When I was a little girl, my favorite question was “Why”. Literally drove my parents bananas.
Why am I not surprised to see my children enjoy asking why questions…
Research has found asking “Why” is not just for curiosity benefits.
- Allows for reason to bridge a gap in our understanding
- Reasons and answers eliminate preconceived understandings, guesses, haunches, or assumptions
- Creates a chance to learn more about a topic
- Gain self-awareness
Read more about the study in the link.
Common practice: Mindfulness
What is mindfulness?
The dictionary informs:
- It is the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something:
- A mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.
Mindfulness is the norm practice from adults to children, a technique to slow down and bring meaning to the moment. Through coloring-in, breathing techniques, and spiritual endeavors, there are a plethora of activities to promote mindfulness to soothe oneself.
Now while you are in the self-induced mentally calm state I want you to ask yourself – WHY.
Asking Why Reveals Hidden Gems
Recently a brightly yellow-covered book caught my attention. The title read: The Power of Writing It Down written by Allison Fallon.
This book blew my mind. Allison Fallon is an author’s coach, and she has found that continually asking yourself why forces your mind to bring you an answer. As a writer and sufferer of anxiety, I needed to try this out!
At the time I hadn’t yet launched Move Fwds. The desire was there. I had at least 40 articles ready to go. Yet I could not manage to create this site. Why? Exactly! Soon why became the strongest tool in my kit.
It went something like this:
My original question: Why can’t I hurry up and launch my blog?
And behold the conversation with myself, providing reasoning, answers, and results!
Because I don’t know how to build a website.
Okay, but I do have peers who are tech nerds, and computer literacy is their thing so ask them for insights.
But they may not have time for me.
That is a lie and you know it. They are close friends of yours and want to see you succeed at what you are doing.
What if my peers can’t answer my questions?
Then refer to YouTube and other places around the internet, network, and find the answers you seek. Don’t just sit there, go do something!
And that was that. All I needed to get myself motivated was to ask why.
Asking is the first stage and brings power!
Just last week, talking with a healthcare professional I wanted to know an ideal reward-based system that is not food-related. Only once I asked and the professional shared their insights I realized what would work for me and was able to tweak their suggestion, into a powerful reward tool.
Today, if you are feeling stuck, ask yourself why.
If you need insights, ideas, or suggestions feel free to post in the comments.
References:
Psychology Today. 2023. Why do we ask why? Why Do We Ask Why? | Psychology Today
Online Dictionary. 2023. Oxford Languages.
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