Sometimes, when people are acting in unempowered ways that diminish their ability to act, you can help them get their life back with empowering questions.
Challenging limiting belief
Many of us have limiting beliefs which stop us from thinking and acting in ways that could help us achieve our potential. Questions that can help here should highlight the belief and offer challenges to help the person consider limitations and alternative.
Why do you think that?
Do you really believe that?
Who else believes that?
What else could you believe?
What if you believed something different?
What's the worst thing that could happen if you did? What's the best thing?
Exceptions to extremism
When people do not want to argue about something they tend to use comments that push everything to extremes. This is in order to
Everybody's got one.
You always do that.
I'm totally depressed.
It is as if they are
Finding the exception
A way to address extreme statements is to find one or more exceptions. This is best done by asking questions:
Is there anybody (other than you) you who hasn't got one?
Do I always do it? Every time? Can you remember me not doing it?
Could you be even more depressed? Might there be someone more depressed than you?
From possibility to action
Sometimes people deal in impossibilities. Perhaps because they are afraid or failure or maybe due to other limiting beliefs or maybe even laziness, they just declare things impossible.
Jeff wouldn't like that at all.
We just don't have the time.
It'll cost far too much.
I'm not good enough for that.
I just don't know.
A simple way of breaking this mindset is to inch forward into possibilities.
What if we could find another person to help?
How can we do it for less money?
What if you just did it anyway?
If you did know, what would you say?
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