Level of Questions and Afformations

Asking yourself questions can be a powerful way to motivate yourself to achieve your goals. Nevertheless, all questions are not created equally. So it is important to ask yourself the right questions. But what are the right questions?

According to the founder of Afformations Noah St. John, the right questions are questions that are positive rather than negative. Also, they're questions phrased in the present tense. To add to this, I think that it's better to ask deep level three questions - questions that ask why.

For example, if you want to be rich, you can ask yourself "Why am I so rich?" If you want to be healthy, you can ask yourself "Why am I so healthy?" If you want to be wise, you can ask yourself "Why am I so wise?"

Notice that these questions are very similar to affirmations, except that they are asked in a question form rather than a statement form. Noah St. John would call these questions Afformations.

Noah St. John believed that Afformations are much more powerful than affirmations, because Afformations make you mentally focus on your goals on a much deeper level. Questions make you think more than statements do.

There are basically three levels of questions. They range from superficial questions to deep questions.

Level one questions are the most superficial. They involve asking who, when, and where. These questions are asked to obtain information involving environments, situations, and circumstances. Let's use the assassination of United States President Abraham Lincoln as an example.

When - It took place on Good Friday, April 14, 1865.
Who - It was carried out by the well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth.
Where - It happened at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.

Level two questions are a little deeper. They involve asking what and how. These questions are asked to obtain information involving behaviors, actions, and deeds. Let's use the assassination of United States President Abraham Lincoln as an example.

What - John Wilkes Booth murdered President Abraham Lincoln.
How - Booth opened the door which granted entry to the President's theater box seat, crept forward with his handgun and shot the President in the back of the head, behind his left ear at point blank range.

Level three questions are deeper yet. They involve asking why. These questions are asked to obtain information involving thoughts, beliefs, and emotions. Let's use the assassination of United States President Abraham Lincoln as an example.

Why - John Wilkes Booth believed and felt that his actions would revive the Confederate cause.

By asking yourself level three questions regarding achieving your goals, you're motivating yourself by thinking about your thoughts, beliefs, and emotions. This is much more powerful than asking yourself level two questions, which only motivates you by making you think about your behaviors, actions, and deeds.

The weakest way to motivate yourself would be to ask yourself level one questions, which only motivates you by making you think about your environments, situations, and circumstances.

Do you want to be successful? Yes? Then go ahead and ask yourself the following question several times daily: "Why am I so successful?"

Words, Thoughts, and Waves

"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer" (Psalm 19:14 KJV).

Upon reading this Bible verse, I am reminded of the importance of the words we speak and the thoughts we think. Words and thoughts can be broadly categorized into two categories: faith and fear.

Why are the words we speak and the thoughts we think so important? Words and thoughts are important, because they affect the reality around us.

Physicists have discovered that there's really no such thing as empty space. They found that empty space is really made up of subatomic particles or waves.

If the empty space is viewed through equipment that allows a nonhuman machine to see on a subatomic level, the machine will see subatomic waves - waves of possibility. But if a human uses the equipment to see on a subatomic level, the waves will collapse into subatomic particles - particles of certainty.

Why would human observation affect the waves of possibility and not that of a nonhuman machine? The answer is that humans have consciousness and nonhuman machines don't. It appears that consciousness interacts with waves of possibility.

The waves of possibility represent energy and the particles of certainty represent matter. And mere human observation of the energy converts it into matter.

Indeed, we're constantly surrounded by subatomic energy. And our observations of reality via our thoughts affect this energy - converting it into matter!

If our thoughts are of faith (e.g., anointing of wealth, health, and life), then the energy will convert into the reality of faith. If our thoughts are of fear (e.g., curse of poverty, sickness, and death), then the energy will convert into the reality of fear.

If you want to know whether you're thinking mostly thoughts of faith or fear, just become aware of the words you say. The words you say come directly from the thoughts you think.

Faith and Life

"And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way" (Mark 10:52 KJV).

"There is no sickness problem. There is simply a problem of the believer's coming to know his inheritance in Christ" (E. W. Kenyon).

The above quotes imply that God wants us to be healthy rather than sick. That the way to become healthy is to believe that you're already healthy and see it in your mind's eye. Seeing something in your mind's eye that you'd like to occur activates faith, and faith activates changes in reality.

Faith is the fulcrum that the seesaw of life teeters on. Faith is the tool perfectly designed to mold life the way you want it. If a block of marble is life, then faith is the chisel used to sculpt the block of marble into a beautiful statue.

A life without faith is a life not worth living. I say this because a life without faith is a powerless one. It's a life beyond your control. It's a life where you're merely an insignificant cog in the vast machinery of the universe.

If you have no faith and believe that you have no control over your life, you'll become depressed if not already depressed. Depression is the emotion of hopelessness, the emotion of powerlessness. And if you maintain depression long enough, you'll die an early death. The body will eventually shut down.

We're all hardwired to have faith and use it. Faith is what keeps us in control of our life. Faith is what keeps us happy.

Health, Happiness, Prosperity, and Overall Well-Being

"For I know the plans I have for you - this is the Lord's declaration - plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope" (Jeremiah 29:11 HCSB).

Welfare can be defined as health, happiness, prosperity, and overall well-being. Given this, according to the above Bible verse, God wants us to have good health, happiness, prosperity, and overall well-being. In fact, God plans these things for us. He does not want the opposite to occur: sickness, misery, poverty, and overall ill-being.

Then why is it that some of us don't have good health, happiness, prosperity, and overall well-being? The reason is that God gives us a choice. The choice is in the type of thoughts and images that we hold in our heads. Thoughts and images are part of the spiritual world. If held long and consistent enough, these thoughts and images materialize into the physical world - reality as we know it.

If you want to claim good health, happiness, prosperity, and overall well-being for yourself, all you have to do is begin envisioning yourself as already having these things. After all, God wants you to have these things. In fact, He had planned for you to have these things.

If you don't already have good health, happiness, prosperity, and overall well-being, begin to choose these things today. Don't blame God or anyone else for your shortcomings. You create your own reality. Your reality is reflected in the type of thoughts and images held within your head.

Use your head or end up dead.

Public Speaking, Envisioning, and Faith

I have read that the fear of public speaking ranks far above the fear of death for many people. But public speaking seems to be almost unavoidable, if you want to progress and get ahead in life. So the question is what do you do if you find yourself in a situation where you have to do public speaking in front of a large audience, and are deathly afraid to do so?

The answer can be found in your Bible. Contained within the Bible are God's promises. These promises can subdue your fear and give you the confidence that you need.

If you find yourself devoid of confidence and ready to pull a no-show or make an excuse as to why you cannot do public speaking, you need to claim God's gift of confidence. Say to yourself, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13 KJV).

When you say this, envision yourself doing public speaking with total confidence and ease. Envisioning is integral to the faith process. Envisioning is power.

If you find yourself jittery and nervous before doing public speaking, you need to claim God's promise of peace. You need to meditate on the following: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27 KJV).

When you meditate on this promise, you need to envision yourself doing public speaking in a relaxed and peaceful manner. Remember. Envisioning is essential to the faith process. In fact, envisioning and faith are one and the same.

View public speaking as a test of your faith rather than a curse. Use public speaking to build up your faith muscles. Anytime you have to do public speaking, clearly envision yourself doing it successfully with confidence and ease.

Envisioning exercises your faith muscles. Even if you fail miserably at public speaking, keep envisioning yourself succeeding until it materializes in this physical reality.

Remember. If you fail miserably at public speaking, people will forget about your performance a few days later. People are more concerned with themselves than you. So don't exaggerate your poor performance. In the grand scheme of the universe, it really doesn't matter.