Recently, I have been focusing on writing down questions in the pages of my journal. Why? Because I am seeking greater clarify and answers to certain questions I have in my business and in my life. As a life coach, I know that good questions can help us find the answers we are looking for. Asking powerful questions is the key to helping us tap into our own inner guidance system.
Einstein once said that if he had 60 minutes to solve a really difficult problem, he would spend the first 55 minutes coming up with a good question. In other words, good answers come from good questions.
Poet Rainer Maria Rilke said, “Live your questions now, and perhaps even without knowing it, you will live along some distant day into your answers.”
Is there any area of your life where you are seeking greater clarity? Maybe you are trying to make an important decision about something or perhaps you want a clearer sense of direction. Maybe you are in the midst of change and transition. Or perhaps, you simply crave new ways to access your intuition and inner wisdom for transformation and personal growth. Either way, powerful questions are always at the heart of personal transformation.
Joseph Campbell said, “We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” What part of your life is waiting for you?
Your journal longs for your questions, musings, ponderings and what if’s – like a person seeks water in a desert. Your journal is thirsty for your most powerful questions to emerge on the page. The answers we seek come from the questions we ask.
Sharon Butala, author of Perfection of the Morning, says: “The best memoirs (our journals are a form of memoir/life writing) ask unexpected questions about the meaning of life, and provide unconventional answers, or at least, enlightening meditation, and thus open readers (journal writers) to new ways of thinking about their own lives.”
Journaling with powerful questions leading the way can help you tap into your inner wisdom. This supports you to write and live authentically. When you write beyond what you had for breakfast or the happenings of your day, into the wide open space of questions and new awareness, there is a deep, vast place available for self-discovery, renewal and fulfillment on and off the page.
“If you take the time to ask yourself poignant and revealing questions, your subconscious will make room for the answers.” Mal Duane
Discover your questions and trust the answers to come. Take some time with the following reflective journaling exercise and notice what comes. Let the writing do the writing, give yourself permission to get out of the way and not overthink things. Let your inner wisdom guide the words out onto the page.
Reflective Journaling Exercise
- What burning questions do you have at this time in your life? What quiet questions do you have?
- Write them down.
- Listen Within.
- Write your way through to the answers. Simply begin to respond to your own questions in the pages of your journal.
- Allow yourself to be open to new awareness, new learning and deeper clarity. Allow yourself to be surprised by your own deep knowing.