How often do you stop to ask yourself, why am I doing this?

If you let it, this question can give you much insight into your life.

You can use it as a tool, as a scalpel, to dissect your actions and interrupt patterns of behavior you want to change.

Here are few examples of how you can use the question to assess your actions.

Why am I eating this?

Why am I wearing these clothes?

Why am I reading this?

Why am I feeling this way?

I could go on, but I’m sure you get the drift.

It’s easy to get caught up in life and go along to get along, not realizing that so much of what you’re doing is not because you’ve taken agency over your life. Instead, you’ve fallen into patterns of repetitious behavior. And while behavior patterns are useful, they can also be limiting.

When you bump up against a problem or challenge in life you resort to using the limited arrows in your behavior quiver, and when they don’t work is when you become anxious, frustrated, or annoyed. Asking yourself, why am I doing this, allows you to explore different ways of framing your situation and in some cases adding additional tools to your emotional arsenal.

I agree that too much navel-gazing or introspection can make you overly absorbed in yourself, but a little time spent evaluating your life can go a long way especially if there are changes, you’d like to make.

So, the next time you find yourself looking to make a change in your life or up against a challenge, instead of rushing to change, or running headfirst into the challenge, ask yourself, why am I doing this? Explore the reasons for your need to change, use the question to give yourself a fresh perspective, and open yourself up to new ideas and solutions.

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