The first time I went through Tony Robbins Personal Power II program, I came across a concept called "morning power questions." It was by far one of the simplest, yet most profound and powerful personal development concepts I’ve ever come across. The brain although amazingly capable has a somewhat simplistic way of dealing with questions. It doesn’t have any interpretive capabilities when being asked question, just the ability to answer whatever questions its asked. For example, if you ask the brain "Why am I such an idiot?", it only knows how to give you a direct answer such as "You are an idiot because you always screw up, you are an idiot because you never do anything right, etc, etc." The beauty of this however is that it can work for positive questions too. For example, if you ask the brain "why am I so awesome?", it will come up with answers such as "You are so awesome because you’re positive, you’re fun, you’re smart, etc, etc." Now, let’s take a look at how this process works.
Every morning when you wake up, while you’re shaving, brushing your teeth, doing whatever it is you do in your morning routine, your brain is going through a series of questions. You might be asking yourself "why the hell is it so early, why am I so tired, etc, etc." You essentially are going through an unconscious series of questions. Morning power questions are essentially designed to give you conscious control of this process. Once you start to take control of this process you will notice dramatic changes in your life. The beauty of this process is that you can ask your brain virtually anything and it will come up with answers even if it has no basis in reality. What really will blow your mind is when that thing that has no basis in reality comes into existence. The strange thing is the thing that you are noticing has always been there, but you weren’t focused on it. Let’s dig a bit deeper into the process.
Let’s use the example of "What about your life is perfect?." My first reaction to this question is, "It’s not even close to perfect. I’ve run out of money, I’m living at my parents house, I live in my hometown which is a really boring place to live, etc, etc." If your brain has that reaction, it’s pretty normal. This is where you have to dig a bit deeper. Each one of these things actually has positive elements to it
What’s great about running out of money? Or What could be great about this?
The upside to this is I’m finally exploring all my entrepreneurial ideas. I’m looking at ways to possibly never return to the 9-5 lifestyle. The lack of money and a job has forced me to do this and in the long run could lead to unlimited income potential.
What’s great about living at my parents house?
It’s rent free. The house is huge and has a 107 inch movie screen and home theater. I get fed really well. If I want I can just drive to the beach every day and spend the day surfing and come back to a home cooked meal. I’m getting to know my parents a little bit better.
What’s great about living in my home town?
As much as I think this town is boring, at least I get to hang out with my parents a bit. The other thing is that it’s cheap here and it’s forcing me to come up with creative ideas for how to pass time, such as learning the guitar, learning a language, etc, etc.
How to implement morning power questions into your life
1. Decide what you want your life to be like (i.e. wealthy, meeting new people, great health, etc, etc).
2. Come up with 5 morning power questions such as "What is it about me that enables me to attract wealth and abundance?"
3. Print out your morning power questions and put them on your bathroom mirror. Chances are this is the first place you go in the morning so it ends up being the first thing you see.
4. Go through this process for 30 days
5. Continually make note of the evidence
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I love the idea of asking questions like this when confronted with difficult situations. I usually try to ask myself this: “What’s awesome about this situation?” When I think this way (positively!) I can usually find something that’s good about whatever I’m dealing with.
sup srini
“”What about your life is perfect?.” – funny you had that reaction cos i had the opposite reaction. what in your life isn’t perfect?
now there’s something to think about
but really like the questions. considered adding something like “what about this is awwwsome?” to last post – really helps me out often.
coolness.
awwwsome how real you are on your site.
just polish it up and you’ll be lording the net
stumbled to pimp you some traffic
keep well mate
alex
Alex, thanks for the comments. I think questions are great. Your last post made me think about something really great for approaching and talking to girls. “What could be fun about this.” So simple, yet profoundly changes your interaction with people. I’ll have to get you on here for a guest post again at some point, or maybe an interview/joint podcast.