What Would Make this the Best Day Ever?--Learning the Right Questions to Ask

What Would Make this the Best Day Ever?

 

In Search of the Most Satisfying Life Ever

Einstein said, 'asking the right question is half the solution'. Perhaps that's why I spend so much time in the inquisitive side of life:  I'm trying to figure out how to make this and every other day my best day ever so I achieve an overall satisfying life.

Despite Hard Times Life Can Still Be Satisfying
 
Life isn't always easy--and sometimes it's downright painful. In the course of living we deal with rejection, fear, betrayal, shame, disappointment, loss and failure. 

So how do we figure out how to have the best day ever, much less the most satisfying life ever in the midst of difficulties? We figure out how to turn difficult experiences into deep, rich experiences by changing how we think about them.

If you ask them, people who rate their lives as overall very satisfying will tell you they too experience their fair share of less-than-stellar times. I am one.

I can honestly say I've had a very satisfying life--despite dealing with extremely painful and unsettling times. It comes down to knowing you are equipped to handle whatever life throws at you, and you are steering your life in a good direction while navigating through the muck and murky waters of daily life.

Your satisfaction with life is determined by a combination of your past and future, i.e. how you feel  or perceive your life has turned out so far, and how you see it going in the future. Your perceptions and attitudes have a lot to do with your experiences in life--helping to determine how satisfied you are as well as what choices you think you have for improving your situation.

Over time, the 'ups and downs' of how satisfied you feel will be influenced by what's happening at the moment, while how you rate your overall life satisfaction is determined by the least satisfying, or most painful part.

'Each moment of my life is new, fresh and vital'



Knowing the Right Questions to Ask Yourself is Half the Solution to Creating a Satisfying Life

While you don't always choose the situations you're in, you always choose your attitude and responses. You can greatly increase the probability you'll have the best day or life ever by learning the right questions to ask yourself to guide your daily thoughts and actions.

The trick is to ask yourself questions in such a way you can be honest in answering--without skipping over the truth. Picturing yourself five years down the road with positive and negative outcomes, for instance, can help you see if the path you're currently on in love, career or life will lead to the most satisfying outcomes.

"You already know the answer to these questions before you ask them. It's a matter of asking the questions in a way that will allow you to accept the truth consciously and act on what you know."

Life's Most Important Questions

Pick out one or more of the areas of your life to assess using the questions below. Take time to write down the answers to these questions and let the answers sit with you without doing anything. When you're ready, take one step you know will help you make today your best day ever.


What would you say about your life?

• How satisfied are you with your life right now?
• How would you rate your life satisfaction over all?
• What's your least comfortable or satisfying part of life at the moment--love, friendship/family, work/career, or how you feel about yourself?



Love

• When have you been the most satisfied in a relationship?
• When have you been the least satisfied in a relationship?

If you're currently in, or contemplating getting into a relationship, imagine yourself five years down the road:

• If you're still in the relationship what made you stay?
• If you moved on from the relationship what made you leave?
• What could your previous partner have done differently to keep you in a relationship?
• Do you want it to work out?



Work

• When have you been the most satisfied in your career?
• When have you been the least satisfied in your career?

If you're working with a company, or contemplating working with a company, imagine:

• Its five years since you started working with this company--and you're still here. What have they done right to keep you?
• Its five years since you started working with this company--and you left. What occurred to make you seek other work?
• What could your previous employer have done differently to keep you?



Life

• When have you been the most satisfied in your life?
• When have you been the least satisfied in your life?

• Looking five years down the road and you are content with your life. What have you done right to make you satisfied?
• Looking five years down the road and you are unhappy with your life. What choices have you made that lead you to be discontented?

"Knowing what you know now, what choices can you make today that will leave you feeling more satisfied with your love, work and life in the future?"

"Life's two most important questions are 'Why?' and 'Why not?'--the trick is knowing which one to ask." Gordon Livingston MD


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For more than 25 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes changing easier than ever before.

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