“Our lives are living out answers to questions that we don’t notice we’re asking. Asking different questions helps us lead different lives.” — Dr. Jennifer Garvey Berger
I’ve just returned from another week on the Camino de Santiago in Spain.
Since 2022, I’ve been doing this annually to disengage from technology and the busyness of life, reconnect with the bigger picture, and get clarity on my direction for the months ahead.
I find it helpful to combine the long walks in nature with “seed questions” I let my mind meditate on during the walks, and journal about on stops along the way.
What follows are the 7 questions I used this year.
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1.) What is my current philosophy on life?
Here you ask:
1.) What is the purpose of life (generally)?
2.) What is the purpose of your life, specifically?
Whether you’ve articulated it or not, you do have a philosophy on life. This is the “operating system” you use to navigate the world.
For most of my life, my philosophy was unconscious to me.
But since reading Designing Your Life by Dave Evans and Bill Burnett, I’ve journalled on this at least once a year, and I’ve found it to be incredibly valuable for uncovering the foundational beliefs which are guiding me through life.
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2.) What is my current philosophy on work?
This is your answer to:
1.) What is the purpose of work in human life? What role should it play?
2.) What is my definition of “good” or successful work?
For some, it’s about using their gifts to serve others. For others it’s about supporting their family.
(There’s no right or wrong answers.)
Although these two questions are valuable by themselves, the real breakthrough often comes when you ask a third:
Where do my life and work philosophies align? And where do they conflict?
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3.) What do I want said about me at my funeral?
I’ve found this to be — by far — the most effective way to cut through the noise and get at the signal of what matters most to me in life, and the kind of person I want to show up as every day.
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4.) What are the 5 things I want to accomplish before I die?
This one came out of a recent interview with Dr. Gay Hendricks for our upcoming Holistic Coaching Summit. A simple, but powerful way to get clear on the goals that will actually matter when all is said and done. (You can see Dr. Hendrick’s 5 goals here.)
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5.) Who is my future self 10 years from now?
Here, you create a detailed description of what your life looks like in 10 years, considering:
— Spirituality/Inner Life
— Health
— Family
— Friendships
— Work + impact
— Skills
— Finances
— Contribution
— Personality
— Community
— How you make others feel when you interact with them
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6.) What path options are available to me now?
Taking the big picture (future self, deathbed goals, philosophy) into consideration, what are all of the different paths that are available to you at this point in your trajectory?
Now that you’re clearer on where you want to end up, this places your current options in a more holistic context.
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7.) What’s the ONE thing that if I focused on in the next 1-3 years, would make everything else easier?
It’s unlikely you’ll be able to complete all of your deathbed goals simultaneously, so this question helps you to laser in on the one that’s “highest leverage” and highest priority at this moment in time.
This is the one that if you accomplish first, sets you up well for tackling the rest.
For instance, if your goals are:
1.) Write a novel
2.) Travel to every continent in the world,
3.) Start a nonprofit to help the homeless
4.) Start a thriving business which leads to financial freedom
5.) Learn to fly
It’s likely that focusing on (4.), will make everything else on your list easier.
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The human mind is always answering a question.
But usually our questions are unconscious and a result of social programming, e.g.:
“How can I fit in?”
“How can I make this person think highly of me?”
“What can I get out of this situation?”
However, it doesn’t have to be this way.
We can consciously choose higher quality questions, and in doing so, live a higher quality life.
As the great Dr. James Hollis once said:
“If you want a bigger life, ask bigger questions.”
