David Whyte defines a great conversation as one where “you overhear yourself saying things that you didn’t know that you knew.”

Journaling has had a similar effect for me. And great questions are the pickaxes I use to mine the insights, ideas, intuitions, feelings, and so much more that lie dormant inside of me, outside of my awareness.

I don’t journal consistently; I do it when it feels right. Maybe a couple times a week, some weeks none at all. And the only “rule” I have for myself when journaling is:

Do not think about the answers before typing – get out of your head and type. Simply allow your fingers to do what they please, and observe what comes out the other end. No judgment, it’s only for you.

Here is my bank of great questions:

Questions to revisit every couple weeks…

These questions are meant to unearth the parts inside me that are very present, yet I haven’t been able to see them through the dense fog of old patterns, beliefs, habits, etc.

My goal is to bring up the desires, intuitions, fears, etc. that are most present in my life at this moment, that I was previously unaware of. And so, I try to journal on these questions every few weeks.

1. What season of your life are you in right now? What invitation is life offering you right now? How can you accept it?
2. Which parts of your life feel most alive with magic right now? How can you invite more of that in?
3. Where in your life are you resisting what is, rather than using it as fuel for what could be?
4. What unexpected directions is your intuition taking you as you move into this next Epoch of your existence?
5. Which part of yourself keeps knocking at the door, asking to be let in?
6. What’s one thing you’ve been avoiding feeling? What happens when you let yourself feel it fully?

Questions to help me take a step back…

It’s easy to get overtaken by my own present challenges. What feels overwhelming to me sounds like “no big deal” to the next guy – and the next guy is usually right.

These questions are meant to help me take a step outside of myself and see my current situation for what it truly is, instead of being so wrapped up in it that I can’t actually see the full picture.

1. If you truly believed life is conspiring in your favor, how would you interpret your current challenges differently?
2. Write this journal from a version of yourself that’s in the next iteration of your life – they’ve surpassed this current period of your life and its struggles. What advice would you give to yourself?
3. If you fully trusted the timing of your life, how would you move differently?

Questions to help me get unstuck…

I usually have the answers inside of myself – whether it’s in business or relationship or family or whatever. I know what the next step I need to take is, I just can’t see it.

These questions are meant to help me see it.

1. What belief about yourself, if fully embraced, would transform your life most significantly right now?
2. Which decision are you postponing that, if made, would give you the most relief
3. Where in your life are you seeking permission instead of giving it to yourself?
4. What threshold have you circled 1000 times, yet never crossed?

Questions to help me step out of my own way…

David Whyte has a quote: “Most people, I believe, are living four or five years behind the curve of their own transformation.”

This definitely feels right in my life and this next set of questions are meant to speed up that curve a bit. By unearthing the ways I *say* to myself that I want to grow but am not actually making the changes I need to make to allow for that growth.

1. What are you pruning in your life to make space for new growth?
2. What is a beautiful question you have cradled through years of doubt? It is too precious to ask. The question that you are afraid the answer will come back as no.
3. What do you deeply know about yourself but struggle to admit openly, even in private? Why?
4. What is an idea about the future that you think about jokingly? What if you took that idea seriously – what would your life look like?
5. What feels risky to want right now? What doors might open if you fully allow yourself to want this openly, without apology?
6. What if the part of yourself that you wanted to hide away was exactly the part that you need to become the fullest version of yourself in this moment – what would that look like? What would it look like to lean into the parts of yourself that you’ve been trying so hard to exile?
7. How are you being complicit in the parts of your life you *say* that you want to change?

Questions to help me learn from life…

I first heard the term “Earth School” from Cyan Banister on her Tim Ferriss Show interview, and it’s stuck with me. Life is constantly teaching us lessons if we’re open to accepting them – and it seems like there are some pretty great rewards if we learn these lessons and grow from them.

These questions are meant to help me notice life’s lessons and learn from them.

1. What do you know right now that a past iteration of you was desperate to understand?
2. What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in this season of your life? Think about the lessons that the universe seems to be shoving down your throat in every aspect of your life?

Questions to help me recenter

The analogy is that life is an ocean and we’re ships travelling long distances. We can set ourselves in the right direction of our destination, but after a bit of time, the tide will inevitably have pushed us off our path – and even if we’ve only been pushed slightly off the path, that can lead us to a far different destination when travelling such long distances.

So these questions are meant to help me remember critical aspects of myself and ensure that I’m on the path I want to be on.

1. Where does your heart go wandering when you forget to guard its path?
2. What would you create if you truly believe that joy was as valid of motivation as duty?
3. What would it look like to fully embrace playfulness and spontaneity? What would change in your daily actions?
4. What would it look like if all your day-to-day decisions were completely guided by intuition?
5. If every person had one hidden superpower that’s just a slight exaggeration of their natural tendencies, what would your hidden superpower be? How could you use it to your advantage?

Maybe this will be helpful to someone.

I’m not really sure.