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Dhirendra Kumar writes this on his website:
All financial planning and advice that is provided apparently gratis (but is actually paid for through commissions) is suspect.
I agree.
But this post is about asking the right questions. The point of the article was a lament that he’s not able to answer tons of questions posed on his TV show and his website. I have a problem with answering questions on a TV show or on a website.
On a TV show, you really don’t know the person behind the question. I mean that you need to understand the personal situation and background before you can attempt an answer.
In the one TV show that I watched, the questions were being asked just for the sake of asking. I suspect that the main reason was to be on TV!
I too get questions. While there are some great questions, there are questions like this one from 30 year old MBA Student on how to become a crorepati!! My three word answer was “Can’t help, Sorry”.
But my point is that if you need help, there are tons of ways to getting help. But it’s rarely from a TV Show or a website. It mostly starts with YOU.
You need to do a bit of research by reading around and asking powerful questions. Not just “How do I” questions but a question detailing your situation and also fucusing on the “Why’s” part of the question.
That brings me to an insightful post on asking the right questions:
Asking the right questions
Most people ask lousy questions that cripple their results. Lousy questions turn your focus away from what you want and towards more of what you don’t want. And since we ask and answer mental questions every day, our questions wield great power over our results.
One example of weak v/s strong question that is mentioned in the above post: When considering a dietary improvement
Weak: What foods am I going to have to give up? How am I going to deal with the deprivation? Am I going to have to eat like this forever?
Strong: What foods that I like will I get to eat more of? What new foods can I experiment with? Won’t it be great when I reach my goal weight? Won’t it be wonderful to finally master this area of my life once and for all? Once I succeed at this, who else can I help?
Exercise: What question would you ask for financial improvements (Instead of dietary improvements)?
Another excerpt from the above link:
Strong questions are empowering. They keep you focused on solutions, on what you can control. When you focus on what you can do, you avoid falling into analysis paralysis. Ultimately the way out of any negative situation is right thinking. Wrong thinking leads you in circles. Right thinking leads to action.
The right questions are not in lacs of numbers. There are few but powerful. For starters why don’t you check out the Frequently Asked Questions. And also check out this search engine as well as this ask engine. Thanks.
