Life Curation Questions
In a world of overabundant information and activity, we don't need more stuff - we need more curation. But how do we know what to curate?
The answer lies in the power of guiding questions.
Questions shape our minds. This is especially true in fostering a winning mindset, but the same principle applies to learning and prioritizing our time. At any given time, I have several questions that guide what I read, watch, listen to, and think about. This approach makes my learning inputs and productive outputs intentional, so I'm not just aimlessly swimming through an endless pool of 'stuff'.
These questions determine who I follow on social media, the newsletters I subscribe to, the books I read, down to the passages I highlight. They influence the people I choose to connect with, the types of conversations I have at dinner parties, and the clients I serve.
Over time, these guiding questions have also clarified my purpose and, by extension, the projects that I choose to take on, like my YouTube channel, this newsletter, Mind Map Nation, and others. Just as importantly, they help me filter out things that don’t align with my purpose.
I come up with my guiding questions by first observing the topics that grab my attention when I browse my inbox, Audible library, and podcast subscriptions. I pay special note to the conversations with friends and at work that truly light me up or make me geek out. I also consider my hobbies (like going into nature) and aspirations (turning ideas into scalable businesses).
Once I've identified these areas of interest, I formulate questions related to those topics. For instance, mine range from the practical and specific (How do we turn epiphanies into side hustles with our busy lives?) to the philosophical and abstract (What does it mean to be human?).
Just brainstorming these questions already helps me focus my learning. But we can do even better by rearranging and consolidating them into 6-8 major questions that’s easier to remember (studies have shown that it’s hard for most people to remember more than 7 pieces of information at a time).
But the process doesn't stop here. If you're like me and want to distill down to the very essence of your interests, then go back through your major questions and assign a few descriptive keywords to each.
Then step back to see if you can combine these keywords into 4-6 major topics.
Mine roughly came out to be:
Intentional Productivity (turning brilliant ideas into reality, working towards our purpose)
Self-improvement (especially around balance, critical thinking, and resilience)
Societal issues (especially around psychology, relationships, and technology)
Systems analysis and mental models
Art and creative expression (and how it drives human purpose)
Here are some ways you can use these topics and questions:
Career Development: Use these topics to guide your professional development. They can help you identify areas where you want to gain more expertise or skills, which can lead to career growth or even a career change.
Networking: They can serve as conversation starters at social events. They can help you connect with like-minded individuals and build relationships in your areas of interest.
Education: If you're considering further education, either going back to school or taking online classes, these topics can guide your selection of programs to study.
Content Creation: If you're a content creator, these topics can inspire blog posts, videos, podcasts, or social media content. They can help you establish a niche and attract an audience that shares your interests. My topics are actually reflected in MMN’s content categorization.
Volunteering and Community: If they align with social issues you're passionate about, they could guide your involvement in volunteer work or community building.
Personal Growth: They can inspire books to read, documentaries to watch, or hobbies to cultivate.
Mentorship: If you have expertise in any of these areas, you could consider becoming a mentor to others who want to learn more about these topics.
Entrepreneurship: These topics could inspire business ideas. If there's a need or problem related to your interests in the world, it could be an opportunity for a side hustle.
Remember that these guiding topics and questions aren’t static. As you continue to learn and grow through experimentation and doing, your questions will likely evolve. Regularly revisiting and revising your questions can help ensure that they continue to reflect your interests and aspirations. That’s indeed one of the key benefits of doing Sprints and Retrospectives.
Now over to you - what questions will guide your journey? I’d love to know!
P.S. Chris Rodgers, a MMN member, is taking Tiago Forte’s Building a Second Brain (BASB) course and pointed me to a blog post with a set of great prompts that could further help you generate these guiding questions: https://fortelabs.com/blog/how-to-generate-your-own-favorite-problems-a-4-step-guide/.
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