10 Examples of Powerful Questions
Powerful questions can break through the noise of discursive, daily thoughts and engage your critical thinking muscle to differentiate what actually is/not important to you.
Photo by ERIKA CRISTINA
Please take a minute to respond to this 2-question survey about essay topics!
A coach’s job can be understood as helping you to better understand where you are in life at the present moment, to develop your vision for a meaningful life, and to support you in navigate from where you are today, to your vision for an ideal tomorrow.
One of the biggest ways in which a coach support clients in uncovering these insights is by asking questions.
Questions come in many different forms and flavors, and no one question is ideal for every context, but to give you a sense of some of the questions a coach may ask, here are a couple different situational examples of some powerful coaching questions.
10 examples of powerful coaching questions
Changing focus when stuck, to tap into the power of the bigger picture
Oftentimes, we tend to get overly stuck in a problem or storyline that makes us feel stuck in the present, with no idea of how we can navigate to the future we desperately want to reach. In this mode, we are trapped in an endless maze of dead-ends; no matter where we turn, we can’t find a way forward. Here are 5 questions that can help a client who is having difficulty figuring out what next step they can take to break out of this stuck mental pattern and engage their stronger creative thinking muscles, by shifting their mind from the micro view, to the macro view.
10 years from now, what will you think about this moment?
How important is this in the grand scheme?
Imagine you are on a mountain gazing down on the valley of the present moment. What do you see from that vantage point?
From the vantage of the grand scheme or long-term view, many of the problems or limiting beliefs that we may feel are the most important and burning issues of our lives tend to melt away. In the bigger picture view, what is left is the deeper and most meaningful structure of our lives, that is unaffected by the weather of an individual day. Like standing on top of a mountain gazing down at the valley below, we can’t even see the minutiae, nor do we wish to; we see the beauty of the whole forest, not only the trees, and this moment of clear, expansive thinking can grant us a measure of wisdom that is otherwise. overwhelmed in the frenzy of our day-to-day thoughts.
How does this relate to your life vision / values?
Over time, one of the most important guiding principles that we must decide on is our personal values. Without knowing what our core values are, we are easily caught up chasing the shiny objects and momentary stimulation in the same way that everyone else around us does, without really knowing why or if it will make us happy. Unless we consciously relate what we choose to do/deal with each day/week/month to our core values, we will continue spending our time focusing on the endless aspects of our lives that are convenient, stressful, or stimulating, which leaves no space to focus on the aspects that can actually make us feel truly fulfilled.
What would it feel like for you to let go of this?
A role that coaches play is giving clients permission to temporarily let go of their struggles or problems, which they can find impossible to do themselves. Yet, letting go of the problems of the present for even a brief moment can unlock the creative energy that is trapped within us, by holding onto our stuck perspectives.
Thanks for reading! Please like/comment on this post and stay tuned for more self-discovery/self-development essays.
And if you’re curious, learn more about how working with a personal development coach can help you to live a more fulfilling life.