When you have some kind of challenge, be it personal, professional, etc. There is a quick and free way to quickly catch up on what’s going on; to understand why you do or want or need things. It is asking yourself progressively penetrating questions. The most important requirement for this technique to work is the ability to be honest with yourself. What is discovered may surprise you.

Is that how it works:

1) Identify what you are struggling with.

2) Ask yourself why you are doing / wanting / needing this.

3) Answer honestly.

4) Perform steps 2 and 3 a total of 7 times, going deeper each time.

For example, for me it can be something like:

1) Why do I want or feel the need or desire to increase my income?

My first answer would be: I need to have more (disposable) income to be able to continue marketing my brand.

So the second question would be:

2) Why would you need to keep marketing your brand (ie “Fantastic Frank”)?

My answer would be: This is how I define myself.

So the third question would be:

3) Why is that important to you?

To this I would reply: My mission statement is “My life purpose is to be a man who can give and receive love NOW!”

So the fourth question would be

4) Why do you need or need love now?

My answer would be: I am alone, missing the Ying to my Yang.

So the fifth question would be:

5) Why do you feel lonely when you have so many people helping you, helping you, employed by you?

My answer would be: because I don’t have a girlfriend or a wife.

The sixth question is:

6) What happens when you focus on giving love instead of receiving it?

To this I would say: when I am loving others, I feel whole and happy, and I forget to be alone.

7) What prevents you from loving others?

Finally: I do not love others, nor am I able to feel their love for me, when I am too focused on myself.

Those seven questions led me to what underlies everything in my life. What started as a question about money came back as an answer about love. My desire to increase my income is related to my desire to give and receive love. As long as I give myself with love, I do not worry about why my income does not increase. I know that when I give away what I value (love) the most, it will come back to me in many related ways, not just money.