Tag: state of mind

9 ways to make people wonder

1 Comment

It’s been 12 months since I formally started my coaching journey and have now accounted for hundreds of coaching and mentoring hours with tens of clients. One of the assignment I had to do for my final exam was to write my coaching model (which will be subject for another article) and this offered me the nudge to analyze my practice.

Looking back at my clients, my evolution and our work together, I see one red thread spreading throughout the sessions and that is the fact that they started to question their surroundings, their situation, they started to see new opportunities, new perspectives. They started thinking about what could become possible, they started to wonder.

Photo by Bruno Scramgnon

“I know you won’t believe me, but the highest form of human excellence is to question oneself and others.”

Socrates

This is socratic questioning. Socratic questioning involves asking a series of open-ended questions to explore a concept or idea in depth and to challenge assumptions and beliefs. This method is often used in education, as it helps students to think critically, examine their own beliefs and better understand complex concepts. Socratic questioning can also be used in everyday life to encourage meaningful conversations, to facilitate personal growth and self-discovery and to gain a deeper understanding of different perspectives. The key to Socratic questioning is to ask questions that challenge assumptions and encourage reflection, rather than simply seeking answers.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you felt like no matter what you did, you couldn’t quite seem to get people to understand you or your perspective? It can be frustrating, to say the least. But perhaps, instead of trying so hard to make people understand, we could focus on making them wonder.

When we make people wonder, we open up the possibility for them to come to their own conclusions and understand things in their own way. We give them the space to think critically and to ask questions. This can be especially important in situations where there is disagreement or conflict.

So how do we make people wonder?

Photo by Pixabay

  1. Ask thought-provoking questions: Asking questions that challenge the status quo or push people to think differently can inspire curiosity and spark discussion.
  2. Share obscure or little-known facts: Whether it’s a trivia tidbit or an interesting fact about a lesser-known subject, sharing obscure knowledge can get people wondering and wanting to learn more.
  3. Present an unusual perspective: By presenting an uncommon or unexpected point of view, you can challenge people’s assumptions and inspire them to see things in a new light. OR Explore different perspectives: Ask questions that help you understand different points of view, such as “What do you think the other side of this argument would say?” or “Can you see it from another perspective?”
  4. Create a sense of mystery: Whether it’s through storytelling, an intriguing image, or an cryptic message, creating a sense of mystery can spark people’s imagination and leave them wanting to know more.
  5. Showcase the impossible: Demonstrating something that defies conventional wisdom or challenges people’s understanding of the world can get them wondering and seeking answers.
  6. Encourage reflection: Ask questions that prompt people to think about their own beliefs and experiences, such as “What led you to believe that?” or “Can you explain why you feel that way?”
  7. Foster critical thinking: Ask questions that challenge assumptions and encourage problem-solving, such as “What evidence supports this?” or “How could we test that hypothesis?”
  8. Enhance communication: Use Socratic questioning to encourage meaningful conversations and to delve deeper into topics, rather than just exchanging surface-level information.
  9. Encourage self-discovery: Use Socratic questioning to explore your own thoughts and beliefs, and to better understand your values and motivations.

By making people wonder, you have the power to inspire curiosity, spark creativity and foster critical thinking. So go out there and start making people question, imagine, and ponder. The possibilities are endless.

If you want to get in touch and talk more about wonder, drop a line in the comments.

About freedom

2 Comments

We now live challenging times. It’s the 8th of April 2020 and a third of the world’s population is under lock-down, due to the outbreak of Coronavirus.

In a time when freedom seems to be a luxury, what would you say if I told you I feel free?

I strongly believe that freedom is a matter of mindset. We keep talking about freedom of speech, freedom to choose a belief system, a political party, freedom to do what you like when you wish … we keep talking about freedom in connection to the outside world.

How about our inner freedom? Did you ever wonder how free we are in our thoughts? Did you ever find yourself hiding things which nobody would ever see? So thus hiding from …yourself?

We now easily blame coronavirus for locking us in our homes, when in fact we are prisoners in our train of thoughts, of our own conditioning, just like the story of the elephant rope:

As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.

He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”

The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.

The Elephant Rope

I believe that no matter how much outside freedom you have, you will never truly feel free in a box made of fears, limiting beliefs, shame, blame and projections.

Think outside the box is an expression that was used so much, until it lost its meaning. In fact, it encourages us to think freely, to get out from our patterns and see the world with curiosity, instead of judgement.

All the freedoms mentioned are given by someone/something – be it the government, the boss, your salary etc. But the most important freedom of all is the freedom you give yourself first of all in front of the mirror.

True freedom, inner freedom, cannot be given and taken away. It is a state of being, it is within ourselves, it is a mindset.

This being said, under lockdown, I do feel free. Do you?

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. – Viktor Frankl