The Right Questions: Ten Essential Questions To Guide You To An Extraordinary Life [Hardcover]

Debbie Ford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2003

The realities of the life we live today are a result of the choices we made yesterday, three months ago and three years ago. But we don't wind up $50,000 dollars in debt because of one extravagant purchase. Nor do we put on thirty unwanted pounds as a result of a couple of decadent meals. And our relationships certainly don't fall apart overnight because of one decision. We are where we are because of repeated unconscious choices made day after day. If we want to understand why and how we created our present day reality all we need to do is look at the choices we made in the past.

Ford cuts right through our denial with the ten questions that immediately reveal the true motivations behind our thoughts and actions. But more than that, by rigorously and honestly asking and answering these ten vital questions we regain control and have the power necessary to create the life we always wanted.

Clear, accessible, engaging and ultimately life changing, these questions act as both a spiritual questionnaire and as a navigation tool for living in accordance with the best part of our selves.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A workshop leader and author of several bestselling advice books, Ford (The Dark Side of the Light Chasers) offers another path toward a better life. According to Ford, it is the unconscious choices we make that prevent us from achieving future goals and dreams. For example, someone who truly wants to lose 20 pounds may choose to eat a high-fat, fast-food dinner because he or she has a hidden commitment to the comfort such food will bring; a hardworking woman who has always dreamed of buying a home sabotages herself by getting into credit card debt by an unconscious commitment to rewarding herself immediately with expensive purchases. The author contends that it is possible to identify such self-defeating commitments by asking 10 questions that will turn unconscious choices into beneficial conscious decisions. Choosing to overeat or overspend can be avoided by asking, is this an act of self-love or self-sabotage? According to Ford, asking the questions she recommends-including "am I choosing from my divinity or my humanity?"-will lead questioners to behave more positively toward themselves and to others. Although somewhat contrived, this guide is certainly not harmful and may be of use to readers who enjoy following roadmaps to happiness.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Review

“Both practical and profound, this book will provide you with a powerful framework to make life-changing choices.” (Cheryl Richardson author of Stand Up for Your Life and Life Makeovers )

“Whatever you desire - the Right Questions will move you powerfully forward in the direction of your dreams.” (Jack Canfield Co-Author, Chicken Soup for the Soul(R) and The Power of Focus )

“Debbie Ford is an innovative thinker and skillful guide on the path to emotional freedom.” (Tara Bennett-Goleman author of Emotional Alchemy )

“Debbie Ford tells us what we should really ask, in order to get what we really want.” (Marianne Williamson, author of Everyday Grace )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; 1st edition (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060086270
• ISBN-13: 978-0060086275
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #218,291 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Debbie Ford, #1 New York Times best-selling author, educator, founder of The Ford Institute for Transformational Training, and Executive Producer of The Shadow Effect, a cutting-edge transformational DVD, is an internationally recognized expert in the field of personal transformation. A pioneering force in incorporating the study and integration of the shadow into modern psychological and spiritual practices, Debbie has appeared on Oprah, Good Morning America, and is the featured expert on the forthcoming ABC TV show, The Ex-Wives Club. Debbie's eight groundbreaking books, including The Dark Side of the Light Chasers, Spiritual Divorce, and The Best Year of Your Life, have sold over 1 million copies, are translated into 32 languages, and are used in institutions of learning worldwide. For more information, visit www.debbieford.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

133 of 135 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If life is giving you the wrong answers..., October 7, 2003

By 

Janet Boyer "Author, Blogger, Radio Host" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Right Questions: Ten Essential Questions To Guide You To An Extraordinary Life (Hardcover)

then maybe you're asking the wrong questions!

Workshop leader and author Debbie Ford shows you how with her new book.

Debbie Ford, noted workshop leader and author, has written a simple and practical guide to improving your life, and achieving future goals and dreams. As Ford demonstrated with her books The Dark Side of the Light Chasers and The Secret of the Shadow, she specializes in uncovering the unconscious motivations and undercurrents that rule our lives. When we don't examine and question our thought patterns or behaviors, we can move along life quite mindlessly--and quite miserably--at the mercy of the beliefs and commitments we've made during childhood or crisis.

A few of the author's questions are reminiscent of those addressed by other self-help books, but there's a beautiful simplicity in the directness of her 10 questions that is immediately applicable and immediately helpful. You don't have to wade through technical terms or concepts to "get it". And I admit, I like this approach. It's refreshing to have someone lay out a common-sense process to enriching life and increasing personal freedom, rather than craft a convoluted theory or system that promises perfection or enlightenment and bogs down an already-overwhelmed reader in the process!

