How Can I Add and Receive More Value?

Posted January 16th, 2007 by Wendy Piersall

Do you know what a Primary Question is?

Our Primary Question is the question we ask ourselves on a regular basis
For many of us, this question isn’t a really good one. It’s because the question is most likely designed to doom us to crappy answers. Typical primary questions include:

“Why doesn’t anything ever work out?”

“When will I finally get my act together?”

“When will I ever be enough?”

Just look at those crappy questions! And the presuppositions hidden in those questions are just plain crappy as well. (A presupposition simply means that there is a bit of information embedded in the question that is taken for granted as true). For example:
“Nothing ever works out.”

“My act is not together.”

“I am not enough.”

Now, I have done a lot of work on my primary question - but don’t get me wrong, it’s not a thing you do ‘once’ and everything is now hunky-dorey. I changed my primary question last year, from:

“When will what I do be enough?”

TO:

“How am I making progress in this moment?”

By shifting the question, I got vastly different answers. And check out the new presupposition in there:

“I AM making progress”

BIG difference!

But over the last couple of months, my Primary Question kind of shifted again. And it was even worse than the my first bad one. Check out this crappy question ‘o mine!!

“What am I not doing that’s keeping me from attaining my goals?”

Whoa! It’s a double whammy of crappy presuppositions! ;)

In a sense, I was constantly telling myself that I wasn’t doing something AND I wasn’t attaining my goals! Yeugh! :)

So, trooper that I am, I finally realized what I was doing to myself and came up with a new and improved, even better primary question:

“How can I add and receive more value in this moment?”

And I made sure that the presuppositions in that question were awesome:

“I add value.”

“I receive value.”

Asking myself this question on a regular basis is shifting everything - and changing how I approach even the most mundane of daily tasks. But the real reason I bring this up, is because I want this to be a two-way question - so, dear readers, I want to know:

How can I add more value to your day?

Shoot me a comment or an email, because it’s of “Primary” importance to me to continue to add value to your day, your business, and your life. :)

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Explore posts in the same categories: Business Tips, Success Thinking

5 Comments on “How Can I Add and Receive More Value?”

  1. KWiz Says:

    Wendy, I only discovered your blog a few days ago (I am a newbie), and from the moment I found you, you’ve been adding value to my life. Your perspective comes from the spirit, the soul. It is refreshing that you look at what you do as your calling (I don’t know if you expressly used those words, but as I read your posts, that’s exactly what I see). In that sense, you have your readers’ best interests at heart. It definitely shows.

    I subscribed to “10 days to a better blog” free e-course, and it has been tremendously valuable. I would say if you have other courses like that to make those available to your readers.

    I love the idea of the “blogjolt.” In fact, I have a comment that I need to make on this week’s featured site.

    Your eveyday posts provide value, Wendy. Thank you for the opportunity to respond to a most genuine request.

  2. Sarah Lewis Says:

    In a moment of synchronicity, I read your post shortly after reading one by Rebecca Newburn that also focused on the questions we ask ourselves and how the questions themselves shape the answers. Very cool to get this from both of you wise ladies in the same day!

    You’re currently adding a lot of value to me by blogging, coaching the Productivity from the Inside Out group, and especially by being one of the few people I know who is willing to try new things.

  3. John Wesley Says:

    Those are some great questions we should ask ourselves. Very inspiring.

  4. Kelly King Anderson Says:

    This is a beautiful post and so inspiring, thank you for adding value to my life, I am also doing your 10 days to a better blog and love it. I’d love to feature you on our site for women entrepreneurs as a Start Up Princess, email me sometime! ;)

    Best,
    Kelly

  5. eMom Says:

    Thanks to all of you for affirming that I am already adding value. :) That’s the kind of thing I bookmark for future days when I need my own inspiration!

    If you have other requests for ways I can continue to add more value, by all means, I’m all ears!

    Wendy

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