brain will automatically find an answer.
How Questions Work
Questions, according to Tony Robbins in his quintessential book, Awaken The Giant Within, accomplish three things:
- They immediately change what we’re focusing on and therefore how we feel.
- Questions change what we delete. Often, we feel bad because we delete all the reasons we could be feeling good.
- They also change the resources available to us.
Questions can be Empowering or Dis-empowering
The questions we ask ourselves can either be empowering or disempowering. You can ask disempowering questions that make you think about things that make you feel bad and block you from taking action. Or you can ask empowering questions that make you feel good and motivate you towards achieving your goals.
For example, what is more empowering? Asking what will happen if I fail or what will happen when I succeed? Pretty obvious isn’t it.
Results of asking better questions?
As you get used to asking yourself better questions, doing so will become more and more automatic. You will begin to ask yourself better questions, even without knowing it.
When you learn you to ask yourself better questions, gradually over time, you will find that you are making better decisions. Additionally, you will feel more positive, motivated, and confident.
Empowering Questions that Tony Robbins Asks Each Morning
Some of this self-talk can be routinized and given structure. Here is a list of questions that Tony Robbins asks himself each morning:
- What am I most happy about in my life now?
- What am I most excited about in my life now?
- What am I most proud about in my life now?
- What am I most grateful about in my life now?
- Who do I love? Who loves me?
Problem-Solving Questions
Here are some additional questions that Tony Robbins recommends for dealing with problems that arise throughout the day.
- What is great about this problem?
- What is not perfect yet?
- What am I willing to do to make it the way I want it?
- What am I willing to do no longer do in order to make it the way I want it?
- How can I enjoy the process while I do what is necessary to make it the way I want it?
What new empowering questions are you going to ask yourself? Let us know in the comments below.