It has taken me years (and in some cases, decades) to know what I need to ask myself. I’ve come to realize my weekly “thinking time” allows me to ask myself tough questions. These questions allow me to:

For the purpose of clarity, I’d like to offer three questions that have acted as a guide for me personally:

1. Am I enriching myself?
My spiritual core and purpose is my foundation. Every time I neglect or allow other urgent tasks to “squeeze out” my time of solitude, I lose my way. It may not be too obvious to others but I lose my edge, perspective, empathy, and greater purpose of “others first.”

I’ve found the greatest investment I make is my daily, 20-minutes of spiritual solitude. I read a small devotional, pray for members of my family (my wife, my three children, my children’s wonderful spouses, and then a BIG SWING at our six grandchildren.) We live in a complex and confusing world. My 20-minutes of solitude and prayer puts my world together, at least for that day.

2. How do I view myself? 
As a young boy, I went to a small private school and one of my teachers told me I’d probably “never really excel in school.” As a result, I allowed those words to shape the way I viewed myself. I settled for average grades (B’s and C’s) and I never felt very smart. I always thought, “better stick to sports,” until my junior year in college when I took an IQ test that I learned something about myself: I ranked third highest in IQ. I have no idea how accurate that test was but that test alone changed how I viewed myself.

Many people find themselves thinking like Snoopy, Charlie Brown‘s pet beagle in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz who thinks, “Yesterday I was a dog. Today I’m a dog. Tomorrow I’ll be a dog. Sigh! There’s so little hope for advancement.”

How you view yourself and how you feel about yourself determines your self image. Your self image matters! We can never outperform our identity. We have the ability to make tremendous advancements but first, we must believe in ourselves.

3. What does my future look like? 
As an Executive Leadership and Performance Coach, I’m privileged to remind leaders (and myself) on a daily basis that the size of your dream determines the size of your investment. If your dream is large, you will need to invest in yourself… coaching, mentoring, and great team support.

As I pen these words, I’m investing in myself and my company, Leadership Quest. Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth leading.” I add the unexamined leader is not worth following. Take some “thinking time” to ask yourself some key questions to be worth following.

Here’s to your questions!
—Steve