Questions to Leap Over Life’s Ruts

Most people hope at some time or another to move from where they stand at that moment, into a better place for their future. Especially if following predictable schedules is holding back personal progress.

Yet have you noticed that strong traditions rarely yield to finer approaches in many workplaces, even when rejuvenated practices prove superior? Or are you aware that stressed brains rely more on habit and remain longer in ruts? There’s a reason this is so, and there are ways to tap into different intelligences for brainpower to move past potholes that hold you back.

Not sure where you’re stuck? Then ask a trusted friend, to remind you what topics you tend to speak about most, and in that place both your ruts or growth edges will likely reside.

If you look at ruts from inside your brain, you’ll likely see how you default to your basal ganglia. Experts call it your mental storehouse. Less sensitive people may remind you it’s where every rigid routine, life failure and annoying habit gathers. Along with every experience you’ve ever encountered, it’s also the place that promotes and prolongs annoying ruts. It doesn’t have to be that way.

The key is to build new neuron pathways that will help you bridge the difference between rigid runnels and rejuvenation. Whenever you operate new parts of the human brain you also trigger your working memory which is that area that helps you learn and do life in different ways.

Ready to ask questions that leap beyond old habits, and open new windows into multiple intelligences? OK, let’s say you’d like to move forward in new directions that add zip to your leadership. It’s simply a matter of engaging your brain’s amazing plasticity to develop, grow, and use new dendrite brain cell connections. You’ll replace ruts with new adventures when you tap into the smart skill tools for asking questions that activate your unique mix of intelligences.

Smart Skill 2 – Question with Multiple Intelligences to Move Past Ruts

1. How would you sequence the top five priorities for an action plan you’ll do this week? Mathematical or logical questions enable you to thread through chains of reasoning to discern where ruts are rooted.

2. What would a log of your winning ways over one week tell about your best plan to raise a favorite strength or two up to new levels? Verbal linguistic questions include reading and discussing communication trends, as well as writing a plan for new growth, and perhaps even proposing it to your mentor.

3. What musical selection you play or compose would show where you’d most like to be in one month? Musical or rhythmic questions enable you to expand life through personal or experts’ compositions.

4. What visual would most inspire your next adventure? Spatial questions invite investigations through images, graphs, or visual portrayals that diminish ruts simply by illumining inspired visual possibilities.

5. How would a long walk alter your answer to the question – “What could you do differently this week with life-changing results? Bodily-kinesthetic questions engage you in movement, or building in ways that deepen understanding about past and future challenges as well as opportunities for new directions.

6. What would a respected friend or colleague suggest that you do next to move ahead in a dynamic new direction? Interpersonal or social questions would help you to discern and respond well to insights of different people as they relate to your change question.

7. What advice would your teenage self offer you now, about your best options for change that could  transform the coming week? Intrapersonal or introspective questions tap into your self-knowledge, integrity and discrimination for good or bad choices that relate to you.

8. Where in nature does your highest dream reside and what does it look like? Naturalistic questions give you mental tools to draw on patterns and designs in nature as a way to see real world problems and propose nature-related solutions for growth.

In each question you’ll generate opportunities for responses from different areas of the brain. Ask three or four two-footed questions listed here, or create your own multiple intelligence questions to move past ruts. Whether you go after new directions as detailed here, or other ruts you face, expect mental barriers to fall, and get ready for a new shot at your dynamic journey ahead. It cannot help but happen when you ratchet up brainpower through diverse questions. Which intelligence will launch your next trek?

Related posts:

Smart skill 1 = Question to Refuel Finances Past Media Fears
Smart skill 2 = Question to Leap Over Life’s Ruts
Smart skill 3 = Question with the Brain in Mind and Move
Smart skill 4 = Question Research to Create Cutting Edge Tools
Smart skill 5 = Question Myths and Reboot Brainpower
Smart skill 6 = Question Ahead for Grandparent or Family Roles
Smart skill 7 = Question to Know How You are Smart
Smart skill 8 = Question with Two Feet to Spark Curiosity
Smart skill 9 = Question Broken Systems with Solutions in Mind
Smart skill10 = Question Brainpower Through Growth Surveys

