The Power of Questions: How Asking Can Help You Rock Your (Digital) Life

by MarsDorian · 26 comments

Personal brand - spread your influence god

What is the most crucial ingredient of (online) success that most people lack ? How do some peeps live a life full of excitement and possibilities while others drown in the dark ?

It’s focus. But in order to focus, you need to direct it. And directing comes from

Asking.

No joke. Incredible people who create an incredible (online) business and lead an incredible life ask questions that no one’s asking.

Most people want to play it safe and rather shut their mouth than overcoming the fear to ask. They don’t know what they are missing. You can change life, or even history, by asking questions.

hand_energy

Let me introduce you a person that changed history by asking a few questions.

He was very curious, and in a moment of utter boredom, he did something.

What did he do ? He looked at the clock, and asked a serious of questions.

  • First question: How do we know what time it is ?

Stupid question. Well, we see it on the clock.

Then he asked a second question:

  • How do we see what’s on the clock ? Well, the light bounces off the clock and that’s how we see it.

And then his brain really got nuts and he asked himself a question that no one else was asking before.

The question was magical:

  • What if…(a grrreat way to ask a question), what if you can travel WITH the light to the clock. What if you are as fast as the light ? What if you are at the end of the beam of light ? What would you see then ?

Well, you would actually see the hand move from one minute to the next. You’d see time change.

  • 4th question. What if you travel faster than light itself ? What would you see ? You wouldn’t see the hand move from 1 to 2, when you are going faster than light, you’d actually see the clock moving backwards.

And then he asked the final, ultimate question:

  • Would you just see the clock going backwards, or would time itself move in reverse because you are going faster than light ?

He answered that question, and changed the way we as a human race look at our universe.

What an epic impact he made simply by asking a few questions.

I will drop the name of the person later in this article.

But for now, let’s ask some life changing questions:

  • Ask (especially) if makes you want to shit in your pants

love it or leave it

In order to get your life and business to a new level, you have to ask questions you have never asked before. The higher the potential of shitting in your pants, the more rewarding your question. When I first started this blog, I was almost clueless. How do I play it big ? What do I need to learn in order to spread my influence  ?

I overcame my shadows of fear and contacted online mavericks that were way out of my league. I asked genuinely, and in most cases, I even got an answer. I asked more than anyone else, and that’s why I was growing so rapidly.

It’s stupid to believe that you should know and learn everything by yourself.

If there’s someone out there in a similar niche, and (s)he’s killing it, go ahead and ask her/him. Remember: You only ask people for advice if you respect them in one way or another. It’s a big compliment, and most peeps are cool enough to help you out.

If you want to create a kick-ass project with someone, go ahead and ask

If you need help, ask the best.

If you don’t know what do to do, ask ask ask !

And if no one in the human world takes time to answer your questions (I doubt that), then you can always ask Google ;)

  • Ask for a slap in the face

brand-power

If you show somebody a piece of your work and you ask them:

“What do you think ?”

they will probably say it’s okay (even if they hate it!) because they don’t want to offend you.

Next time, instead of asking if it’s right, ask them what’s wrong:

“What don’t you like about my work ?”

Do this, and expect truthful criticism.

This may hurt your ego, but the feedback you get will be much valuable than a pat on the back.

What don’t you like about my blog ?

  • Best of all: Ask your brain

increase-your-influence

Why is my traffic so low ? Why is nobody social media sharing my stuff ? Why do people never comment ?

Because you are an obnoxious piece of brain-fried trash that doesn’t deserve better.

(note: this is your subconscious speaking)

Your brain doesn’t evaluate your input. . Every question you ask yourself will be answered sooner or later by your subconscious. Ask stupid questions (see above), and you will get stupid answers.

These are the questions that I ask myself every single day:

How can I strengthen my online presence by working less ?

How can build a blog unlike any other ?

How can I bring as much personality as possible into my brand ?

Ask yourself goood questions and enjoy the answers that will arise from the depths of your brain. They will come.

Profile2009

The person I was taking about in the first paragraph was of course Albert Einstein. His theory of relativity changed the way we look at time and the universe. He didn’t think of himself as a genius – He was just a bit more curious than most people ;)

Become curious yourself and bring your business and life to a new level:

Ask a question on Twitter, Facebook, email, Skype or someone’s contact page. It doesn’t matter which weapon you use, it matters that you shoot at your target.

Ask goood questions and lead a life where others only dream of being.

What questions do you need to ask yourself today ?

Let’s hear ‘em in the comments ;)

And please retweet and Facebook-share this message !

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  • http://all-small-things.blogspot.com/ mamarolf

    Well written, awesome advice! If I *had* to guess… I would say that most people don’t want to have to think critically about their situation, they want to be handed the magic potion…. poof! life is awesome.

    Thanks for the post and please keep ‘em coming! I ain’t scared of my subconscious! (ok, maybe just a little bit)

    • http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

      Haha,

      Yeah, I'm guilty of wanting the magic potion too…at least sometimes.
      Never be afraid of your subconscious – influence it in a way that will help you accomplish your things. I “talk” to it everyday, because I want to have it support me 24/7 !

  • http://nathanhangen.com/blog Nathan Hangen

    I like this stuff the best. This is way beyond just building influence, but doing something with it. Play.

    • http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

      haha, thanx Nathan.
      I put a lot of effort into it, and I thought it was quite good. It's interesting to see that a lot of peeps don't care about it.

      Learning all the way.

      • http://nathanhangen.com/blog Nathan Hangen

        You know dude, one thing I learned in blogging is that most of the time what I like to talk about, and what people want to hear, are two different things. In the end, I couldn't manage that, and I wanted to go deeper.

