Human beings are future oriented; we like things that give us hope, provide us growth, and grant us an opportunity for things to be better tomorrow.
Not surprisingly, a lot of us are having a hard time getting beyond thinking about the past, however. The last couple years have been painful too many and may lack as much hope, growth, and opportunity as we deserved. In any case, we seem to get stuck on the “bad” stuff more easily than focusing on the “good” stuff.
It is not ironic how much of our day to day conversations reflect this; the “water cooler” talk (read: Zoom talk) consists of a lot of caveats, wish-I-coulds, and maybe-next-years.
We’ve got a task for you. Your next question, whether you’re at dinner or just catching up with a coworker, is, “What’s been exciting to you recently?”
Dig Beyond the Superficial
Try to dig beyond things that are superficial. We often use this question in podcast interviews with our guests. The question isn’t deep enough to make someone go beyond what’s been occupying space in their brain.
You get a twofold benefit from asking this question:
1) Recency bias — it’s likely occupying space right at the top of their brain as “new shiny objects of fun” often do when we’re introduced to them (read: pickleball and crypto).
2) It’s an exciting topic to them because it’s a positive force in their life.
The Best Day Ever
Last week we talked about setting up “dominoes” for knocking down challenges you face with your health by pushing over the momentum piece, first. This is the domino question in your next interaction; it creates a wellspring of sharing things you’re passionate and excited about.
The goal might simply be to find some inspiration to get excited yourself, or to do the same for someone else if they’re feeling stuck.
The ‘best day ever’ is a future oriented thought process with a focus on today; how can we practice and put forth effort into having such a beautiful day today while learning from our mistakes and successes to repeat the “good stuff” again tomorrow…every single day.
Go get it.
