Six Questions to Ask Yourself Each Day
71What am I grateful for today?
To be successful in life, to have a happy life we need to focus on the good. All to often we focus on the things we don't have rather than be thankful for the all the wonderful things we have in our lives. Each day you should make a note of several things that you are grateful for.
What do I praise myself for today?
We are fairly adept at beating ourselves up. We are often our own worst critic. We constant berate ourselves. Take a different approach. We generally do much more positive things than we acknowledge. Learn to praise yourself for all the good things you do. Take notice of the positive things you accomplish.
3. What are the things that drain my energy?
There are many things each day that we let drain our energy. These are generally our pet peeves - things that set us off. Often we do not realize how we let things rob us of our energy and positive attitude.
Some things that we should be aware of are: What causes me to lose my temper? Who do I associate with that drains my energy? What do I do that creates negative energy?
What am I glad I did today?
Here is just a reflection on the things you did today that you are pleased you did. You need to be aware of the positive things you do each day. At the end of each day, recall all the positive things and reflect on your feelings associated with doing those things that made you feel you were glad you did them.
What do I wish I had done today?
We all let opportunities slip by us each day. At the end of the day, if we reflect back we can think of things we wish we had done. It may have been saying something kind to a fellow worker, lending someone a helping hand or just being more positive and upbeat. Think back on the day and reflect on those things that you did not do, opportunities to make the world a little better place that you let slip away.
6. What specific goal am I committed to accomplish this week and what specific steps will I take today to move me toward that goal?
We often do not achieve what we want in life because we do not have a specific goal or target in mind. We drift aimlessly from day to day. Set specific goals to accomplish each week. And take specific steps that move you toward that goal each and every day. As Benjamin Franklin said, "Small strokes fell great oaks." And small but consistent steps toward our goals will allow us to achieve those goals.
If you ask yourself these questions each and every day, you will be bringing into your conscious awareness things that are important to you and things that you need to work on. These are simple but powerful questions. Make it a habit to ask and answer them each day. You will see great improvement in your life.
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Comments
Thanks for your comment. You have hit on a great idea. It will work wonders for you.
John
Great tidbits of advice in those simple questions. I think I need more time to ponder each day. Thanks for giving me something to think about.
Thanks for your comments. Thinking about those questions will really help a lot. I causes us to thnk about what really matters.
Great Food For Thought and I will utilize this...we can make our days positive with action on our part, thanks again for the advice....!! Marisue
grat ads by the way....good sites about setting goals and attitudes...!! marisue
Thanks so much for your comments. I know the value of aksing and answering these questions. I know it will work well for you.
John,
Great and Simple questions. Good peice of advice. I start this process.
Thanks
nivas ameya
Thanks for your comments. The questions will work wonders for you if you ask and answer them daily.
Excellent advice - I like how the questions work with each other. I think you need to go through the exercise of each of them, all together. I'm going to try, starting today! Thanks!
Steph,
Thanks for you comments. I know they will really work wonders if you use them daily.
Nice questions except for... "What do I wish I had done today?"
Reflecting back on the day and wishing you had done something diffrent gives you a sense of regret. This question can also be translated to ..." What do you regret doin today? " I personally simply hate the feeling of regret... it's a horrible feeling. ALthough I do understand what you're trying to say... which is pretty much What would you have done diffrently ... so you can learn and improve from it. Still though not liking this question as much as the others.
J.G.
Joey,
I agree that regret is one of the worst feelings you can experience. In fact I have taught that at the end of your life, your greatest grief will come from regret of things you did not do. Only by bringing things into your conscious awareness to you have the ability to change your behavior. I think it is far better to regret now and change the behavior than to fail to recognize the regret and continue the behavior which will allow far more regret later in life.
I understand and agree that regret is what we need to avoid. My suggestion is that we examine and bring into our conscious awareness those things that we could have/should have done but did not. The sole purpose of the exercise is to recognize and change the behavior.
I appreciate your comments.
these are great questions...i have a hard time being positive, so thank yo u!
Lady,
I think we all have a huge amount of self-doubt. But asking these questions gets us to focus on all the positive and good we do. The more we focus on the positive, the less we focus on our short comings.
excellent hub, John, it brightened up my day!
Thanks for the comment. I know that you brighten the day for a lot of us.
Thanks, although some may not agree with you!!! LOL!
Their problem, not mine.
Great questions and it makes you think. We should all think on the positive side of everything. Negatives are no good at all. I wasted half my life putting myself down. Thinking I wasnt good enough. There was no reason to think that way I think it came from my shyness.
Then one day I just thought stuff what anyone thinks.. Just be yourself and enjoy life. And thats all anyone can do is be positive. Thanks for that john
Eileen,
I think we all get off on the wrong foot in life. For lots of different reasons. But truly the past does not matter. It is gone and there is nothing we can do to change it. Going forward is the only thing that matters. I am glad that you have changed your outlook. Remember to keep your positive attitude and share it with others.
I think of regrets and clench my fist and think "Put that out of your head, it's the past now". Someday I will be through with all of my mistakes, hopefully, and have learned from them all.
Andromeda, Unfortunately, we never will be through with our mistakes. I am afraid that as long as we live and are humans we will continue to make mistakes. It is very important that we accept the fact that we are human and all humans make mistakes.
What we need to learn to do is to let go of them. You are well on your way if you are consciously aware of holding on to regrets. Just continue repeatings "It is past now. There is nothing I can do about it, so I let it go. I will focus my energy on the here and now, for that is the only time I have."
There is a great essay from Og Mandio's Return of the Rag Picker, titled "For the rest of my life". The basic message is that for the rest of my life, I will forget about those two most dreadful days - yesterday and tomorrow and concentrate on today - for that is the only day I have. If you are interested, send me an email and I will forward the complete essay. If you will read if twice a day for 30-60 days, it will change your life.
Beautiful questions we need to pause and ask ourselves. To live with awareness is part of the steps to living a fuller life. Thanks for sharing :)
I love what you say about living with awareness. Too few people understand or even attempt to live with awareness.
Thanks for you comments ... my feeling is the comments add so much additional insight.
An amazing article...hats off to the way you presented it...i agree with you that we should have goals for us and should work towards that goals instead of moving ahead recklessly....
Thanks for your comments and I hope you stay on course toward your goals.
Hello John! By reading the six questions above and through your teachings, I know that I'm on the right path! Thanks for sharing with us on The Ten Minutes!
Marco from Dallas
Marco,
Thanks for your comments. I look forward to seeing your progress with your new site.
John
Excellent advice John. I normally use the 1,2 and 6 on a daily basis, especially number 6. Goal setting and planning is something i have started right from my school days. When things don't happen i also analyze what went wrong and try to correct it.
Anamika, you are way ahead of most people. Good for you. I would also suggest you pay attention to those things that drain your energy. It could be friends, family members, or specific tasks that leave you feeling drained. Once you have identified them, do everything you can to limit the influence they have on you. Spend less time with those people/tasks.
Can i av this sent to my email plz... barnsleyskichic@hotmail.com..
thx u i've just started these 6 questions and find myself imporving and getting stronger thank you in advance xx
There is a great essay from Og Mandio's Return of the Rag Picker, titled "For the rest of my life". If you are interested, send me an email and I will forward the complete essay. If you will read if twice a day for 30-60 days, it will change your life.
Angela Harris says:
2 years ago
This is excellent advice. I bet a person would be amazed at how much their life would be positively affected by these 6 simple questions if reviewed religiously on a daily basis. They are kind of an impromptu gauge of your life path's direction.
I am going to make a little notebook and answer each of these questions for awhile and see what happens. Thanks so much!