  • meganmatthieson

    I'm never sure which of my posts will produce a lot of comments. It surprises me sometimes. But this post rocks. I love your style. And I think asking for help is HARD and something I'm really learning to do. :)

    • http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

      You are right – sometimes one never knows.
      But asking has been of my most favorite techniques to gain more knowledge (and influence). My life really skyrocketed in relation to the quality of my questions.

  • http://www.urbanizedmedicine.com Jennifer Barthe

    Here are a question —->

    How do you stay focused on helping others while not worrying to much about your own personal problems. What I mean by that is, I'm learning it's more important to concentrate on delivering service as opposed to always thinking about “oh my, I have so many problems”. How does a person keep their mind in the right paradigm?

    Actually I have the feeling that most of my problems are about to disappear as I'm starting to spend so much energy on the contribution side as opposed to mooching off others. Yeah, that's how I feel.

    • http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

      Hey Jennifer,
      that's a smart thing – and I agree. Focusing on others keeps your away from your own problems (even if there aren't any!).
      This is a concept I have neglected for some time, but thanx to your comment, I'll bring it back.
      Reminds me of what good old Deepak Chopra had to say: If you want to be happy, make someone else happy…if you want to be successful, make…
      And so on ;)

      • http://www.entredaddy.com/ Andy Fogarty

        Zig Ziglar had a very similar quote and it's been a huge inspiration to me during the last several months. Consequently, these have been the most fulfilling months I've had in a very long time.

        Great post MD.

        • http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

          That's awesome Andy,

          I have seen some of Ziglar's stuff, and I luv his energy ( especially at his stage of life !) I prefer Anthony Robbins because his insights are a bit more fresh and practical. He also said that asking the right questions leads to an incredible life.
          Now, let's ask ourselves some brilliant ones ;)

  • http://twitter.com/InTreehouses Thom Chambers

    Really good stuff, Mars – people have to learn to man up and get stuck in. Everyone started online the same way – with no influence, no fans, and no community; the best folks online remember this and will help out newbies if (as you say) they have the balls to ask.

    • http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

      Exactly Thom – when I started out, I was almost clueless. But I had the desire to learn, and I pierced peeps with my questions. Some of them were rather stupid, but I needed to know. The more your practice a certain skill, the better the quality will be. I nowadays (hopefully) only ask quality questions.

  • http://www.socialcubix.com/services/facebook-connect Facebook Connect Integration

    Well Written, Great Post! Some useful tips you've given Mars :) I've always admired your writing skills Mars, guess your digital life is just rocking. You apply all the tactics described above and at last, the result shows everything :) I'll definitely follow these tips Mars!

    Thanks!

    • http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

      Hey thanx for all the praise,

      I'm (almost) blushing ;)
      I actually improved my writing by asking Google and good writers. My writing used to suck balls in the beginning, but now I'm getting better each and every day.
      This is really the magic formula for everything: Ask, ask, ask !
      It takes courage, but once you overcome your fears, you ll enter the magic kingdom ;)

      • Ryanponder

        Actually your writing was good in the beginning. It still is, but don't get sloppy. Most of your latest posts all have at least two missing words, this one has around 4 or 5 and some typos. You should be more thorough with it.
        It is a part of how you define quality works.
        You don't want to be appear being careless about your posts right!
        Time management is a good thing, but don't forget to take care of your posts in the linguistics department.
        Apart from that really good stuff here! Keep rocking!

        • http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

          Hey,

          thanx for your honesty. I have accomplished to write much faster now, but it looks like my writing suffered from it. While it's impossible for me to never make mistakes, I will take extra care from now on !
          I luv it when readers like you get me back on track !
          Keep rocking !

  • susantblake

    Excellent post, Mars! Curiosity rocks. It takes a certain amount of courage to admit I don't know, and to create (or admit to) a space, a vacuum, and allow something new to rush in. Questions are powerful, and potentially dangerous, and absolutely necessary and valuable.

    • http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

      I believe curiosity is at the center of any major change, Susan.
      Good questions can definitely feel dangerous, because they makes feel and think in a way that we never
      experienced before !
      But that's part of leading a kick-ass (digital) life : Asking some kick-ass questions !

  • http://twitter.com/Kevin_Hume Kevin Hume

    Great post. When I'm stuck, asking a good question invariably takes me to a new place. Asking yourself a question is great for getting a new perspective on a problem and asking someone else often results in something totally unexpected.

    • http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

      Hey Kevin,

      I agree, ask questions constantly and the answer may take you a new place of thinking !
      A curious mind is all you need if you want to brilliant at whatever you set your mind on !

  • http://www.bizchickblogs.com Tia Peterson, BizChickBlogs

    Mars, this is a great post. Part philosophical and part practical.

    I have learned about asking questions the hard way and really I still haven't gotten over my fear of asking questions. It's much easier to assume, and assuming gets us into major trouble, doesn't it?

    The opposite of shutting our mouths and not asking is speaking our minds and not asking. Neither of them get us very far, I'm afraid.

    Good stuff.

    • http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

      Hey Tia,

      I used to assume all the time, and it's totally useless. When you assume, your mind runs wild, and every terrible scenario becomes visible in your head !
      Sometimes it's just better to go ahead and ask your questions. Ask good ones, but just go ahead with it. The value you will usually get is priceless !

  • http://andbreak.com/ Julius

    I agree you shouldn't fear asking questions that you don't have an answer to. That's actually how you get further in life.
    I also believe that if you don't know about something you should ask someone else. There are lots of people with expertise and you can't do everything yourself so why not ask other people?!

    • http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

      Exactly – reminds me of the Sesame Street song: Wieso, weshalb, warum ? Wer nicht fragt, bleibt dumm ;)

  • Sherryl Perry

    I like this article. I think asking your readers questions helps to engage them. It gives them a reason to participate.

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