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- one minute blog: 13 questions that will change your life
one minute blog: 13 questions that will change your life
check this out and lmk what you think
It’s Friday. And this is your One Minute Blog (OMB) for the weekend.
431 words of brain fuel, delivered faster than Amazon Prime.
Read time: 1 min 52 seconds.
I don’t know about wine, or cars…
…but I am a collector, and (dare I say), a connoisseur of questions.
For years, I’ve collected a list of “better questions”.
Why?
Questions are like keys. They unlock doors.
Tim Ferriss once said: “If you want confusion and heartache, ask vague questions. If you want uncommon clarity and results, ask uncommonly clear questions. Often, all that stands between you and what you want is a better set of questions.”
So today I’m giving you a gift.
I’m going down into my temperature-controlled wine cellar to bring you a few bottles from my ‘better questions’ collection:
DECISION MAKING QUESTIONS
Common question | Better question |
|---|---|
I’m not sure… what should I do? | What would I do if I weren’t afraid? |
How can I make this succeed? | What would make this certainly fail? (Charlie Munger, inversion technique) |
I can’t decide — which path is the right path to pick? | Which path makes for the best story? |
CONVERSATION QUESTIONS (podcast or just social life)
Common question | Better question |
|---|---|
Long time no talk, what’s new?! | I remember you were really into ____, how has that been going? |
What advice do you have for others? | What are the less obvious reasons you’ve achieved {X}? |
Generic questions like “tell me about yourself” or “what’s your story?” | Ask more specific Qs that will get them to open up… E.g. “what’s the kindest thing someone’s ever done for you? or “what’s a promise you want to keep to yourself this upcoming year?” |
BUSINESS QUESTIONS
Common question | Better question |
|---|---|
What are ALL the things we need to do this week? | If we only had 2 hours a week to work on this, what would we spend it on? |
Hiring — does this person have any weaknesses? | Hiring — what are this person’s extreme strengths? Are they incredible at 1-2 things? |
We lost $X — how can we make it back? | Do we need to make the money back in the same avenue we lost it? |
How do we get more customers? | Who are our all-star customers, and how do we get more of THEM? |
What should we do? | What would _____ do in this situation? (pick a person who’s super smart and fearless) |
What if this fails? | If the worst case scenario played out, could we live with that? |
What should I complete from my to-do list first? | What 1 thing on this list would make everything else MUCH easier or irrelevant? |
OK OK, you get the idea.
Questions are keys. They unlock doors.
Start collecting!
-Shaan
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