The great thing about de-cluttering is that I run across good stuff I had forgotten about. I recently found a hard copy of an article, on how the questions you ask shape who you are. The electronic version is titled On Loving the Questions (scroll down to the 2003 posting), written by Sam Keen, author, philosopher, and former contributing editor to Psychology Today.
(Minor tangent: Many years ago, I attended a conference where Sam Keen spoke. His passion at the time was learning life lessons from the trapeze, captured in his book, Learning to Fly: Fear, Trust, and the Joy of Letting Go. Keen set up a trapeze at the conference so that participants could viscerally experience what he was talking about. That's me flying through the air.)
One of my favorite quotes from the article:
"Nothing shapes our lives so much as the questions we ask, refuse to ask, or never think of asking."
When I come across a though-provoking question, I consider it a gift. A client gave me the gift of this question, which I now offer up here:
In 2009, what one small thing, when done consistently, will have a big impact?
I'll be pondering that one over the next few days. I love both the question and the journey of discovering the answer.
What questions are you asking that will matter in 2009?
That one’s easy: integrity.
(CEO’s, government leaders, us.)
Hi Paul,
Thanks for that timely reminder. The consequence of lack of integrity has certainly been in the news lately.
My small thing that will make a difference in 2009 is setting intentions–before doing my work or interacting with others. Not easy for me to do but I know that when I’ve done it, the results have been much better!