Life

4 Questions You Should Ask Yourself Every Morning

Published

9 years ago

Mar 10, 2016

Dean Yeong

Even the happiest man on earth will fall into the negative emotional state sometimes. But staying in the negative state throughout the day isn’t a productive and efficient way for us to perform well.

The best way to stay at the peak state is by mastering our thoughts. But, what’s thought? Most people never realize it but everything that appears and runs around in our mind is simply the answer to the questions we’re asking ourselves.

Let’s say when you’re telling me you’re feeling excited right now, what just happened in your subconscious mind? You’re asking yourself – “What am I feeling excited about?” And the answer is what delivered the intense emotion of excitement to make you believe that you’re indeed feeling excited.

But what if your mind keeps asking questions like “Why am I feeling upset?” or “Why am I not successful”? Your mind will automatically seek for those answers to prove them right too. That’s why most people are living in a devastating state, feeling that everything in this world is against them.

Fortunately, we can change and control our thoughts. As I mentioned above, your brain will automatically seek for the answer, we will just need to ask the right questions.

Ask these questions every morning before anything else to set your mind right for the day:

1. What am I feeling happy about right now?

Most things we want in life are our mean goals, and it always lead to the universal end goal – Happiness. Why we want to make more money, live healthier, be more intelligent, and make more friends? Because we think those will make us happy, but then we’re feeling upset by not having what we want just yet.

Rather than seeking for happiness from our external world and focusing what we don’t have yet, we can actually find happiness within ourselves. Asking yourself why you’re feeling happy will force your mind to seek for things that we already have.

You will start to notice there are actually many things you can feel good about – your relationship, your house, your career or even your beautiful memories.

What if you can’t think of anything that makes you happy right now? Decide to feel happy for no reason then. We don’t need any reason to feel good about ourselves and our life.

2. What am I feeling excited about right now?

Next, we need to feel the excitement and passion for pushing ourselves throughout the day. We can gain more energy and fulfillment from excitement to perform better and achieve more in life. Asking yourself what makes you excited allows you to have a clearer picture of what matters the most in that day.

It doesn’t need to be a huge thing such as changing the world or transforming your life because your subconscious mind will automatically seek for the answer (even if it’s small).

You can be excited for small things in daily life:

The on-going design project
The coming dinner with family
The workout routine for today

“I cook, I create, I’m incredibly excited by what I do, I’ve still got a lot to achieve.” – Gordon Ramsay

3. What am I feeling proud for right now?

Knowing what you’re feeling proud for now is powerful. Most of the time we focus so much on how far we still need to go and feeling exhausted and upset about it. But by asking this question, you’re looking back on how far you already came with the achievements and accomplishments.

Besides, this question also helps improve your relationship with others, especially with the closer ones. You can be proud of your spouse, your siblings, your son or daughter. Your subconscious mind will then ask why? With that, you’re now focusing on their strength rather than their weakness and imperfections.

4. What am I feeling grateful for right now?

This is the last question to ask yourself every morning – What am I feeling grateful for right now? Appreciation and gratefulness make such a big impact to those who practice them. You can never feel grateful and hatred at the same time.

When you’re asking yourself this, you start to see people and things around you as a gift, start to see every event in your life is how it should be rather than complaining about how unfair life is. Besides, you will start to learn how to forgive as well.

“When you are grateful – when you can see what you have – you unlock blessings to flow in your life.” – Suze Orman

5. You get what you ask for

If you haven’t noticed, this is how it works – you get what you ask for. When you’re asking why or what makes you good, your subconscious mind will answer your questions with evidence and references that make you feel good.

So, stop asking questions like “Why such bad things happened to me?” If you want to turn things around. Master and control your thoughts by being aware and adjust the questions you ask yourself.

Which questions do you ask yourself every morning? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below!

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Dean Yeong

Dean Yeong studies successful people from wide range of background and discipline - to help himself to grow. He then shares lessons and thoughts on how we can perform better and achieve by improving our mind and body - exclusively to The Monday Digest community every Monday. You can also visit his website here:http://deanyeong.com

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Life

How Learning the Skill of Hope Can Change Everything

Hope isn’t wishful thinking. It’s a state of being and a skill that has profound evidence of helping people achieve success in life

Published

2 weeks ago

Jan 6, 2025

Daniel Bell

Image Credit: Midjourney

Hope isn’t wishful thinking. It’s a state of being and a skill that has profound evidence of helping people achieve success in life.

Wishful thinking, on the other hand, is like having dreams in the sky without a ladder to climb, having a destination without a map, or trying to operate a jet-engine airplane without instructions. It sounds nice but is impossible to realize. You don’t have what you need to make it happen!

