What is my process to answer really difficult questions?

I had a fun call with a friend this morning who has a difficult career decision coming up. I asked him what his process was for figuring out the answer. I had not thought about my own answer to this question until he asked me what I would do.

The initial response that jumped out to me and that I shared with him is one of the most powerful and under utilized tools that we have access to when creating something new.

"Who has already had to answer this question, and what can I learn from them?"

With very, very rare exception, there is almost always someone on this planet who has gone through what you are going through right now.

Whether it's starting a new company, figuring out a career move, or even working through some personal stuff, someone else has been there, done that. We have the opportunity to learn from them.

Figure out a way to get access to these people and ask them a few questions to help you on your journey. What did you come up with when you had to answer this question? What was your process like in making the decision? What would you do differently / what have you learned since?

Simple stuff, but it can be critical in your future decision making.

There are two reasons why this tactic isn't utilized more often:

1. We buy into our own story that we're so unique that no one else has ever had to deal with something like this

2. We are worried about what will happen as a result of asking

One is easy enough to overcome. Two is a bit trickier.

What if I talk to a competitor and they steal my idea, you might say. I'm sure I'll write more in the future about protecting your idea, but for now, let's just say it is incredibly rare for someone to steal another person's idea. If they've been around long enough, they've already thought through your idea at some point. And even if they're a competitor, in my experience they are still more likely to help than not.

I've discovered a few other ways to help me answer difficult questions I'll again save for another time, and yet this will always the starting point for me.

If you are fortunate enough (or crafty enough) to have access to someone who has been through a similar situation or dilemma, one of the most useful things we can do is to learn from their experience. Learn from the past to accelerate the future.

What is the purpose of meditation?

First let me start my saying that I am not qualified to answer any questions about meditation other than my own direct experience.

I have been practicing meditation for the last three years under the guidance of some incredibly knowledgeable individuals, and yet meditation is prehistoric. It literally has been around longer than we have recorded history! (So cool) I feel like I'm still on the first or second step of a very long journey, so anything that comes next is from personal experience and not expertise.

I first became interested in meditation by listening to the Tim Ferriss podcast (thanks Tim!). He'd interview world class performers, experts and wildly successful people, and the topic of meditation would come up over and over again. Once I made the plunge into the world of meditation, I was hooked.

So, what's the purpose of meditation?

Honestly, that question is like asking what's the purpose of writing. It could mean so many things to so many different people. Meditation can be useful for reducing stress, increasing calmness, finding inner peace and on and on.

Here's what can be difficult about meditation:

The purpose of practicing meditation isn't to become better meditators.

When we practice soccer, piano or ballet, we are doing so in order to become better at playing soccer, piano or ballet. With meditation it's different though. There's no such thing as a perfect medtiation session.

What's extremely interesting to me is how we can use meditation to help us be better leaders and creators. And in this regard, I've found two types of meditation to be most useful.

Mindfulness Meditation

The first type of meditation that I've found particularly useful as an entrepreneur and leader is a mindfulness practice. There are many styles and types of meditations that can accomplish this, and generally these bring awareness to our thoughts.

Mindfulness meditations help us become more present in our day to day interactions. It's about becoming more comfortable with our own mind and thoughts. This creates more self-awareness which then allows us to make better decisions and be better leaders.

I've seen such profound effects in my own personal awareness over these past few years. This particularly shows up when things may not be going so smoothly. I've noticed how differently I now show up when new obstacles and challenges present themselves, and it is FASCINATING. I'm not perfect, but I'm way better.

Insight Meditation

I have "found" many answers through meditation. There are certain types of meditation (Vipassana in particular) that help us create space in our minds where the answers can come to us. I've found it similar to discovering new ideas in the shower or solving problems in my sleep, only this is a much more intentional approach.

Insight meditations have helped me to approach problems from new and unexpected perspectives, detach and untangle myself from messy situations to see what I'm not seeing and to create space for entirely new ideas to come through. Without going too far down the rabbit hole, I've found that many times I've already had the answers and just needed to be in the right headspace to receive them and understand them.

I've also had other-worldly experiences with heart opening meditations, somatic meditations, collective and dynamic meditations, but mindfulness and insight meditations have been the most useful to me as a creator.

As we look to unlock the next level of the video game and build the things we are here to build, there's no doubt that meditation will be a key ingredient.