It was Mrs. Gay’s 5th grade math class, I was sitting in the third row back.
The topic was fractions. As soon as pie slices and math merged paths, I became officially lost. I really wanted to raise my hand and ask what the heck was going on, but I hesitated.
I had a dilemma. If I raised my hand and confessed that I did not understand, Mrs. Gay would proceed with a litany of questions back to me. I would be asked to come to the front of the room and work through the problem, chalk in hand, under the hawk-eyed glare of Mrs. Gay. My fraction deficiencies would be EXPOSED! My other option was to keep my hand down, struggle through my homework and take the grade – whatever that may be. A silent sufferfest, but at least my math secret would be safe.
I kept my hand down.
That was the beginning of taking a back seat. At 10 years of age it was easier to sit quietly and hope that someone would ask the question I was dying to ask, without putting my fragile pride on the line. Problem is when we take a back seat at any age, it doesn’t take long for that to become a habit. That habit once formed starts to grow into a story that we tell about ourselves. Over time I strongly believed that I wasn’t a numbers person, math was not my thing. I convinced myself and others that this was the case. My family even jumped on the bandwagon and agreed we were not good with numbers. Getting a “C” or at times a “D” in math, while painful, was easily understood given my lack of aptitude. Life was good as long as numbers never entered the equation.
Fast forward to college, where I was studying to become a teacher. Ironically enough I had to take a methods class on how to teach math to kids. There I sat, 22 years of age, with manipulatives for fractions and our professor walking us through a sample lesson. Slices of pie and math converged paths once again – and then IT HAPPENED!
I UNDERSTOOD!
I had never worked with manipulatives before and I discovered right then and there I had a specific learning modality. I was a HANDS ON learner and I LOVE MATH! It didn’t take long for my confidence to come flooding in and for me to start raising my hand. Questions became a necessity for continued success. It was as if this giant switch had been flipped on in my mind and I started writing a new story about my love affair with numbers.
It’s almost comical that I went on to teach fractions to fifth graders – allowing my time in Mrs. Gay’s math class to return full circle. Only this time I had my students do the “Fraction Rap” and dance around the room singing about math rules – no student left off the math bus in my class.
The most successful people in life ask great questions which lead to even greater answers. Perhaps they were never silenced in fifth grade or they have a certain boldness, but it makes perfect sense. Our questions help us to understand ourselves and the world around us on a deeper level. That understanding gives us a better grasp of our value proposition – what we have to offer the world that brings significance to our lives and the lives of others.
Are you struggling with having the courage to speak up and ask questions in a specific area of your life? Here are my best tips for getting the most out of life by asking great questions.
All you have to do is spend ten minutes with a four year old to see the connection between curiosity and questions. The world is all new to them and they have no track record with it yet. No one has squashed their questions and so they ask away with no inhibitions. The five minutes it took to drive our kids to school was always filled with questions that could only come from unhindered minds. It was as if they’d throw out their “mom-quiz”, turn over the hour-glass and I’d have five minutes to answer satisfactorially.
Somewhere along the line we lose that curiosity in the midst of our daily grind. It’s time to BRING IT BACK! But how?
Try switching it up a bit with a new mindset hack.
If you hear yourself say,”I can’t do that!” Get a little curious and ask yourself,”How can I do that?”
When you have a really good idea come your way before saying,”That’s not for me.” Try switching it up with “Why not me?”
If a friend wants you to do a 5k Run with her instead of instantly dismissing the thought, get curious! Ask yourself, “How would I feel about myself, if I completed a 5K run?” “What would training for the run take?” Get curious with great questions.
Curiosity begs us to look around the corner, to imagine new possibilities. It invites us to explore and expand our horizon. Age is completely irrelevant to being inquisitive. If you want to live a life of not just success but of significance you must be curious. Start TODAY!
Chances are it may have been awhile since you’ve taken the time to ask yourself some deep growth-oriented questions. If we want to bring value to the world in our own unique way, we must have a grasp on what we have to offer. This knowledge of value comes through questions. As Maya Angelou has so famously reported to us, once we know better we can do better.
Since knowing where to start is often the most difficult part, start with a journal and focus first on just one question. Move outward from there. My favorite conversation starter for my inner self:
What ONE THING can I make happen in the next 90 days that will move the needle on my life dreams?
The more we start asking questions of ourselves, the more curious we become. Reading books toward what we want to accomplish, listening to podcasts that are in our area of interest, surrounding ourselves with motivated people will keep the questions flowing in our life. It’s now time for things to really take off.
Our questions propel us forward and allow us to start dreaming for our life. Many of the things we enjoy in our life today are a result of someone’s inquisitive mind yesterday. The cars we drive, the “smart” homes we live in, even the crackling fire in our hearts were all unearthed from an idea in someone’s mind long ago.
Imagine if you took that idea that’s been brewing in your mind, and gave it room to breathe. What if you started brainstorming on ways to bring it to life? How might your life be different in a year or three years if you actually put your questions into action? Your world has the ability to expand exponentially – or not. It really is up to you.
To stifle the curiosity within us is equivalent to making a decision to never raise our hand in math class again. The opportunities that will be missed, the new horizons that will never be met, the ideas and dreams that will never come to pass because we simply quenched the desire to know more.
Ignite that fire inside of you today to start dreaming for tomorrow. What you do in this moment matters. The questions you start asking today – matter. The future generations are relying on us to ask great questions and then TAKE ACTION!
