What's the best that could happen?

[srinrao]

I know there have been a few posts about the power of questions you ask yourself, and I remembered one that I use to ask myself when I discovered the power of questions in Tony Robbins Personal Power II Program. I also realized it was one of the most powerful mind shifts that ever happened for me. I realized sometime today that I had completely forgotten about this and so I decided to write about it.

Have you ever noticed the question you ask yourself, when you are about to approach any situation: maybe approaching a stranger, trying something you’ve never done before, or doing something you’re scared to do? For most people I’m guessing they ask themselves "What’s the worst that could happen?" If there’s anything we’ve learned from the power of questions, it’s that our brain basically just answers the question? It doesn’t really think, it doesn’t take time, it just spits out answers. Look below at how our brain generally will answer "What’s the worst that could happen"


I could get rejected
I could lose all my money
I could not get that job
I could get fired
I could die
I could get hurt really bad, etc, etc.

Now, take a look at the answers your brain will likely generate when you ask it "What’s the best that could happen?"

* This blog could become popular enough that you don’t need a job and you can live off the income
* You could have multiple offers
* That girl might end up being your next girlfriend or the love of your life
* You could end up loving that job or making a ton of money
* You could end up massively successful
* You could really reach your peak potential

So, if you think about it, this simple shift will basically give you much better answers. Much better answers= must better results.So, how do you really put this to work? Well, I personally liked a really cool idea that Steve Pavalina wrote on his blog about creating a belief board, or printing out your goal in really large font (100pt) and just pasting it in your room. So, imagine if you see this first thing in the morning

WHAT’S THE BEST THAT COULD HAPPEN?

[Deergirl]

That's a really good way of looking at it. I'll try it the next time I feel like asking myself that questions.

Have you already given it a shot? What was your experience with it?

[MartinP]

Thats a great post.

its similar to this post I read today where you choose to believe what empowers you:

The Kaizan Blog » How to Make Sure Nothing “Bad” Ever Happens to You Again

[srinrao]

I have tried it and I had forgotten about it. It was really effective in just shifting my confidence in many areas of my life.

[Gaz]

I find I tend to ask these three questions whenever I'm approaching a new situation.

What if it all works out perfectly? (this is normally why I'm looking at doing something anyway)
What is the absolute worst thing that can happen? (this generally isn't as scary as you think provided you use it for contingency planning)
What's the worst that can happen by not making the attempt? (admittedly, the answer to this one is generally "The status quo will continue, but you'll always wonder if action x would have worked) and that answer is generally the one that scares me the most. After all, I'd rather regret taking the wrong action and having to fix the situation, than let someone else make the choice for me by taking no action at all.