High-performance coach Tony Robbins says the quality of your questions determine the quality of your life. If you are hoping to improve your life, you must ask high quality questions. The problem is so many of us live on autopilot, rarely questioning anything. We do the same things day in and day out. We eat the same foods week in and week out. We wear the same clothes, take the same trips, and work on the same job for years. Our brains like having a routine. Automatic activities don’t expend as much energy. Good for our brain, but bad for our progress. If you want to get off autopilot and start moving toward your goals there are 3 important questions to start asking yourself regularly.

#1 Why

“Why?” is a great place to start if you want to take the controls back because it often leads to more questions. For example, you may ask, why do I work at this job? Which could lead you to ask, is this my passion? Is it aligned with my core values? Core values? What are my core values? Does it help me to show up in the world the way I want? Is it helping me grow and develop? Questioning why you are doing something forces you to take a deeper look at that action and may encourage you to start considering alternatives.

#2 Who says

Many of the things we do and the way we think are passed down from our parents or learned from those in our inner circle. We do them out of habit or tradition, never questioning if it might be better for us to do things differently. Perhaps your Thanksgiving meal consists of the same 5 dishes every year because that’s what your parents and grandparents served. What if you don’t actually like 3 of the 5 dishes? Who says you have to serve that exact meal? Who says you can’t create new traditions of your own? Asking ourselves “Who says?” gives us permission to start thinking outside of our self-imposed boxes which opens us up to a host of brand-new experiences.

#3 How can I

In my humble opinion, this is the single best question to ask if you are trying to become the best version of yourself. Our brains don’t like to expend much energy. Also, change is scary and potentially dangerous. When we think about doing new things, often our brains will immediately give us a list of why it can’t be done. It will tell us we don’t have enough time, or we don’t have enough money. It will remind us that we don’t know how to do that or that we may fail or get embarrassed. When the list starts running in your head, recognize it as your brain trying to maintain the status quo. Then ask yourself, “How can I?”. How can I get enough money? How can I rearrange my schedule to create more time? How can I learn this new skill? Asking “How can I?” challenges you to become a master problem solver and will supercharge your growth.