What Real Hope Is

Real hope is actionable, practical, and realistic. Better yet, it’s feasible and can be learned.

One popular approach is Hope Theory. This concept is used by colleges to study how hope impacts students’ academic performance. Researchers found that students with high levels of hope achieve better grades and are more likely to graduate compared to those with less hope.

Hope can be broken down into two components:

Pathways – The “how to” of hope. This is where people think of and establish plans for achieving their goals.
Agency – The “I can” of hope. This is the belief that the person can accomplish their goals.

Does Hope Really Work?

According to Webster’s Dictionary, hope as a noun is defined as: “desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment.”

As humans, we are wired to crave fulfillment. We have the ability to envision it and, through hope, make it a reality.

My Experience with Hope

For 13 years, I was a hopeless human. During my time working at a luxury hotel as a front desk agent earning $11.42 per hour, I felt the sting of hopelessness the most.

The regret of feeling my time was being stolen from me lingered every time I clocked in. Eventually, I decided to do something about it.

I gave myself permission to hope for something better. I began establishing pathways to success and regained agency by learning from self-help books and seeking mentorship.

Because I took action toward something I desired, I now feel more hope and joy than I ever felt hopelessness. Hope changed me.

Hope Actually Improves Your Life

Wishful thinking doesn’t work, and false hope is equally ineffective. Real hope, however, is directly tied to success in all areas of life.

Studies show that hopeful people tend to:

Demonstrate better problem-solving skills
Cultivate healthier relationships
Maintain stronger motivation to achieve goals
Exhibit better work ethic
Have a positive outlook on life

These benefits can impact work life, family life, habit-building, mental health, physical health, and spiritual practice. Imagine how much better your life could be by applying real hope to all these areas.

How to Develop the Skill to Hope

As acclaimed French writer Jean Giono wrote in The Man Who Planted Trees:
“There are also times in life when a person has to rush off in pursuit of hopefulness.”

If you are at one of those times, here are ways to develop the skill to hope:

1. Dream Again

To cultivate hope, you need to believe in its possibility. Start by:

Reflecting on what you’re passionate about, your values, and what you want to achieve.
Writing your dreams down, sharing them with someone encouraging, or saying them out loud.
Creating a vision board to make your dreams feel more tangible.

Dreams are the foundation of hope—they give you something meaningful to aspire toward.

2. Create an Environment of Hope

Set Goals: Write down your goals and create a plan to achieve them.
Visualize Success: Use inspirational quotes, photos, or tools like dumbbells or canvases to remind yourself of your goals.
Build a Resource Library: Collect books, eBooks, or audiobooks about hope and success to inspire you.

An environment that fosters hope will keep you motivated, resilient, and focused.

3. Face the Challenges

Don’t avoid challenges—overcoming them builds confidence. Participating in challenging activities, like strategic games, can enhance your problem-solving skills and reinforce hope.

4. Commit to Wisdom

Seek wisdom from those who have achieved what you aspire to. Whether through books, blogs, or social media platforms, learn from their journeys. Wisdom provides the foundation for real, actionable hope.

5. Take Note of Small Wins

Reflecting on past victories can fuel your hope for the future. Ask yourself:

What challenges have I already overcome?
How did I feel when I succeeded?

By remembering those feelings of happiness, relief, or satisfaction, your brain will naturally adopt a more hopeful mindset.

Conclusion

Hope is more than wishful thinking—it’s a powerful skill that can transform your life. By dreaming again, creating a hopeful environment, facing challenges, seeking wisdom, and celebrating small wins, you can develop the real hope necessary for success in all aspects of life.

Let hope guide you toward a brighter, more fulfilling future.

Life

The 5 Stages of a Quarter-Life Crisis & What You Can Do

A quarter-life crisis isn’t a sign you’ve lost your way; it’s a sign you’re fighting for a life that’s truly yours.

Published

4 weeks ago

Dec 27, 2024

CT Dool

Image Credit: Midjourney

The quarter-life crisis is a well-defined set of stages—Trapped, Checking Out, Separation, Exploration, Rebuilding—one goes through in breaking free from feelings of meaninglessness, lack of fulfillment, and misalignment with purpose. I detail the stages and interweave my story below. (more…)

Life

Here’s The Thing About Learning, Unlearning, and Relearning

Stop hoarding and start sharing your knowledge and wealth for the benefit of humankind

Published

2 months ago

Nov 21, 2024

M.S. Rao

Image Credit: Midjourney

Few people have the habit of hoarding their wealth without spending. However, it limits their motivation as they tend to get into their comfort zones. When people start spending money, then there will be depletion in their coffers. (more…)