The words you mean

How well do you pick words?

How well are they understood?

How much effort do you put into it?

How can you improve?

Most of us pick words badly.

We will pick the wrong ones.

We will pick too complicated ones.

We will pick them for the wrong reasons.

It is not complicated:

say what you mean,

not what you are meant to say.

How dare you?

How daring are you?

What do you wish you had dared?

What do you wish you had not dared?

Which list is longer?

We tend to regret the things we did not dare.

The mystery of “what if” drives us mad.

Rarely, we regret the things we dared.

Courage brings a lot of lessons.

It will bring challenges and failures.

It will bring fun and misery.

What can you dare today?

What is a lot?

What is a lot for you?

How much does this differ over time?

How much does this differ over items?

How does this compare to others?

What may be a lot for you can be a little for someone else.

What may seem like nothing is a lot for another.

It is a matter of situation and preferences.

Keep this in mind when you look at another’s decisions.

Keep this in mind when others comment on yours.

Keep this in mind when you communicate your opinions.

We might want the same

How often do you have disagreements?

How long do they take?

How often do both parties want the same?

How often is it due to the communication?

Many a quarrel is in truth absurd.

We fight, yet we want the same things.

We are often lost in a hail of words.

While the words may sting, they hold no meaning.

Most disputes can be resolved with proper communication.

It is a skill to be learnt and honed, yet most lack it.

How many?

How many attempts does it take?

How long can you go on?

When is it time to give up?

How much do you trust yourself?

Some things take many attempts,

maybe 5, 20 or 50.

No one else will know if it is worth it, but you.

When your body screams not to stop,

that is when you keep going,

till you find a solution.

Listen Inside

How well do you listen to yourself?

How well do you listen to others?

Whom do you believe more: yourself or others?

How has this worked for you so far?

To listen inside or outside is an old dilemma.

No one can feel what you are feeling.

No one can see what you are thinking.

Yet, they can feel and see things you miss.

The question lies within consolidating inside and outside.

You are rarely 100% right, yet you are seldom 100% correct.

New Territories

How regularly do you explore new territories?

How much time do you spend in familiar territories?

How do you feel when you venture out?

What has come from explorations?

We often stay in what we know.

Yet, regular exploration is crucial.

In our jobs, private life, hobbies and relationships.

Regular impulses with unfamiliar things,

can change perspectives,

can trigger creativity and much more.

So, when was the last time you went exploring?

The tried and tested - really?

How often do you try new ways?

How often do you prefer the tried and tested?

Why do you revert to it?

How well does the tried and tested perform?

How tried and tested is it really?

Often, we choose the well-known path.

Yet, often this path does not perform for us.

Often, we will do what others do.

Yet, for u,s it is not tried and tested.

There are two traps with the tried and tested:

We either have not tried and tested it ourselves,

or the tried and tested keeps disappointing.

And yet we will continue to choose it.

What can you do differently?

Scary Changes

How much do changes scare you?

How large are the daunting ones?

How small are the inviting ones?

How many small changes make a big one?

Often, we are stuck because a change is daunting.

Usually, any big change is a collection of small ones.

Yet, we forget this and are scared.

What do you want to change right now?

How can you make it many small changes instead?

Now ask yourself, what is still stopping you?

Adventure vs The Familiar

When do you crave adventure?

When do you crave the familiar?

When do you crave action & fun?

When do you crave peace & quiet?

There is a right time for everything.

And there is a wrong moment for everything.

At times, we might think we should go on an adventure,

yet what we need is the familiar.

When we think that action is a good idea,

we might just need a peaceful time for ourselves.

Do what you need, not what you should.

Public Mistakes

How do you handle public mistakes?

How do you handle your public mistakes?

How do you handle others’ public mistakes?

Why do you act the way you do?

It happens all the time:

Someone makes a mistake in public,

or we make them ourselves.

We will face the question to correct or not to correct.

Yet, to correct we may humiliate someone, even ourselves.

Sometimes we need ot ride the wave of the mistake.

After all, corrections can be done in private anytime.

Going Back or Going Forward

How often do you face the choice:

To go back or to go forward?

What do you usually decide?

What do you wish you would decide?

How small a step can you make forward?

Often, we are faced with staying in a situation,

or to move out of it and change.

We might step out briefly to experience change.

When we come back, we are faced with a decision.

Yet, the change must not be big, it may be small.

Relationship Perspectives

How much effort do you put into relationships?

How well do you understand the other’s point of view?

How well can you communicate your view?

How well can you adapt to their perspective?

What happens if you cannot do so?

Every relationship is a forth and back,

of each party’s perspective and wishes.

Rarely will we be on the same page.

The space between the pages is where the magic lies.

In our ability to understand each other,

Understand and act on this accordingly.

Deeper Relationships

Whom do you spend too much time with?

Whom do you not spend enough time with?

Who is important to you?

How can you shift this ratio?

We are often so totally caught up in life.

Thus, we will neglect important relationships.

Be it friends, family or business.

We might be driven to make new connections.

Yet, deepening relationships is the way to win.

Quality will always beat quantity.

Because how many people can you remember?

And will the ones you have forgotten remember you?

Handling Situations

How do you approach situations?

How proactive are you?

Are you friendly or aggressive?

How do you decide your strategy?

Situations need different approaches.

People need to be handled differently.

And then we have different strengths.

Yet, we are rarely successful with the same approach.

Aggressive or friendly, proactive or passive.

Know when to use which and when to get help.

Authenticity

How authentic are you?

How much do you try to fit in?

How well do you actually fit in?

How does it feel to be yourself?

We tend to try to fit in.

We change behaviour to achieve that.

Yet, how successful are we with it?

We tend to be more successful being authentic.

Being yourself is where confidence is found.

Frenemies

Who are your Enemies?

Who are your Friends?

Who are your Frenemies?

How easily could you answer?

Most people we come across are neutral.

Then we may gather some enemies in life.

And usually we will make friends as well.

These categories are all clear.

The most dangerous are your frenemies.

Are they friend or foe, we just do not know.

Identify them and take a good look.

Otherwise, it will tear you apart from the inside out.

Trust one step at a time

Whom do you trust?

How much do you trust them?

How do you decide the trust level?

How do you know what to share?

Trust is like a Jar.

We start empty.

With each interaction, we can fill it up.

Each interaction is a marble.

For good ones, we add marbles to the jar.

For the bad ones, we take out marbles.

The fuller the jar gets, the more we can share.

Trust is given one step at a time — not all at once.

Credit to psychologist Brené Brown, who coined the marble jar for trust.

Ask For It

How often do you accept what you are offered?

How often do you make a counteroffer?

What makes you accept an offer outright?

When do you make a counteroffer?

Often, we tend ot accept what we are given.

We might deserve more.

We might need more.

We might not be treated fairly.

Sometimes the offer is fair and what we deserve.

Knowing when to accept, when to ask for more,

and when to walk away is paramount.

If you know, you build relationships.

If you don’t, you break them and lose much more.

Nonsensical Work

When is working nonsensical?

How often do you do pointless work?

How often do you have to do it?

How often could you do differently?

Work can be nonsensical for many reasons:

we might be too tired;

the task itself creates no value;

the task is not getting us closer to the goal;

someone else is better suited than we are.

Often, we won’t realise till it is too late.

Learning to identify nonsense creates time.

Time that is spent better elsewhere.