The #1 Question That Will Clarify Everything

Recently I binge-listened to an entire podcast series that's consumed my thoughts the past 5 days, and I knew I had to talk about it. 

The podcast is called Sold a Story. 

It's an investigation into why 1/3 of 4th graders in the US can't read. (For real. This is a thing.)

For all the obvious reasons, this matters for all of us regardless of our parenting status.

It also matters because the lessons learned from this podcast influence your ability to create personal and financial freedom for yourself.  

In Sold a Story, the inability to read is portrayed as a symptom with the cause being a fundamental error in how reading instruction has been approached by most of the largest school districts in the nation. 

But flawed reading instruction isn't the real cause, in my opinion.

The root of the issue goes much deeper. 

It goes far beyond education and infiltrates every system I can think of.

And, it impacts our deepest desires: our yearning for health, wealth, and meaningful relationships.

The root of this issue affects the health of your business and career the same way it has impacted kids.

The root is this: not asking enough questions.  

You see, in Sold a Story, administrators, teachers, and parents - all well intentioned people - did one of two things:

They either blindly trusted what they'd been told was a research-based approach to reading. OR, they dismissed their intuition telling them there was something wrong.

Either way, there's one critical question that wasn't asked: "Why?"

Why does this work? What's the proof? Why should I trust this? Why can't my child read?

When it comes to getting to the core of an issue, there's no better question than "Why?" asked on repeat. 

Our ability to ask questions is a critical factor in being able to advocate for our own needs. And, in this case, the needs of young kids who can't advocate for themselves.

Asking questions doesn't make you ignorant. 

It's how you transmute doubt into progress. 

It's how doubt is meant to be used - to evolve our capacity for greater health, wealth, and relationships.

So, will you do me a favor?

Today will you identify the greatest challenge or question you're facing in your career or business right now and ask yourself why on repeat? 

Here’s what that could look like: 

Q: Why does having a career that makes me happy matter?

A: Because I'm tired of feeling exhausted.

Q: Why does this matter?

A: Because it's affecting my mental and physical health.

Q: Why does this matter?

A: Because my health is affecting the quality of my most important relationships.

Q: Why does this matter?

A: Because the people I work with are getting the best version of me and the people I love are getting what's left over. 

You get the idea. Keep asking until the answers run dry. It might take a while.

That's ok. It's worth it my friend. 

If you're wanting to dig to the depths to uncover your why, you can do it two ways: on your own or with someone that can guide you there.

I'd love to be your guide. My digital course asks all the right questions that'll help you create transformation in less than 8 minutes each day. 

But don't take my word for it. Take all your questions straight to the source. And if you've still got more Q's, I'll be here with answers. 

xo, Jenni

P.S. In case you want to dive deeper on reading instruction, here’s the map of school districts using the reading approach that’s been disproven (by education scientists).