The Right Questions

1. Will this choice propel me toward an inspiring future or will it keep me stuck in the past?
2. Will this choice bring me long term fulfillment or will it bring me short term gratification?
3. Am I standing in my own power or am I trying to please another?
4. Am I looking for what's right, or am I looking for what's wrong?
5. Will this choice add to my life force, or will it rob me of my energy?
6. Will I use this situation as a catalyst to grow and evolve or will I use it to beat myself up?
7. Does this choice empower me or dis-empower me?
8. Is this an act of self-love or self-sabotage?
9. Is this an act of faith or an act of fear?
10 Am I choosing from my Divinity or am I choosing from my humanity?

If you're having a rough time navigating through your life and feel drained, directionless, frustrated, and paralyzed, I highly recommend Debbie Ford's new book The Right Questions. When you start to ask the right questions, you can finally arrive at empowering and live-giving answers.

96 of 103 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Deceptively simple, truly insightful, April 8, 2003

By 

Dr Cathy Goodwin (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Right Questions: Ten Essential Questions To Guide You To An Extraordinary Life (Hardcover)

I'm ususally suspicious of books with subtitles like this one, but this time I was pleasantly surprised. If you're a connoisseur of the self-help genre, you won't find dramatically new content. Ford's contribution: creative packaging to help us see the wisdom in old truths. Each chapter addresses a dimension of choice and suggests we can choose life affirmation and growth over self-sabotage and decline.

Debbie Ford's theme: Each day we make choices, large and small. When we consciously assess the consequences of each choice, we might make different decisions. Standing at the coffee counter, we debate whether to select an espresso mocha with whipped cream or an iced tea. Facing our computer, we can play an extra game of solitaire or get down to business.

Choice gives us power over our lives and I can see where evaluating each day's choices can lead to growth. As a career coach, I see examples every day and I plan to recommend this book to many people. A client says, "I can't work on my new business in the evenings -- that's the only time to practice gourmet cooking or work in the garden." That client shows where her priorities lie -- and has made a choice that will not lead her in the direction of her goals.

Two quibbles: The book could have said more about those who systematically make "bad" choices. They may need to recognize and reorganize their agenda. Rather than change their choices, they may have to find a way to redefine their goals and recognize their real priorities.

And I am uncomfortable with Ford's chapter on choosing faith instead of fear. I've seen too many people who leaped to quit a job, move to a new city or enter a new relationship because they just read a book or talked to a coach who said "Go for it."

At the risk of alienating many positive thinkers out there, I think faith needs to be bolstered by careful planning and a safety net. The safety net might be a set of skills and a flexible attitude -- but many people think they're more flexible than they really are.

55 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Familiar content + Jarring Presentation = :-(, March 22, 2005

By 

Julie Jordan Scott "Writer, Life Coach - Owne... (Bakersfield, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Right Questions: Ten Essential Questions To Guide You To An Extraordinary Life (Hardcover)

I know many people who really love Debbie Ford's work, so I decided to check her work out myself. I have had great experience listening to people I know and admire - that is how I found Julia Cameron, for example - who has gone on to be instrumental in my own personal growth.

In this case, I found my thoughts and experiences do not gel with as much of what Debbie Ford says - and I found the presentation of the content to be a bit jarring.

I discovered I didn't have problems with most of the message of this book, it was more its presentation and organization that I found to be outside the helpful, positive range.

The book opens with very familiar content, with material from a Tony Robbins quiote, "Quality questions create a quality life." I agree - wholeheartedly. It felt rather "status quo, here I am reading another main-stream motivational book" and then Ford takes the leap into Spirituality, with a lot of talk about one's star, life force and flame. Again, I appreciate Spirituality... so aside from the sort of un-gentle glide, I was ok with this content.

She wrote about Amma, a spiritual leader I have heard others experience, and I thought that was pretty cool so I kept reading and as I did I became less and less comfortable - and more and more curious about what makes so many people so appreciative of this book?

If you like things like "Choices that DIM YOUR LIFE versus CHOICES THAT MAKE YOUR FIRE ROAR" you will appreciate this book.

If you believe in by-passing emotion - you will appreciate this book.

And that is where I shut this book - because as an active creator/performer/writer, I simply can not bypass emotion. I can bypass opinion, but I can not bypass the truth within my emotion and the message within my emotion.

For me, that is what was the clincher or the "final straw" so to speak which would keep me from making a recommendation of this particular title. I have tried to write this review to help you to know what might connect with you in this title - and to let you know what was completely disconnecting for me.

Read on -