Asking ‘Why?’ and getting nowhere?

Do you ever ask yourself ‘why’ a million times going deeper and deeper into the depths of an issue or problem only to find yourself still in the same position as before? No action has been taken. You are still as stuck. You have delved into the rabbit hole and could’ve come to any number of answers to the ‘why’ question.

For instance you have a health diagnosis and have taken yourself through the various iterations of ‘why me?’ The trouble is, that people have gotten used to asking this question as in many circumstances ‘why?’ is hugely useful. The use of ‘why?’ been widely discussed in the coaching and personal development fields by coaches. It comes highly recommended by popular speakers and authors such as Simon Sinek. Asking ‘Why?’ however isn’t anything new, teachers know that if children know ‘why’ they need to learn something they are more likely to successfully engage in it. Similarly in advertising, you aren’t going to buy something if you don’t know ‘why’ you should. Answering ‘why’ or asking ‘why’ tugs at your curiosity and leads you to want to know more. It is an important question. However, when faced with a health diagnosis the ‘why’ question can very easily be a distraction, a source of immense pain and usually doesn’t get you very far. However, in this circumstance what if you swap the ‘why’ question with the ‘how’ question? With a different question you will get different answers.

I know some may need more coaxing before you try this so, i’ll suggest it another way: how about you accept there is a ‘why’ and yet dismiss the answers to the ‘why’ question and instead ask ‘how?’ For instance, ‘how can I move forward despite challenges?’, ‘how can I grow closer in my important relationships?’ and ‘how can I improve, resolve or rectify my health?’ With these questions such as these you will get more ACTION, more GO FORWARD and more POSITIVITY than the ‘why’ question alone.

Try it out on that area of life you are stuck in. Find an outcome you want to move towards and start taking actions to move away from the stuckness and towards your bright future. It all starts with asking HOW?

Start asking better questions today!