If you have not yet read the Daily Practice introductory page, I would invite you to do so now. Remember, these insights and questions are solely intended to support your daily practice of nurturing your curiosity.
I don’t believe in “right questions” or “better questions”, but I do believe that bigger questions can begin nourishing conversations with ourselves and others.
If you are a leader, you will no doubt already know that continually nurturing curiosity in leadership is absolutely key.
What Question is Calling You Today?
– #2 How Might We Listen to Our Future Selves?
As humans, we struggle to truly consider the needs of our future selves either individually or as a species. In psychological terms, this is called a present bias, valuing current rewards over future ones.
– #4 To What Do I Not Pay Attention?
Attention is our life blood. In truth, in any one moment, our attention misses infinitely more than it captures. While we are constantly striving to manage our time efficiently, we often find ourselves easily surrendering our attention to trivial distractions like pings or notifications. And yet, do we truly understand the price we are paying?
– #8 How Can I Balance Living Fully in the Present While Also Preparing for a Fulfilling Future?
It feels like there is always a tension between future “goals” and the desire to live life fully in the present. How might I think about this?
– #32 How is Past Experience Affecting Me?
We may think the past is past and so is gone and yet we are ultimately products of the past. What are you carrying that you might set down?
– #57 Why Do I Do What I Do?
We may not control when and where we are born or the circumstances in which we grow up and yet we are nevertheless the architects of our lives. Indeed, the assumptions we choose to live by define what we do. They make us who we are and who we aren’t. And we get to choose them. So, who have you decided you aren’t?
– #78 How Do I Decide to Cut My Losses?
Sunk costs, including time, money and resources already spent, can heavily skew present and future decision-making, causing us to cling to the past. Whether it is staying in a movie we don’t enjoy or persisting with a failing project, the sunk cost fallacy can lead to misguided decisions. So, when and how do you decide to cut your losses?
– #80 Where Is the Space in My Life?
The value of empty space—the gaps, the silences, the absences—that can shape our world is a concept as ancient as civilization itself. Indeed, Lao Tzu argued that the usefulness of a vessel lay not so much in the clay surround but in the empty space in which something can be carried. While the Japanese language has a term for this concept—”ma”—its equivalent seems to be curiously absent from Western thought and vocabulary.
– #84 What is Good Enough?
Perfect is often the enemy of good. And yet, how do you decide what is good enough? What mistakes are unacceptable? What can be left undone? Simplified? Streamlined?
– #97 Do I Learn More from Questions or Answers?
From a young age, we are taught by our educational systems that questions serve merely as vehicles to uncover answers. Moreover, we often cease to question once we stumble upon a seemingly rational answer. But what if the very act of questioning holds inherent value, regardless of the answers it yields?
– #100 How Do I Experience the World?
We tend to assume that the world is as we experience it. In truth, everything we see and hear is an experience created by our senses. These senses are primed to keep us safe and allow us to satisfy basic needs. As a result, they tend to focus more on sights, sounds and smells that will help with this. They are not designed for accuracy. Ever see faces where there weren’t any? Have you noticed how a smell fades after a few minutes? What about familiar sounds such as church bells? Have you noticed how they get tuned out? And this is just the first level of our experience.
– #102 How Should the World Look?
Each of us creates the world in our heads. And yet, we don’t start from scratch each time. We follow rules we have built up over our lives. These rules are laid down from early childhood and govern how we think the world operates and “should” behave. And yet, what if we had been born in a different time and culture? What might the world look like then?
– #106 How Am I Hiding?
This question stopped me in my tracks when it first came to me. The reality is that most of us are hiding in some way from something past, present or future. How are you hiding? And, equally importantly, where in your life are you hiding?
– #109 What Beautiful Questions Am I Asking?
In the hustle of daily life, it is easy to lose sight of who we are and why we are doing what we are doing. ‘Beautiful questions’ serve as anchors, encouraging us to stop and reflect. In a way, all of the questions on this page might be beautiful questions, provided they speak to you. And that is what sets beautiful questions apart. They are questions that deeply connect with you, with precisely where you are and what you need right now. They help you cross the thresholds that are in front of you.
– #118 What Thoughts Do I Never Have?
Ever find yourself thinking the same thoughts? Wish you could truly think something new and exciting? Discover the importance of questioning our ingrained patterns and assumptions and explore how inspiration for fresh thinking can be found in the most unexpected places.
– #212 Where Is My Sanctuary?
Our culture has a bias towards doing. And yet, we all need somewhere where we can tune out distractions and interruptions and just be. This is time to meditate, to reflect on where you are going, to nourish your soul or simply to be. Where is your sanctuary? What does it offer you? How do you protect it? How can you expand it?
