Clicky

40 Meaningful Questions to Calm the Mind and Boost Your Focus

40 Meaningful Questions to Calm the Mind and Boost Your Focus

Asking the right questions is often the answer.

In a recent email newsletter I wrote, “Calm your mind today. Don’t just think outside the box; think like there is no box.”

And to my surprise, 97 people quoted that line and responded with the same general question: “How?”

I’ve spent the morning thinking about how to answer their collective question in the most universal way possible, and I’ve decided that the simplest explanation I can give is this: Ask yourself better questions — questions that focus your thoughts and filter out the excess noise that’s been cluttering your mind.

The calming and healing power of a positive imagination is unleashed by constraining your focus. Constraints drive creativity and force mindful thinking. It may sound counterintuitive at first but, in a backwards way, you break out of the box by stepping into the right shackles.

And that’s exactly what the questions below can help you with — shackling the noise in your head by channeling your focus into meaningful thoughts and moments of self-refection. Let these questions shift your perspective and guide you gracefully forward…

1.

Thought Questions

2.

Thought Questions

3.

3

4.

4

5.

5

6.

6

7.

7

8.

8

9.

9

10.

10

11.

11

12.

12

13.

13

14.

14

15.

15

16.

16

17.

17

18.

18

19.

19

20.

20

21.

21

22.

22

23.

23

24.

24

25.

25

26.

26

27.

27

28.

28

29.

29

30.

30

31.

31

32.

32

33.

33

34.

34

35.

35

36.

36

37.

37

38.

38

39.

39

40.

40

Please share the questions above with others who you think will benefit from them. And as always, please share your thoughts with Marc and me in the comments section below. If you’re up to it, we would love to read your response to the very first question:  In one sentence, who are you?

(Also note that many of these photo-illustrated questions were initially created for our sister site, Thought Questions, but since we rarely update that site anymore we decided to share the questions with you here. Finally, many of these questions have also been published in the guided journal, “The Good Morning Journal”, which was published by Penguin last year.)
For photo credits please refer to ThoughtQuestions.com

  • Related Posts

    3 Daily Habits that Hold 90 Percent of Us Back in Life

    If it keeps you busy but will hold you back someday, it’s a distraction. There’s a big difference between empty fatigue and gratifying exhaustion. Life is too short not to focus more on what matters most. And life is definitely too short for habits and routines that keep you stuck in a cycle of feeling […]

    Read more

    20 Things My Now 81-Year-Old Dad Was Right About All Along

    “One day you will look back and see that all along you were blooming.” — MHN Twenty-nine years ago, when I was a freshman in high school, my English teacher gave my class a homework assignment entitled, “Advice for a Younger Generation.” The concept of the assignment was simple: Each student had to interview a […]

    Read more

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    You Missed

    10 Good Reasons to Let Go of Things Sooner Rather than Later

    10 Good Reasons to Let Go of Things Sooner Rather than
Later

    10 Daily Life Choices You Will Regret in 10 Years

    10 Daily Life Choices You Will Regret in 10 Years

    Make Room for Joy: Your Essential Holiday Decluttering Guide

    Make Room for Joy: Your Essential Holiday Decluttering
Guide

    3 Fundamental Lessons Most of Us Learn a Little Too Late in Life

    3 Fundamental Lessons Most of Us Learn a Little Too Late in
Life

    Weekend Favorites: 18 healthy habits, tiny pumpkins and the 12-12-12 declutter rule

    Weekend Favorites: 18 healthy habits, tiny pumpkins and the
12-12-12 declutter rule

    20 Things My Now 81-Year-Old Dad Was Right About All Along

    20 Things My Now 81-Year-Old Dad Was Right About All
Along