15 Comments on “Questions to Leap Over Life’s Ruts”

  1. #1 JD
    on Jan 2nd, 2009 at 1:13 pm

    This is a great time to look and evaluate if we are in a rut and to establish the fortitude and courage to make changes. It may be time to change to avoid a rut if you are not in one. Thanks for the compelling advice

  2. #2 eweber
    on Jan 2nd, 2009 at 1:35 pm

    Jim, you so often inspire all of us to think and act in different ways — the quickest neuron pathways toward adventure. May your 2009 add wonderful treasures that keep you moving forward. Happy New Year friend!

  3. #3 Question Myths and Reboot Brainpower – Brain Leaders and Learners
    on Jan 2nd, 2009 at 5:22 pm

    [...] skill 1 = Question to Refuel Finances Past Media Fears Smart skill 2 = Question to Leap Over Life’s Ruts Smart skill 3 = Question with the Brain in Mind and Move Smart skill 4 = Question Research to [...]

  4. #4 Question to Refuel Finances Past Media Fears – Brain Leaders and Learners
    on Jan 2nd, 2009 at 6:33 pm

    [...] skill 1 = Question to Refuel Finances Past Media Fears Smart skill 2 = Question to Leap Over Life’s Ruts Smart skill 3 = Question with the Brain in Mind and Move Smart skill 4 = Question Research to [...]

  5. #5 Question Brainpower Through Growth Survey – Brain Leaders and Learners
    on Jan 3rd, 2009 at 8:43 am

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  6. #6 Question to Know How You are Smart – Brain Leaders and Learners
    on Jan 3rd, 2009 at 9:00 am

    [...] skill 1 = Question to Refuel Finances Past Media Fears Smart skill 2 = Question to Leap Over Life’s Ruts Smart skill 3 = Question with the Brain in Mind and Move Smart skill 4 = Question Research to [...]

  7. #7 Question with Two Feet to Spark Curiosity – Brain Leaders and Learners
    on Jan 3rd, 2009 at 9:13 am

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  8. #8 Broken Schools but Brainy Teens – Brain Leaders and Learners
    on Jan 3rd, 2009 at 9:36 am

    [...] skill 1 = Question to Refuel Finances Past Media Fears Smart skill 2 = Question to Leap Over Life’s Ruts Smart skill 3 = Question with the Brain in Mind and Move Smart skill 4 = Question Research to [...]

  9. #9 Question Research to Create Cutting Edge Tools – Brain Leaders and Learners
    on Jan 3rd, 2009 at 10:40 am

    [...] skill 1 = Question to Refuel Finances Past Media Fears Smart skill 2 = Question to Leap Over Life’s Ruts Smart skill 3 = Question with the Brain in Mind and Move Smart skill 4 = Question Research to [...]

  10. #10 Question with the Brain in Mind and Move – Brain Leaders and Learners
    on Jan 3rd, 2009 at 10:47 am

    [...] skill 1 = Question to Refuel Finances Past Media Fears Smart skill 2 = Question to Leap Over Life’s Ruts Smart skill 3 = Question with the Brain in Mind and Move Smart skill 4 = Question Research to [...]

  11. #11 Grandparent Questions with the Brain in Mind – Brain Leaders and Learners
    on Jan 3rd, 2009 at 10:55 am

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    on Mar 24th, 2009 at 4:53 pm

    [...] a person who inspires you and your brain will do the rest.  Novelty stokes memory and great questions tend to create neuron pathways to innovations and [...]

  13. #13 Dan
    on Apr 19th, 2009 at 6:29 am

    Thank you for this post.

    What a great read.

    Have Fun

    Dan.

    Dans last blog post..Don’t Mess With The Godfather

  14. #14 Brain Parts Promote or Stomp out Change – Brain Leaders and Learners
    on May 18th, 2009 at 9:10 am

    [...] Tucked away in your basal ganglia find lifelong memories and skills that transform change into excellence. Lean into basal ganglia storehouses too often though, and you’ll trip into outmoded traps. [...]

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    on Sep 15th, 2009 at 6:28 am

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