When I lead workshops, I often give participants a series of prompts that I call Three Small Questions. The catch is that they aren’t small questions at all. They are often big questions but what I want from them is short, simple, one sentence, very direct answers.
I ask the questions, and my students have about 30 seconds to furiously write each answer.
Then, I tell them, they must ask themselves these three same questions everyday for the next week.
Why? They ask.
And here is what I tell them.
These questions are a simple crucible for you. If what is challenging you on Day 1 that you ask is still the thing that is challenging you on Day 7 and it is controllable, addressable in one day or a series of days then the question becomes why are you letting this challenge still defeat you? It’s the same thing for “What do I need right now more than anything else.” If you answer sleep on day one and then still the answer is sleep on day 6, then the question becomes why aren’t you addressing a need that you really can meet right now, why aren’t you giving yourself what you’ve asked for and would you ever deny that need to someone else in your life?
Today: I want to challenge you to answer these three small questions for yourself. Then ask yourself these questions everyday for the next week. You can do them on paper or you can ask yourself these questions while you are in the shower, driving to work, during savasana in yoga class, while you drink your coffee. The key is to delight yourself with your surprises and to increase your mindfulness and self-awareness.
What surprised you today?
What challenged you today?
What do you need right now more than anything else?
Do not take more than 30 seconds to write each answer.
These questions are a crucible for you. Answering the same questions several days in a row will reveal depth in your exploration.
Do not take them too seriously. The key is to delight yourself with your surprises and to increase your mindfulness and self-awareness.
Do not believe that your answers need to be the same everyday. They don’t. Whatever answer you receive is the answer you are meant to have for that day. Every day is different and your answers might be different, too.
1. What were your answers to the questions today?
2. What do those answers reveal to you?
3. Can you see these questions being useful to you beyond today?
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