“We live in the world our questions create.” – David Cooperrider

One of the most transforming things I have done in my quest for personal growth is to ask myself questions. It seems utterly simple, but it’s something I’ve only been practicing for a few years. Sometimes, I just sit and ponder, like after hearing a good question on a podcast. Sometimes the questions come to me during the captivity inside an airplane fuselage when I’m on my way to a new adventure. But more often than not, the questions come to me in the morning when I’m sitting on my couch with a mug of hot French Press, reading and writing. Regardless of how their paths cross mine, I try to capture them in a journal along with my responses.

I’ve found that making the time to practice this questioning and answering has helped shape my current existence.

And that’s not an exaggeration. When I see my desires plainly spilled out on pages, it has a way of motivating behavior to make those desires into a reality. When I realize I’m doing something counter to creating the life I want, I have the opportunity to stop. And I am purposefully allowing myself to learn and edit and dream.

Here are a few of the questions I have asked of myself over the past 12 months:

• What do I want today?
• What do I want tomorrow?
• If today and tomorrow don’t match, why?
• What do I believe I deserve out of life?
• How is my heart healing?
• How am I practicing self care?
• What mistakes of my past am I unwilling to repeat in my present and future?
• What am I blind to that is getting in the way of living the life I want?
• How am I practicing shalom [insert your word for the year here] today?
• What makes me feel the most inspired?
• What makes me feel drained?
• What are some habits I can pursue to live the life I want?
• What does it mean for me to live fully?
• Who am I when tested?
• Who am I when I am at my best?
• What is saving my life right now? (1)
• What did I learn in the past 5 days that I will care about in 5 years? (2)

A few months ago, I sent out an email to friends I trust and asked these questions to get outside feedback (3):

• What’s my best contribution to the world?
• When do you see me really come alive?
• What do people say about me when I’m not around? (This is supposed to be a soft way to elicit critical feedback)
• Where do you long for me to experience more wholeness in my life?

I then wrote down their responses to see if they aligned with my perception of myself. It was a powerful exercise!

Of course, these are just a few of the many questions that seem to find their way to me, and are all related to life in general. I have a separate list related to love – check back next week for those!

What is a question that is helping shape your life right now?

[Photo credit: Cori Dunton; sitting on a bench in Central Park, NYC – a great place to ponder life.]

Question sources:

(1) Love this one that Jen Hatmaker asks all her guests at the end of her For the Love podcast. (2) Pretty sure I heard this on Typology but don’t recall the guest/episode. (3) I can’t recall what podcast I heard this on but they are not original to me.