Welcome to the Stop Sabotaging Your Success Podcast, episode ninety-one. I’m your host, Cindy Esliger. This is the podcast focusing on what we can do today to take control of our careers and overcome the inevitable barriers to success that we encounter along the way. 

Asking yourself good questions is a powerful tool for personal and professional growth, especially when it comes to succeeding in your career. No two people have the same definition of success, so it’s important to reflect on what success means to you, and good questions allow you to challenge your assumptions, gain clarity on your goals, and develop strategies to overcome the anticipated obstacles. 

In this episode, we explore the power of asking the right questions when you’re facing a crossroads in your career to make the best choices for you. It’s important to evaluate your career at all stages. Knowing some of the most important questions to ask yourself can help you determine how your current role is contributing to reaching your overall professional aspirations and improve your results by giving you an opportunity to make slight improvements that can get you closer to those goals. 

One of the most important aspects of asking good questions is that it requires you to be reflective and introspective. You have to take the time to think deeply about your experiences, what’s going well and what’s not working as well as you’d hoped. The process can be uncomfortable at times, but it’s essential if you want to grow and develop in your career. 

For example, if you’re feeling stuck in your current job, asking yourself questions like, “What do I really want in a career?” or “What energizes me the most?” can help you gain clarity on what you’re really looking for in a job. Once you know what you want, you can start to develop a plan to achieve it. 

Asking good questions can also help you identify your strengths and weaknesses. For example, you might ask yourself, “What are my greatest strengths?” or “What skills do I need to develop to be successful in my field?”. By understanding your strengths and weaknesses, you can develop strategies to build on those things you do well and shore up those areas in need of improvement. 

Another important aspect of asking good questions is that it can help you overcome obstacles. For example, if you’re struggling with a particular task or project, instead of asking questions like, “What’s causing me to struggle with this?” you could ask, “What could I do differently to overcome this challenge?” because sometimes, spending time identifying the root cause of the problem is less helpful than developing strategies to overcome the challenges you’re facing. 

Here are four specific examples of how asking the right questions can lead to personal and professional growth: 

1. Developing new skills: If you’re interested in expanding your skillset, asking questions like, “What skills do I need to develop to be successful in my career?” or “What resources are available to help me learn these skills?” can help you identify the steps you need to take to acquire these skills. 
2. Overcoming fear of failure: If you’re afraid of failing, asking questions like, “What might I learn from this if I fail?” might be more helpful than getting caught in the downward spiral of, “What’s the worst that could happen if I fail?”. In order to help you shift your mindset from seeing failure as an impending threat to your success, to instead, seeing failure as an opportunity for growth and learning. 
3. Navigating a difficult situation: If you’re facing a difficult situation at work, asking questions like, “What can I do to resolve this situation?” instead of “What’s causing this problem?” can help you develop strategies to address it rather than simply focusing on the potential causes with no plan for moving forward. 
4. Setting career goals: If you’re not sure what you want to achieve in your career, asking questions like, “What do I really want in a career?” or “What are my long-term career goals?” can help you gain clarity on your aspirations and develop a plan to achieve them. 

Asking yourself good questions is a powerful tool that can help you reach your full potential rather than dwelling on what’s gone wrong. A good question is one that challenges assumptions, stimulates critical thinking, and leads to deeper understanding and personal growth. Asking good questions allows us to gain clarity on our goals, values, and beliefs, and helps us develop the skills and mindset we need to achieve success. 

Here are four characteristics of good questions: 

1. Good questions are open-ended: which means they can’t be answered with a simple yes or no. Instead, they require thoughtful reflection and analysis. Open-ended questions encourage exploration and help us discover new insights and perspectives.
2. Good questions are solution-focused: which means they push us out of our comfort zones and require us to think deeply about our experiences and beliefs. Finding potential solutions can be uncomfortable at times because they force us to recognize that things didn’t go as planned, but they are essential for moving forward. 
3. Good questions are relevant to our goals and aspirations: which means they help us gain clarity on what we want to achieve and how we can get there. Relevant questions are focused on our personal and professional development and help us identify areas where we might need some improvement. 
4. Good questions are thought provoking: which means they stimulate critical thinking and lead to deeper understanding. Thought provoking questions encourage us to examine our assumptions and biases and challenge us to consider new perspectives and ideas.

Sometimes, we need to do some self-reflection in order to build stronger relationships with others. By doing so, we can gain more insights from different perspectives and experiences and deepen our empathy and understanding. 

Asking yourself thoughtful questions is an important part of career development. By assessing your current situation and deepening your self-awareness, you’ll be better able to determine what’s next for you and what you need to do to make that happen. 

