Find Your Passion With These 8 Thought-Provoking Questions
Warren Berger, author of A More
Beautiful Question, collected the provocative questions top designers, tech
innovators, and entrepreneurs ask themselves to spark creativity.
It’s
easy to find oneself on a path determined by others.
Whether
you’re starting out or considering a possible change in direction, asking
yourself the right questions is critical. The following eight--shared by a
noteworthy lineup of entrepreneurs, innovators, consultants, and creative
thinkers--can help you figure out where your heart lies and what you really
ought to be doing.
This
question, derived from a terrific commencement speech given at MIT last year by
Dropbox founder Drew Houston, is a good place to start because it cuts to the
chase. As Houston explained, “The most successful people are obsessed with
solving an important problem, something that matters to them. They remind me of
a dog chasing a tennis ball.” To increase your chances of happiness and
success, Houston said, you must “find your tennis ball--the thing that pulls
you.”
Sometimes,
we may not be aware of what truly engages us until we examine our own
activities and behaviors from a detached, inquisitive perspective. “You almost
have to ask yourself, What do I find myself doing?,” explains the author
and happiness guru Gretchen Rubin. “What you spend time doing can also tell
you what you should do. Because sometimes the things we do without thinking
really are things we naturally enjoy or are good at.”
So
pay attention to what pulls you. For instance, “when you’re in a bookstore,”
says author Carol Adrienne, “what section of the store are you drawn to?” That
will not only tell you what books you love--it may point to where your tennis
ball can be found.
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For
a slightly different spin on the "tennis ball" concept, ask:
What
am I doing when I feel most beautiful?
This is about identifying not
only what draws you in, but also what makes you shine. Jacqueline Novogratz,
founder of The Acumen Fund, told me that in her globe-spanning travels
she often asks people this question, sometimes in unlikely settings. She once
posed the question to women living in a slum in Bombay. At first, “one woman
said, ‘There’s nothing in our lives that’s beautiful,’” Novogratz says. “But
eventually, a woman who worked as a gardener said, ‘All winter long I slog and
slog, but when those flowers push through the ground, I feel beautiful.’”
Novogratz
says it’s important to think about “that time and place where you feel most
alive--whether it’s when you’re solving a problem, creating, connecting with
someone, traveling.” Whatever it is, Novogratz says, identify it--and if
possible, find a way to do more of it. (A different version of Novogratz’s
“beautiful” question is suggested by consultant Keith Yamashita of SY
Partners:
“Who have you been, when you’ve been at your best?”)
What
is something you believe that almost nobody agrees with you on?
This question, which PayPal
co-founder and Thiel Foundation chief Peter Thiel has shared publicly in interviews
and lectures, is designed to do two things: help you figure out what you care
about and also determine whether it’s worth pursuing, based on uniqueness.
Thiel concedes that it’s a challenging question because it can be tough to find
an idea or belief that isn’t shared by many others. “Originality is deceptively
hard,” he told Pandodaily.
But
if you can find a problem or challenge no one else is tackling, you can carve
your own niche and create value. “You don’t want to be interchangeably
competing with people,” Thiel says. Though we’re taught to do what others are
doing and try to succeed by out-competing, this, in Thiel’s view, amounts to
“beating your head against the wall--rather than going through the open door
that no one is looking at.”
What
are your superpowers?
The idea behind this question from Yamashita is to
“unpack the combination of personality traits and aptitudes you bring
effortlessly to any situation.” The filmmaker Tiffany Shlain of The
Moxie Institute
also explores strengths and natural “superpowers” in her new web film “The Science of Character,” which suggests that if we can identify our
inherent character strengths and build on them, we can lead happier, more
successful lives. Having trouble listing your powers and strengths? Check out the
“Periodic Table of Character Strengths” in Shlain’s film, or refer to Gallup
executive Tom Rath’s popular “StrengthsFinder 2.0” program, with its menu of 34
traits. Once you’ve identified your own strengths, you’ll be in a better
position to make the most of what you already have going for you.
Sometimes
by looking back into the past, says Rubin, you can get a glimpse of who you
really are and what you loved doing before others started telling you what you
should do.
So what did you enjoy doing at age 10?
Eric Maisel, a psychotherapist and author, agrees,
adding: “The things we loved as a child are probably still the things we love.”
He suggests drawing up a list of favorite activities and interests from
childhood--“and see what still resonates with you today. And then it’s a
process of updating those loves. You may have loved something that doesn’t even
exist now, or doesn’t make sense in your life now--but you may be able to find
a new version of that.”
What
are you willing to try now?
One of the best ways to find your purpose
and passion is through experimentation. For many people, this is
counter-intuitive. Herminia Ibarra, a professor at INSEAD
and
author of Working Identity: Unconventional
Strategies for Reinventing Your Career, points out that there is a tendency to
devote extensive time, research, and planning to figuring out the ideal path
before taking any action. This may involve poring over self-help books,
soliciting advice, and waiting for the epiphany that shows you your “true
self”--at which point you can strike out confidently in a new direction.
We
learn who we are--in practice, not in theory--by testing reality.
But
that’s all wrong, according to Ibarra. “To launch ourselves anew, we need to get
out of our heads,” she says. “We need to act.” That means devising a series of
trials and errors: Ibarra advises looking for temporary assignments, outside
contracts, advisory work, and moonlighting to get experience or build skills in
new industries; executive programs, sabbaticals, and extended vacations also
can be valuable in providing opportunities to experiment. She concludes, “We
learn who we are--in practice, not in theory--by testing reality.”
Looking
back on your career, 20 or 30 years from now, what do you want to say you’ve
accomplished?
In an interview, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner
said that he often asks prospective employees the above question. “You’d be
amazed how many people I meet who don’t have the answer to the question,”
Weiner said. So here’s your chance to answer it (without the pressure of having
Weiner across the table, awaiting your response). Think of this exercise as a
less-gloomy version of write-your-own-obit. What would you include on your list
of hoped-for achievements? Or, even better than compiling a laundry list, why
not figure out…
In
the end, simplicity is best.
What is your sentence?
is a question
designed to help you distill purpose and passion to its essence by formulating
a single sentence that sums up who you are and what, above all, you aim to
achieve. It’s a favorite question of To Sell is Human author Daniel Pink, who
acknowledges in his book Drive that it can be traced back
to the journalist and pioneering Congresswoman Clare Booth Luce. While visiting
John F. Kennedy early in his presidency, Luce expressed concern that Kennedy
might be in danger of trying to do too much, thereby
losing focus. She told him “a great man is a sentence”--meaning that a leader
with a clear and strong purpose could be summed up in a single line (e.g.,
“Abraham Lincoln preserved the union and freed the slaves.”).
Pink believes this concept can be
useful to anyone, not just presidents. Your sentence might be, “He raised four
kids who became happy, healthy adults,” or “She invented a device that made
people’s lives easier.” If your sentence is a goal not yet achieved, then you
also must ask: How might I begin to live up to my own sentence?
By Warren
Berger http://www.fastcodesign.com/3028946/find-your-passion-with-these-8-thought-provoking-questions?partner=newsletter
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