Tony Robbins | The Power of Questions: Questions ARE the Answer

“The primary question you ask in your business, your relationship, and your health will determine your outcomes far greater than any goal.”??– Tony Robbins?

Every day the human brain asks thousands?of questions.?

And it’s all done subconsciously. Most of us don’t even know we’re doing it.?

If you consider it, that’s all thinking really is. Asking questions.?

What if I told you the quality of your life was determined by the quality of the questions you ask yourself on a daily basis??

You might think that sounds like an exaggeration. ?

But let me explain. ?

If you want to lose weight and you ask yourself, “Why can I never lose weight?” Your brain will supply all the reasons why you can't. ?

Your brain will come up with answers like, “You’re lazy,” “You have bad genetics,” “You can’t control your cravings,” and other unhelpful responses. ?

But if you ask the question, “How can I lose weight and enjoy it?” your brain starts coming up with ways you can accomplish your goals. ?

You see, questions can predispose our answers. ?

They can point us in the right or wrong direction. They can limit or expand our possibilities. They can create joy or pain. ?

Questions have power. ?

We all know what it’s like to feel stuck, to have a belief that things can’t get better, or that life won’t go our way.?

Questions can change your way of thinking. Questions can change your life. ?

And if you’re willing to take responsibility for your experience in life, the right questions can lead to inner freedom. ?

You wouldn’t be here reading this if you didn’t have a willingness to live life on your terms and take the necessary steps to get there. ?

And I’m here to help you along the way. ?

Primary Questions?

I’ll give you a sneak peek into my most exclusive event, Date With Destiny. There we talk about what I call your primary question. Everyone has one. It’s the question you ask yourself the MOST in life. ?

The majority of people don’t even realize they’re doing it, but it’s running in the background every single day. ?

For some people, it’s:?

Why am I always messing up??

What’s wrong with me??

For myself it was:?

How can I make it better??

For my wife Sage it was:?

“Where is the good in this?”?

Can you feel the difference between the former and the latter? Can you see the difference in the quality of emotion each question creates??

What's good about my original primary question? ?

I'm always looking to improve. But what does this presuppose? That something isn't good enough. Over the years, I've refined this and now it's simply: How can I help? How can I serve even more??

The primary question you ask in your business, your relationship, and your health will determine your outcomes far greater than any goal.

And it will determine your level of happiness or suffering in life. ?

In the past my focus was fixing things, always making them better. I still do that every day, but I have a new focus for serving.??

My new primary question predisposes that I’m already making an impact and that I can make my impact even more meaningful. ?

Take a moment to think about what your primary question is...?

Write it down.?

Can you reframe it to be one that is more empowering??

Maybe you need a new primary question. What would you like your new question to be in life??

Remember, questions ARE the answer, my friend.?

Now that you’ve given your primary question some thought, I want to offer you a tool that I use every single day. It’s a simple exercise I learned from my dear friend Byron Katie that you can use next time you have a challenge.?

I use these questions with executives in all my businesses, and when working with people at my events. ?

4 Questions and a Turnaround

Pick a limiting belief you have about your career, business, health, or relationship. Something you think often. ?

I’ll provide an example from a recent client I worked with. Their belief was, “I’ll never find a way to grow my business.”?

Yours might be:?

I’ll never have a connected relationship with my kids.?

I’ll never feel confident in my own skin.?

I’ll never identify the right partners for my business idea.?

Q1 & Q2 Break the Pattern: ?

Now start by asking these questions...?

Is this true? Is it REALLY true? Can you absolutely know this is true? Could this be a misinterpretation or a misconception? Do you have all the possible information necessary to know exactly what this means??

The moment that you start to see that a limiting belief is not always true, you begin to break the pattern. ?

Q3 Get Leverage?

How do you react – what happens – when you believe that thought? What do you feel, what do you experience, what do you become when you believe this thought??

Change is never a matter of ability; it is a matter of motivation. It’s never “can you,” it’s “will you.” The next question will generate leverage for you to push through to break the pattern. ?

It gives you a reason to change.?

Q4 Annihilate the Limiting Belief ?

Who would you be without the thought??

If this thought didn’t exist, if you never had this thought, what would you feel, how would you behave, how would you experience life, what would you be like without it? ?

The Turnaround?

This is where you say the opposite of the thought. Instead of, “It’s impossible to grow my business,” say, “It’s totally possible to grow my business.” ?

...or have a connected relationship with my kids...?

...or feel confident in my own skin...?

...or identify the right partners for my business idea...?

You name it. Whatever the limiting belief is, say the opposite.?

Now lastly, come up with at least 3 reasons you CAN accomplish your goal. Once you do that, you’ve created a new belief. The more reasons you come up with, the stronger your belief will be. ?

This is especially potent when you do this as a team at work around a limiting belief that may be plaguing your project or business.?

Apply this whenever you have a limiting belief, and you can change it in an instant.?

Questions are the answer.?

Here’s to asking better questions! Share your new and old primary questions in the comments.?

Tony Robbins

• Interested in learning more about the power of questions in your daily life and other tools you may not be aware of? Watch the Power of Questions podcast here.

• Have you been thinking about learning from Tony live and in person? Now is your chance! Join us for his cornerstone event, Unleash the Power Within here.