Over the course of the last 25 years working in the field of personal development and radical change I've noticed a fascinating phenomenon: great questions are the secret of creating powerful change!
Why questions? ...Surely I need answers?
Many of us have grown up with the idea that we should consult experts about our problems, as they will be more knowledgeable than us and therefore better able to offer effective solutions. This is sometimes true but very often their opinion, which may be appropriate for their own or other people's issues, isn't that useful for dealing with ours. The other problem with listening to other people's advice is that it makes us dependent on them as a source of expertise. Instead my latest book encourages the idea that we should learn to trust ourselves again, and to recognise that we have the answers already within us – after all, who really knows us, our desires and dreams better than ourselves?
Questions also have the added bonus of being much more flexible than others people's advice. Advice can only be valid for the solution it is given to; applying it to another situation, or all situations, is often disastrous. If you seek advice on the problem, ‘should I go out with her?’ you might get the qualified advice ‘No, don’t.’ Although it might be right in this particular case, if you apply that advice to all potential dates, or meeting up with anyone, then that advice starts to become much less useful.
Questions however have the magic of being able to be applied to any situation and make a positive difference. In my next blog posts I will give you two of the most important questions in the world for you to use and see what a difference they can make to your life.
Phil Parker
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