Your favorite problems will likely stay consistent over many years, but that doesn’t mean they can’t evolve. I’ve found that in most cases I never actually arrive at a final, definitive answer to a question. Instead, the question changes as I learn more. Let me illustrate this with a case study. I’ll show you how one of my favorite problems – teaching – changed over time as my life went through different stages.
Writing down your open questions is an act of “externalization” – you are taking passing curiosities and interests from your mind and externalizing them into the outside world. That is a first step to making those questions active generators of possibility in your life, but certainly not the last. Once they exist in written form, such as in your notes, you now have a place to begin collecting potential answers to those questions without having to memorize them.
In this step-by-step guide, I’ll share the exact process I use for myself and my students to formulate the most powerful open-ended questions possible. In Part 1, I introduced “favorite problems” as a lens through which to filter the immense amount of information we are exposed to every day. A favorite problem is an open-ended question you use to prime your subconscious to notice potential answers in the information you’re consuming.
Richard Phillips Feynman was one of the most important scientists of the 20th century. Born on the outskirts of New York City in 1918, his work in theoretical physics radically reshaped our understanding of the universe we live in at the most fundamental subatomic levels. When it was all said and done, his biography would simply and fittingly be titled Genius.
I talked to Robert Breedlove on the What is Money Show about Building a Second Brain, email, PARA, and more. We covered… What is “Inbox Zero” and is it something you want to aspire to How to organize your email with the “executive approach” How I manage my daily calendar and what tool I use…
On the Build in Public podcast, KP and I dove into my journey as an entrepreneur, course creator, author, and dad. We covered… Why and how I “build” my book in public How being a dad influences my business decisions Why hiring people is a lot like having kids What ambition really means When can you…
I joined Pat Flynn on the Smart Passive Income podcast to chat about everything Building a Second Brain. We covered… What is a Second Brain and how to use it How to find the right notetaking app for your needs and get started with it in the first 30 days How the CODE system can help…
I joined Brandon Laws on the Transform Your Workplace Podcast to discuss how to start your Second Brain, why it’s important to express information, and how a Second Brain can benefit you and your life. We also dived into: The bottleneck of civilization How to capture information Why beautiful notetaking is not the best way A…
I joined Timothy Kenny for the second time on his podcast. It was great to chat about Building a Second Brain and discuss things I don’t often talk about. We dived into: Why a Second Brain is a fusion of creativity and analytical thinking The difference between logic and emotion What it means to be “trauma…
I joined Srini Rao on The Unmistakable Creative Podcast to discuss all things Second Brain. We dived deep into: • How we can harness the creative spark • What lego can teach us about ourselves • Why all advice has limitations • And much more… Listen to the full episode here.Â
I joined Erik Fisher on the Beyond the To-Do List podcast to discuss what is a Second Brain and why we all need one. We also dived into: How to make systems more efficient The biggest danger with productivity The power of externalizing your thoughts Why originality is overrated Listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google…
For years I’ve heard about a phenomenon called intergenerational trauma – the idea that the impact of traumatic events can be passed down from one generation to the next. I have to admit I never believed it was a real thing. I had only heard about it in very woo-woo circles in San Francisco, and…
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