Here are four good questions to get you thinking about your career: 

1. What do I like about the work I do? This question helps you explore the activities and projects that energize and motivate you. By identifying what you enjoy, you can seek out career opportunities that allow you to do more of that.
2. What do I like about where and with whom I work? This question helps you gain a better understanding of your ideal work environment and the kinds of people with whom you work best. 
3. How is my current role helping me develop my skills? This question helps you identify what you’re learning and how your current role fits in with your long-range plans. While it may not be your ideal job, it can be a valuable stepping stone to whatever you want to do next. 
4. What would I like to be doing differently? This question helps you identify what you would like to change or improve to increase your enjoyment and overall job satisfaction, so you can be on the lookout for how to make those changes within your current role.

Asking yourself these and other thoughtful questions can help you gain clarity on your career path and identify opportunities for growth and development to position yourself for success in the future. Asking effective, open-ended questions is an important skill in many areas of life, including professional relationships, work, and problem solving. 

Here are three tips to help you ask more effective questions: 

1. Avoid assumptions: Don’t assume that you already know the answer to a question before you ask it. This can limit your ability to gather new information. Instead, approach each question with an open mind and a willingness to learn. 
2. Ask follow-up questions: After you come up with your initial answer, ask follow-up questions to clarify and deepen your understanding. This can help you gain a more nuanced understanding of the issue at hand.
3. Be specific: Ask specific questions that are focused on a particular topic or issue. This can help you avoid ambiguity and ensure that you get the information you need. 

Reflecting on your answers to the questions you ask yourself is an important part of personal and professional growth. When you take the time to think critically about your answers, you gain deeper insights into your strengths, weaknesses, motivations, and goals. This self-reflection can help you build self-awareness, which can help you make more informed decisions and take actions that are aligned with your values and goals. 

Here are three ways to reflect on your answers: 

1. Identify patterns and themes: The more questions you ask yourself, the more likely it is that you’ll notice patterns and themes emerging. For example, you may notice that you consistently mention a particular skill or interest. Identifying these patterns can help you gain a deeper understanding of yourself and your priorities. 
2. Clarify your goals: Reflecting on your answers can help you clarify what’s most important to you and what you’re wanting for your future. By revisiting your answers periodically, you can track your progress and ensure that you’re staying on track. 
3. Develop action plans: Once you’ve identified the patterns and clarified your goals, reflecting on your answers can help you develop action plans to achieve them. For example, if you identify a weakness in a particular area, you can develop a plan to address that weakness and build your skills so that that no longer holds you back.

When considering our career path, asking questions such as, “What do I truly enjoy doing?” or “What are my core values and how do they align with my career goals?” can help us identify the type of work that we are most passionate about and guide our career decisions. By reflecting on our answers and digging deeper, we can gain a better understanding of our strengths and interests, which can help us pursue a career path that is more personally fulfilling and rewarding. 

As we progress in our careers, we may identify areas where we need to improve our skills. Asking ourselves questions such as, “What specific skills do I need to develop to achieve my career goals?” or “What are some areas where I struggle and how can I improve?” can help us identify areas that might need some further attention and develop a plan to address them.

Setting goals is an important part of career success, but it’s important to align those goals with our values and aspirations. Asking ourselves questions such as, “What do I hope to achieve in my career?” or “What steps can I take to achieve my long-term career goals?” can help us ensure that we’re headed in the right direction. 

In all stages of our careers, we often face difficult decisions that require careful consideration. Asking ourselves questions such as, “What are the potential consequences of this decision?” or “What factors are most important to me in this situation?” can help us make more informed decisions. 

By asking ourselves questions that challenge us to think critically and reflect on our experiences, we can develop a more growth-oriented mindset and become more open to new challenges and opportunities. It can also help us develop more resilience in our careers.

When we face setbacks or challenges, it can be easy to become discouraged and give up. However, by asking ourselves questions such as, “What can I learn from this experience?” or “What actions can I take to overcome this obstacle?” we can develop a more proactive and solution-oriented mindset that can help us bounce back from setbacks and continue to grow and succeed in our careers.

The power of asking ourselves good questions extends beyond just gaining insights and making more informed decisions. It can also help us develop a more nuanced understanding of ourselves and what energizes us because doing more of what we enjoy leads to greater job satisfaction and greater success in the long run. 

So, ask yourself some good questions, reflect on your answers, and then take action based on your insights, because that’s crucial to maximizing the benefits of asking ourselves these questions. 

Thank you to our producer, Alex Hochhausen and everyone at Astronomic Audio. Get in touch, I’m on Instagram @cindyesliger and my email address is info@cindyesliger.com.

If you enjoy listening to this podcast, you have to come check out The Confidence Collective. It’s my monthly coaching program where we dig a little deeper into what’s holding you back in your career, and we find the workarounds. We help you overcome the barriers and create the career you want. Join me over at cindyesliger.com/join. I’d love to have you join me in The Confidence Collective. 

Until next week, I’m Cindy Esliger. Thanks for listening.