Three Questions That Shape My Life

Madam Toastmaster, fellow Toastmasters, and most welcome guests.?

I am really excited to be here and giving this speech in front of you all.?

Today, I want to share with you three questions that shape my life. Three questions that I ask myself daily. And sometimes even multiple times a day.

My goal in sharing these questions with you is to give you an insight into my thought process. If you understand my thought process, you understand me.

So, The 1st question I ask myself daily is, were my intentions clear?

As an individual, I always try to avoid conflict. There is something about a disagreement that makes me very anxious.

But at the same time, I also believe in living a life full of principles. And one of the principles that I have is to live a life full of honesty and transparency.?

And sometimes what happens is that my desire to avoid conflict and to be honest are at odds. And this is when I seek help from this question. Are my intentions clear? Asking this question gives me a lot of strength. And it pushes me to be honest with a friend, family member, or a colleague.

The 2nd question that I ask myself daily, is does this give me energy?

And I’ve found this question to be particularly powerful.?

If something gives me energy, I continue to do it. If not I cut it out.

A case in point is my membership here at Toastmasters. I walked through that door for the first time on Jan 10th. And this place gives me a lot of energy. So I always try to attend every session and not miss any of the meetings.

Contrast it to something like going to a pub quiz or a night out with friends. That is something that doesn’t give me a lot of energy. So most of the time I skip those.

This energy-driven way of doing things has helped me find my true passions in life.?

Be it the work I do, be it people who I spend time with, be it the book I read, if it gives me energy, I continue to do it. If not I cut it out.

The 3rd and most important question I ask myself is whether I will regret not doing this when I am 80 yrs old?

I have found that this question brings me immense clarity.

Let me share with you an incident from 1 year ago when I applied this question to my life.?

I used to work for a big investment back in London. Life was not bad, but it wasn’t exciting as well. The role didn’t give me as much energy and I thought I was coasting. After a few months of searching, I finally got an offer from a startup.?

I had to make a decision. Whether to continue at the investment bank or leave for the startup. I thought the decision would be easy. But no, it was not. The new job had lower pay, no insurance benefits, not as huge as a brand name, and frankly, it was risky. On paper, there were more cons than pros. It was not just me even my family thought along similar lines.

That’s when I took help from this question, would I regret not taking this job when I am 80 years old?

The answer was a clear yes, I would miss the opportunity to move my career in a direction that gave me more energy. So yes, I took the job, seized the opportunity, and am happy for it.

So over the years, I have been using these 3 questions to shape my life and make decisions. I hope this gave you a little insight into my life and what goes inside my little brain here.? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Madam Toastmaster.