Mind Alchemy Day 15

Update:Please click on this link for more information about The new Mind Alchemy course . All the links to the downloads have now been removed. I would like to thank all 800+ readers who expressed an interest in this course and for everyone who completed the course the first time round, it is becasue of you I could make the course better.

Before we start

A few readers are now blogging about their experiences on the course, and it would be great to lend your support:

Stacy Claflin – Grow With Stacy

Marty BoneIdol – Living Life in Chapters

Derek Breuning – Tech Life

Stephen – New Life Starts Here

Read the interview I have done with Angela Artemis from Powered by Intuition

Watch an interview I made with Suzie Cheel on Mind Alchemy

Today we are going to be looking at the questions we ask ourselves day in and day out.

I had originally planned to put this topic into the course, but then took it out in favour of 'Affirmations'. However as I was reading over the course again I realised that the topic of 'The Questions we ask ourselves' is a much more powerful exercise and, is much more effective in changing our thoughts.

Personal development means absolutely nothing unless we are ready to change. We can read a hundred books, attend a hundred seminars, read a million blogs but it still won't change us unless we are ready to change. A lot of us are looking for answers but we still haven't formulated a question. Questions are key to solving anything whether it be a mathemtical problem or your own life.

James Dyson asked the question; How could I get rid of the bag in the hoover (vacuum) without losing suction?

Richard Branson asked the question: How can I compete with the big airlines?

Robert Scoble asked the question: How can I change Microsoft's public image?

Darren Rowse asked the question: How can I make money blogging

Once you've formulated your question how do you know it's the right question?

The answer to that is: when it moves you toward a positive outcome for the good of yourself and harms no other.

I have a friend who has been been trying to get out of his current job for 2 years. The benefits and salary are the key things that hold him there. I have asked him several times "˜If you left your job just now, what would you want to do?', to this day he still doesn't know what he wants to do. He knows if he seriously asks himself this question it will be a step closer to making a decision and leaving the company. So if he doesn't ask the question he can go on with his life and complain about his job.

It takes balls to ask the right question

There are many people in the situation I described above and many people who have still not asked the right questions and deep down don't want to. Questions drive us forward, right questions change our lives.

Think about this scenario and the questions we could ask:

You're overweight and you want to lose a few pounds. You've lost a few pounds and are quite pleased with yourself and your progress. You are looking in the cupboards one day and see that packet of biscuits that the kids have not seen (rarely ever happens, but it could). What questions do you ask?

Will one biscuit really do any harm? It's only got 100 calories, surely that's not going to harm me? I've done so well I should have some reward? Are these the right questions to ask.

Any overweight person knows, deep down, they are not. The right questions to ask in this situation could be:

If I have this biscuit will it disrupt my program? Will this one biscuit throw out all the good work I've done? Will this one biscuit lead to another one? I've done so well, it's crazy to stop now isn't it?

Asking the right questions takes guts.

Changing your questions

If you are stuck in a situation and you have been asking yourself questions which are not driving you forward in some way, try asking a different set of questions.

Todays exercise

Download a copy of todays exercise here

Download an example copy here

How to change your questions to change your life

Break your outcomes down

If you have big outcomes, break them down. For example if want to lose 30 pounds, start asking how you could lose 2 pounds. Do this 15 times and you have reached your outcome. Sound too simple, that's because it is, it's our thinking that makes it hard.

Think of 5 questions for each problem

We can't solve problems with the same questions we asked when the problem was first created.

We often ask ourselves the same question over and over again. Ask 5 different questions to a problem you might be stuck with and start answering them all.

Ask questions all the time

Ask yourself questions in every area of your life. How can I make my kids happier? How can I free up more time for myself? How can I work smarter? How could this process be improved? How can I become more organised?

When you ask questions in all areas of your life, you will gradually learn to ask good questions and filter out the bad questions. Practice is the key to changing your life and asking questions is a great skill to have.

What do you want to change in your life today?

Ask yourself this question often as we often get stuck in our life and stopthinking about what would make it better.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow we will looking at organizing your life to organize your mind. Until tomorrow my fellow Mind Alchemists"¦"¦..

Action follows a thought"¦

This course is about taking action, and to become pro active in changing your life. Take time to do this exercise and really think about it throughout the day. You don't need to wait until tomorrow to take steps to improve your "˜Wheel of Life', but with the support and encouragement from all the members we can help each other and support each other, but ultimately "˜you have to bring something to the table!'

Your thoughts

As always it's good to talk about your experiences and share it with the rest of the members of the course, so let us know how this exercise went for you and if you gained any insights or had any revelations about yourself or your life.

Mind Alchemy Day 15 – Ask the Right Questions

Before we start