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A Two Question Framework for Clarifying What Matters

May 6, 2022

I recently heard an author Emily Nagoski, co-author of Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking The Stress Cycle how to know where to focus our energy when it feels like there’s so much work to be done and we want our contributions to be meaningful. How can we make a difference with our work and time and not get paralyzed trying to solve everything?

Emily offered a deceptively simple two-question exercise that I thought was helpful in considering this question, and also useful for anyone thinking about a career change and/or exploring your personal purpose.

The questions are:

1. What kind of problems do I enjoy solving?
2. What kind of people do I love working with?

In the personal brand program I run with executives and business owners we turn over a lot of rocks—values, purpose, innate strengths, worldview. It struck me that in one way or another, all of them point back to these two core questions.

When you can answer them, your next career move, business move, philanthropic and advocacy move—how you want your life to be meaningful—becomes clear.

Hope it helps.

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