By Daphne Michaels, Special for TTU
When was the last time you considered the quality of your questions? Do your questions — the ones you ask yourself or use in conversation with others — promote the success of your mission, project, goals? Are they the ‘right questions’ — as opposed to questions that take you down unbeneficial or time-wasting paths?
Consider developing what I call Smart Questions. Smart Questions do take skill. They require thought. They often take more time to clarify up front. However, taking the time to develop the habit of asking Smart Questions brings priceless rewards — here are just a few:
First, Smart Questions will give you a greater sense of confidence. True confidence is not something we adopt in a moment, but rather the outcome of a successful process. Asking Smart Questions requires a process. It begins with taking ourselves into wide open terrain where we must find a trail head that we really believe will lead somewhere — either to the next Smart Question or all the way to the resolution of a challenge — or to key insights for project development.
Second: When you ask Smart Questions you can rest assured that you’re making valuable contributions rather than contributing to the needless chaos that results from unconscious, unclear or even irresponsible communication.
Third: Smart Questions create a sense of excitement. They not only serve as mechanisms to elicit answers within reach. They also serve as portals — doorways to possibilities beyond the known.
Simply put, Smart Questions lead to out-of-the-box thinking. And this is where breakthroughs come from.
For more information on this and more, visit my website at DaphneMichaels.com
Daphne Michaels is a leading expert in human potential and author of the Amazon #1 bestselling book, Mountaintop Prosperity: Move Quickly to New Heights in Life, Work and Money. She has helped thousands of people for more that 25 years with her innovative, progressive, and inspirational guidance. Daphne’s lifelong journey includes formal training in the social sciences and integral psychology and rewarding work as a licensed psychotherapist and executive consultant. She is endorsed by New York Times bestselling authors and the national media and listed with the top-rated All American Speakers bureau. Daphne is a regular guest offering business advice and expert commentary on The Price of Business and other nationally syndicated BizTalk radio programs.
