Albert Einstein was right, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
From the moment we wake up in the morning, to going to bed at night, we are thinking. It’s the thoughts that occupy our minds that determine the overall quality of our lives and the results we get.
In his seminal work, ‘As a Man Thinketh’ James Allen stated “the quality of a man’s thoughts can have a tremendous effect on his life.” For my part, changing my thinking has had a tremendous effect on the way I live and my relationships.
I want to share three questions that have contributed to this change. Instead of focusing on disempowering questions like why do I keep doing this to myself, and why does this keep happening to me? I started to use these three.
I borrowed them from Anthony Robbins’ little book – Notes from a friend, where he talks about problem questions, morning questions, and evening questions.
Great for team meetings, coaching sessions, or doing your own evaluation.
a) What is great about this problem?
b) What is not perfect yet?
c) What am I willing to do to make it the way that I want it
It can be hard to focus your mind to think on these questions, as you may keep reverting to your old way of thinking which will show you how much you go into that negative space.
When you begin to answer these questions, surprisingly thoughts and suggestions show up that you might not have expected. The next stage is to follow through, and that in itself. may bring awareness that you might not actually want to change from where you are.
It’s not an easy habit to change how we think, but a habit that can bring encouraging answers.
