How does the world stay so fresh?

Every time I think I know something, the universe shows me that I actually know so little.

It feels like my entire adult life was one big discovery process of songs that I thought were originals and were covers all along. It’s disorienting and also super fun learning that All Along the Watchtower wasn’t an original Dave Matthews song, discovering the version from Jimi Hendrix and then later finding out it was from Bob Dylan.

I’ve listened to “To Pimp A Butterfly” by Kendrick Lamar many, many times. This morning, I “heard” one of the lyrics for the first time. It led me down a rabbit hole of discovery that blew my mind with how many things I previously missed and overlooked.

The world feels so fresh and young when we let it be. If we can, even just for a moment, forget everything we “know” and let curiosity do its thing, we can discover the magic everywhere in everything.

How do I keep a beginner's mindset?

One of the best things we can do to drive progress and innovation is continue to operate from a beginner's mindset.

Yes, there's times when expertise and experience and deep wisdom have a role to play, but the ability to approach thing's from a beginner's mindset it a game changer.

Two things recently have really helped me engage in life from this pure perspective: yoga and spending time with kids.

I've been taking multiple yoga classes a week for almost 3 years now, and yet I still feel like a complete noob every time I hit the mat. Perhaps an outsider might be confused as to how, after hundreds of yoga class with some amazing teachers, I can still be humbled and feel like I know nothing. It's part of a discovery process where poses and positions only truly reveal themselves after so much practice and iteration.

A similar thing happens when I spend time with my niece and nephew and friends' kids expect its more of a re-discovery. As long as I can remember, kids have always loved me, and I think I can finally articulate why. I think it comes from the deep empathy that allows me to try to understand the world from their perspective and see the world through their eyes. I ask kids so many questions to help me remember what the universe looked liked when I was young.

I went for a long walk in the woods with my niece and nephew this past weekend by my parents house where I grew up. I've spent hundreds of hours in those woods as a kid and yet this weekend, we discovered things I've never seen before. It was quite an adventure. For all of us.

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When it comes to innovation, the best new ideas and breakthroughs are almost never coming from the people who think they know it all and have nothing left to learn. It's coming from the folks who, no matter how much they know, are still able to start with a blank sheet of paper and an unlimited repertoire of what's possible.

This ties back into my favorite question of "What if?" A beginner is always asking what if. What if I could do that arm balance or connect that binding on the yoga mat? What if I didn't assume I knew all of the secrets treasures of the woods I grew up in? What if we didn't do things the way they've always been done?

When it comes to truly innovative and game-changing products and solutions, the ever-curious mindset of the beginner is far superior to those who believe they already know all of the answers.

Why am I so critical of people who are trying to make an impact?

We live in a very strange time in human history. Collectively, we've started doing this thing where we criticize people who are trying to make an impact for not making enough of an impact. Or sometimes we just don't like they way they are making an impact.

Instead of supporting those contributors or even contributing ourselves, we've created a finger pointing, cancel culture that is skeptical of every move.

We look at Bill Gates and say he's not doing enough. He's one of the greatest philanthropists the world has ever seen and his foundation is saving millions of lives. He could be doing more we might say.

It's not just Bill Gates. He was the hot topic last week.

Dave Chappelle gets put through the grinder for telling jokes that point out racism, sexism, and hypocrisy because they can be offensive. Elon Musk is driving innovation in rocketry, solar energy and automobiles, but he smoked weed on a podcast. Greta Thunberg has hate and criticism thrown at her from every direction and she just keeps doing her thing. They could be doing more.

And here's the thing. I'm not finger pointing at the finger pointers. I get why they write and think those things. I do it myself. All the damn time. I see a non-profit or public benefit company, and my immediate reaction is to judge them. How effectively are they using their funds? Are they really interested in making a difference or just doing it for marketing purposes, I might ask on a rather feisty day.

I'm not saying that we can't be critical of people, ideas and methodologies that don't align with us. Critical thinking is how we get better innovation. Challenge the old way to make room for the new. But...

The step before critical can always be curious.

Instead of judging how non-profits might hypothetically use their funds or if a company is "mission driven" for marketing purposes, I can look it up and find actual answers. If I don't like what I find, I can ask a trusted friend if they see what I see. Curious first. Critical second.

Even if someone doesn't live up to our definition of perfect, which of course they never will, we can still be grateful that are making positive contributions to our society in their own unique way.

After getting curious about what is not being seen, if you still don't like the way they do it, great, go out and do it better.

What if I don't have anything to say?

I love this question. I've talked to many people early in the process who have asked this, and I've also been the one asking it at various points in my life.

When starting something new, there's a certain type advice that directs people to become influencers or thought leaders, to start a blog or get active on social media, look for speaking engagements and join the conversation. Get your message out there to as many people as possible. This inevitably leads to the question:

"What if I don't have anything to say?"

The answer is simple.

If you don't have anything to say, listen.

Study. Find a teacher. Be patient. Get super curious. Observe. Ask questions. Hone your craft. Learn from the masters. Get better. Put your head down and put in the work. For weeks, months, or years if you need to.

And then, after of listening, learning and putting in the work, there's no doubt that you'll have something interesting to say and the world will want to hear it.

Why am I obsessed with asking better questions?

When we ask better questions, we get better answers.

It's really as simple as that.

And I'm always looking for better answers: solving complex problems, discovering innovation beyond the surface level and exploring profound upgrades in my own personal growth. Asking powerful questions are the key to unlocking all of that and so much more.

Asking better questions forces me to stop talking and listen. My curiosity takes over. I can't help it. I stop thinking about what I'm going to say next, I drop any agenda or attachment to guiding the conversation in any specific direction and I wait to receive the magic that flows from the answer.

As simple and as grandiose as it may sound, asking better questions has the power to change the world. At the very least, it's going to help us find better answers, and that's a hell of a place to start.