Much less ‘I Know What I Like,’ Extra ‘What’s Working for You?’

It’s simple and customary to settle into the consolation of desire and routine. On some degree, that is to be anticipated. Over time, we craft our lives round what we all know we like, from the espresso we drink and the reveals we watch, to even the concepts and opinions we maintain expensive.

And the extra we do this, the better these patterns turn into to repeat.

This familiarity in life isn’t inherently unhealthy. On some degree, it provides us a way of safety and id—it makes up the folks we’re and the lives we dwell.

However there’s a hazard when consolation turns into complacency. There’s some extent the place “I do know what I like” can shut the door on progress, new experiences, and even knowledge that others can supply us.

There’s a delicate line the place “I do know what I like” begins to remove from pleasure and even a doubtlessly extra significant existence.

In any respect levels of life, however perhaps much more the older we get, we might be sensible to focus much less on “I do know what I like” and extra on “What’s working for you?”

It’s silly, after all, to imagine that we all know all issues and have every thing found out in life completely. So on some degree, this shift in considering that I’m encouraging at present is an invite to humility.

Nevertheless it’s not nearly the truth that regardless of our age, we will nonetheless study from others. It’s about actively pursuing that knowledge.

It’s about deliberately shifting away from “I do know what I like and I’m not going to alter” to “What’s working for you? And the way can I enhance life for myself and others by shifting towards it?”

Give it some thought this fashion: Shifting from “I do know what I like” to “What’s working for you?” is a small change in wording however a big shift in mindset.

The query invitations a dialogue and opens us as much as study from the experiences and successes of others. It’s an acknowledgment that maybe there’s a special, perhaps even a greater manner, to method numerous elements of life that we hadn’t thought-about earlier than.

We will see this in small methods. Questions like “What restaurant do you prefer to eat at?,” “What motion pictures have you ever loved seeing?,” “What books are you studying?,” or “What hobbies are you presently having fun with?” can introduce us to new meals, new experiences, and new passions.

However the utility of this mindset goes nicely past leisure actions. It could (and may) prolong into extra profound areas of our lives.

We will ask our pals and folks we glance as much as questions like:

What’s working for you in your bodily well being?
What’s working for you in your private funds?
What’s working for you in your relationships?
What’s working for you in your profession?

Or think about the insights we might acquire by asking a pal, “What’s working for you in managing stress?” or “What labored for you in restoring that damaged relationship?” These questions can uncover knowledge, recommendation, and techniques we would by no means have realized in any other case.

However to get there, we have to transfer past being content material with what we like and the way we’ve determined to dwell our lives. We have to purposefully need to study from others.

Adopting this way of living doesn’t simply profit us individually. For one, it sparks a tradition of sharing and neighborhood and deciding to study from each other relatively than argue with each other (and don’t all of us want extra of that today). Once we dwell sensible and intentional lives, everyone wins.

So let me encourage you at present. Assume much less “I do know what I like.” Ask extra “What’s working for you?”

And let’s all develop and be higher due to it.