3 Powerful Questions to ask before starting anything!

Today’s inspiration is from a powerful Ted Talk by Stacey Abrams about the 3 questions to ask before starting anything. As much as I am impressed by this talk, I would like to explore the three questions to ask before starting anything and also interrogate the reasons why we don’t do it.

For some context before we delve into the details of this quote, please do have a quick run through this video.

What fascinates me about this powerful video is the simplicity in those three questions and the consciousness they drive into our everyday process. For me, this is another layer mindfulness for the many things we do. Perhaps, one of the quickest wins in this process is in elimination of the wasteful activities we do which don’t yield us a lot of results. I might even go for an extension and call this a superstition. This can be as simple as checking a locked door thrice before leaving the house or any of those routines which can give us a tangible answer for the benefit it yields.

This talk is centered around the three questions before starting anything:

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3 Questions before you start anything!

Question 1: What do I want?

It is really simple isn’t it – the source of all purposes – the What?! This might seem like a simple one and yes it is a simple one. But most often you would be surprised how many people answer this with what they don’t want.

This question is not about that – it is not about complaining about the things which are not right. If you are planning to start something, it starts with a question – what do you want?


Question 2: Why do you want it?

This for me is more important than the first question. The WHY is a very powerful source of motivation. It defines your commitment, desire and passion towards something.

Very often you listen to motivators who talk about the stories, they have such a compelling effect.

  • What is your story? Why does it mean a huge deal to you?
  • If you can, write all the details down on a piece of paper and stick it on your wall. It will be needed at times when you feel like moving away from a goal
  • Most often people talk about final result and forget everything about how it makes them feel. If it is not driven by that emotion, it merely becomes a goal achieving exercise and you suddenly will find yourself wondering – so what
  • So, before starting anything – ask this question and again be very detailed. Why do you want it? What are your reasons and most importantly why is this worth the many sacrifices this goal might demand from you?

Question 3: How do I go about it?

Well, this is the strategy isn’t it? I will reroute you back to the very common thought processes which we talk about in our articles. It is about constant adaptation of the plan.


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Vinay Nagaraju

Product Director with 10+ years in leadership roles - team building, product strategy, coaching and mentoring are a part of my everyday responsibilities. I write about motivational words that inspire us and shape our thinking and help us go beyond these thoughts to find what our minds are telling us and evolve.

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. Olivia Ava

    Love to read this article. I agree with your view, we should know these question before started something new. Thanks💖😊

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