Friday, September 30, 2011

Well-illuminated areas

Self-awareness is one of the goals of this blog. By looking at one new thing every day, we become more aware of our selves and our surroundings. What is one aspect of your life that you're already keenly aware of, much more than most people are? What are the things that life has forced you to learn to pay particularly close attention to?

This week's theme is Milestone 1000.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

A few thousand minutes

It took us just a few minutes a day to write 1000 blog posts in 1000 days. What worthwhile goal could you accomplish in a few minutes a day, if you were willing to keep at it for 1000 days?

This week's theme is Milestone 1000.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Your best daily practice

A daily practice is something you do every day for the sake of your health, well-being, or personal development. Ten Thousand Questions is an example of a simple daily practice. In the last few years, what new daily practice has been most successful and worthwhile for you — a habit that definitely repays your time and effort?

Please share your answer on the blog (http://www.tenthousandquestions.com) or on the Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/tenthousandquestions).

This week's theme is Milestone 1000.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Personally transformed

One of the underlying themes of Ten Thousand Questions is personal transformation. What area of your life is in the midst of transformation, or is something you're actively working on every day, or has gone through a fundamental change since 2009?

If it's something you are comfortable sharing, please post your answer on the blog (http://www.tenthousandquestions.com) or on the Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/tenthousandquestions).

This week's theme is Milestone 1000.

Monday, September 26, 2011

One thousand blog posts

This weekend, the Ten Thousand Questions blog passed a major milestone, our 1000th blog post. That means that we've asked a question a day for roughly 1000 days! This week, instead of posting questions for you to ponder and answer privately, we hope you will answer publicly, either on the blog (http://www.tenthousandquestions.com) or on the Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/tenthousandquestions). (Or both -- why not?)

We know that many of you are bloggers, writers, and authors. What have you written, or what are you in the process of writing? If you don't mind sharing with the Questions community, please tell us what kind of material you're writing, and if possible post a link in the comments to something that you've written.

This week's theme is Milestone 1000.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Tell us a story: game one

What's the earliest time that you can remember participating in any form of organized team sports? How old were you, and what sport was it? What's the main thing that you remember about that game?

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Time Machine

If you could go back in time and change something that affects you personally, what would you do?

Friday, September 23, 2011

Trendsetter

What is one thing that you personally adopted before it became an enormous fad?

This week's theme is timing.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Playing catch-up

It's rarely good to be behind the curve, whether you're arriving late for events, missing out on trends and opportunities, or being the last to hear important news. What is one area where you always seem to be behind everyone else?

This week's theme is timing.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Getting out of sync

The roads here are crowded at 8 a.m., but much less crowded for people willing to drive at 7 a.m. You can pay full price for new clothing today, or wait 8 weeks and perhaps get the exact same items at half price.

In both of these examples, you gain an advantage just by doing things at a different time from most other people. What are some examples from your own life, where you sometimes choose to do things on your own timing, getting yourself out of sync with the crowd?

This week's theme is timing.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Time is of the essence

More and more people are recording TV shows in order to watch them later. But this kind of time-shifting isn't as common with sports. It almost feels pointless to watch the game unless you're watching live, while it's being played.

And there are people who routinely shift their birthday party to the nearest weekend, but can't imagine doing the same thing with their New Year celebration. For some things, timing is flexible, but for other things, the exact timing is essential.

What are some examples from your own life, things that you insist on doing at their exact, appointed time?

This week's theme is timing.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Early and late

What are some things that you handle as early as you reasonably can? And what are some things that you tend to put off as long as possible?

This week's theme is timing.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Tell us a story: up against Goliath

What was one time when everyone saw you as the underdog, but you won the game or competition anyway?

Saturday, September 17, 2011

My little nemesis

For some people, it's headaches. For some, knee pain. Some people have seasonal allergies through most of the year. What's your minor ailment — the one that doesn't sound serious but nonetheless manages to put a crimp in your daily life?

