QuestionsForLiving & Asking Questions

The following questions for Questions and QuestionsForLiving were contributed September 26, 2010 by Byron E. Woodman III.

QuestionsForLiving: What is the question that led you to your interest in questions and creating QuestionsForLiving?

Byron Woodman III: QuestionsForLiving stemmed from a desire to obtain results that more closely aligned with my expectations. When faced with various situations I started asking “What was I thinking?” or “Why didn’t I just ask…?” or “I am very happy that I asked that question.”. Eventually, I started to ask myself, “What should I be asking myself if I am going to do this well?” and “What questions would an expert ask him/herself  if faced with the same situation?”. Over time, I started make a list of questions.

I began to wonder what my heroes were asking themselves when they made history. For example, what was Chuck Yeager asking himself when he  broke the sound barrier? I started asking: “Who do I respect and admire most?”and “What questions were they asking that led to, or contributed to, their success?” My assumption was if I could ask the same questions that the experts were asking, then I could get more successful outcomes.

Seeing the value of recording questions in my own life, I wanted to create a way to archive and share questions with others. As QuestionsForLiving continued to grow, I have decided to create a community for people interested in creating, sharing, and strengthening questions. I feel excited about advancing the mission of QuestionsForLiving. Hopefully, this site provides a strong platform for knowledge sharing and growth while reinforcing the concept - that the quality of one's questions determines the quality of one's life.

Other questions that led to my interest in questions and QuestionsForLiving include:

• How can I become the person who I want to be?
• How can I get results more closely aligned with my expectations?
• Who is inspirational to me, and the questions did  they ask that enabled their success?
• What would happen if people universally started ask better questions?
• Is today’s world the manifestation of our forefather’s questions?
• What future world is being created by the prominent questions of today?
• Who is currently asking the great questions?
• Is there a place dedicated to archiving and celebrating great questions?
• How can I help popularize the concept that asking great questions really matter, in creating positive outcomes?

QFL: What questions do you ask yourself for creating and maintaining QuestionsForLiving?

BW:

• Who is most inspirational to me?
• How can I apply the thought-leader’s questions to me and my life?
• What topics would be of most interest to me and others?
• How can I build the site and share the concept with limited time and resources?
• How can I create a forum that can grow independently of me?
•  What actions can QuestionsForLiving take to provide contributors with lasting value?
•  How can QuestionsForLiving help contributors achieve their goals?
•  How can we most effectively create a useful website for gathering and cataloging the questions that will help people get better results faster?
•  Who are the best thought leaders in a given industry?
•  Which thought leaders will be most helpful to QFL?
•  What is the best next action for me to take to ensure that QFL grows into an economically sustainable business?
•  Am I expressing gratitude enough to those who help  and advise me in the creation of QuestionsForLiving?

QFL: What questions do you ask for creating and asking good questions?

BW:

• What is my primary goal or objective?
• What specifically do I need to know to achieve this objective?
• What is best way for me to craft the question to yield the best results?
• Is the answer to my question inside me, or can it be found externally?
• What is the best resource for answering this question?
• If to obtain the answer, you need to ask another person… what is the best way to ask this person? How can I best compensate them for  answering the question?
• When is the best time to ask this question of myself, and if necessary, others?
• Does the information to this question need to be recorded and/ or shared? If so, what is the best way to record and/or share this information?
• Other than me, who would most benefit from the answer to this question?
• What is the best way to share or pass forward the knowledge?

QFL: What question do you think people should ask to make this world a happier and healthier place to live?

BW: There are many questions that I believe if asked would make the world a better place for humans and all living creatures. I believe most of the questions are related to building and maintain the individual’s and their culture’s creative capacity. One question that I ask myself which  may also benefit others is: “What am I creating right now?” and “How can I create this in and with the spirit of love, so that I, and others, can further create in and with the spirit of love?”