Friday, September 16, 2011

It's there for a reason

There are good reasons for many barriers — or at least good intentions behind them. For example, speed limits make roads safer, not only for drivers but also for passengers, pedestrians, and animals.

Think of one barrier or limit that particularly frustrates you, and see if you can think of any way that it also benefits you. If the barrier were suddenly removed, what new potential problems would that create for you?

This week's theme is barriers and limits.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Someone else's rules

What are some limits imposed on you by an external authority or by a social consensus, limits that seem arbitrary and that you don't agree with?

This week's theme is barriers and limits.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Pushing the limits

Great athletes have personal limits, just as everyone else does, but they don't accept their limits as stopping points. They push the edge of their capabilities and find every possible way to be faster, stronger, or more precise. In a similar way, engineers push the limits of materials and machinery to make devices smaller, cheaper, and more capable. Musicians challenge their physical limits in order to play ever more intricate and subtle pieces of music.

What are the limits and barriers that you've challenged and pushed against for years and years? What is one area where you've gone forward long after other people have given up?

This week's theme is barriers and limits.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Frozen in place

What is one thing that limits you because of where you live? Have you considered moving somewhere else in order to be free of this limitation or some other limitation? Or have you in fact already moved to a place that offers more freedom and opportunities than where you lived before?

This week's theme is barriers and limits.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Barriers and limits

Some constraints are fundamental (like the speed of light), while others are subject to your will and whim (like highway speed limits). When you think about barriers, limits, and rules that hold you back or keep you from having fun, what specific limits come to mind? What is one barrier that you seem to run into again and again in the course of your life?

This week's theme is barriers and limits.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Tell us a story: legend in your own time

What is one story about you that other people often tell to help explain the kind of person you are?

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Today's lesson

What is one thing you could do today to make yourself, in some small way, smarter than you were yesterday?

Friday, September 9, 2011

Comfort food

When you're fed up with eating right, or when you just want to give yourself a treat, what is your 'go-to' food? Is it sweet? Greasy? Home-cooked? Junk food? Is it a food from your childhood, or something you discovered as an adult?

This week's theme is your diet.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Social diet

You might eat healthier when other people are around, because their scrutiny helps keep you on your best behavior. Or you might eat worse, because social occasions are times to celebrate and forget your cares. Which pattern is more common in your life? Do you eat better when you're alone, or with other people?

This week's theme is your diet.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Eat and run

It takes time to eat properly, and when we're in a hurry, we tend to eat less healthy food. How often do you end up compromising on eating well because you're too rushed for time? Do you usually eat out if you're in a rush, or do you make the special effort to prepare a meal at home even on your busiest days?

This week's theme is your diet.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Eating right

Different people have different nutritional concerns. For example, some people try to minimize calories, some people must avoid sugars, and some people have allergies that force them to be careful about what they eat. When you make an effort to eat healthy, what is the main thing you look for — or look out for — in the food you choose?

This week's theme is your diet.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Your diet

Do you have an effective routine for obtaining and preparing food, or are you always struggling to figure out what to eat?

This week's theme is your diet.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Tell us a story: volunteer

What volunteer work turned out to be more fun or more interesting than you expected? What was the best part of it: the people you met, the places you had a chance to see, the satisfaction of using some of your underutilized skills, or the feeling that you were making a contribution?

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Adventure awaits!

It often happens in movies, but rarely in real life — but just suppose that, all of a sudden, circumstances asked you to drop everything and head off on a risky and unplanned adventure. What's one adventure you can imagine — however unlikely and unrealistic it might be — that would definitely make it worth dropping everything?

Friday, September 2, 2011

Lucky streak

Who is the luckiest person you know?

Is their good luck contagious? That is, do you feel more lucky when you're around that person?

This week's theme is good luck.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Fortunately

Thinking over the whole narrative of your life, what decision point or turning point in your life story depended on unlikely events that just happened to turn in your favor?

Have you ever imagined how your life might have gone differently if you hadn't had the help of that decisive stroke of luck?

This week's theme is good luck.