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Inquiry Of The Day (IOTD)365

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How do you express care for your parents?

December 28, 2016

I carpooled with three other guys that had a bit grayer hair than I, and they were each negotiating the treacherous terrain of caring for elderly parents. Broken bones, cancer, elder care, Alzheimer's, downsizing to a retirement community, and estate planning were common topics during the drive. The discussions about parents moving into assisted living were brutal for everyone involved.

These discussions prompted me to consider the choices I will force on my kids when the time comes. Arguably, some would say I have already abandoned my mental capacity.

My utmost respect to those caring for...

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In Life Operating System Tags Care, Parents, Mother, Father, Elder Care, Self Care, Memories
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How do you express care at work?

December 27, 2016

Entrepreneur, Gary Vaynerchuk, found the best marketing strategy is caring. His example of caring for a customer on a snowy evening before Christmas became the standard for how the employees treated customers. We continue to solidify our company values and personal character with each engagement. How does each customer interaction display your care?

What are the legends of customer care where you work? What were the heroic efforts made to care for a particular client? What has been the long-term impact on the company?

Your care of the end user is easier to track...

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In Life Operating System Tags Care, Gary Vaynerchuk, Work, Kindness, Self-awareness
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What priority is your journal?

December 24, 2016

We make time for what is important, and each of us is granted the same 24 hours a day. How we spend these precious moments, reveals what we value.

Where does your journal fall on your priority list?

No, your journal didn't slip me $20 because it is lonely. But, it is helpful to assess how we spend our time. We tend to add useful items to our to-do list and failure to intentionally remove others to ensure balance. Instead, the others atrophy due to neglect. The action-oriented posture...

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In Life Operating System Tags Journal, Priorities, Practice
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What benefits has journaling delivered?

December 23, 2016

What benefits has journaling delivered?

The sales copy sold you on the idea; did all the promises come true? The promised benefits of keeping a journal are remarkable. Greater creativity and self-awareness, serenity, stress relieve, and enhanced relationships are a sampling of promises provided for daily writing.

Thankfully Google didn't return a list of journal promises that included six-pack abs, $1,000,000 in the bank, and sparkling white teeth in 30 days.

The promises of journaling are similar to meditation...

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In Life Operating System Tags Journal, Growth, Inspire, Benefits, Marco Polo, William Clark, Leonardo Da Vinci
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How well do you listen when your journal speaks?

December 22, 2016

"Self-awareness involves deep personal honesty. It comes from asking and answering hard questions." ~ Stephen Covey

Journaling provides the opportunity to document this personal honesty. The writing is a safe space to develop self-awareness through analysis of our answers. The answers will include clear action steps. Some will be terrifying.

Starting a journal is easy. Consistency is hard. Implementing the self-imposed actions is brutal.

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In Life Operating System Tags Journal, Stephen Covey, Consistent, Practice, Inspire, Self-awareness
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How does your journal speak to you?

December 20, 2016

This inquiry is not a paid promotion for a pending Disney movie. I am not pitching a cute singing journal for the next McDonald's Happy Meal's campaign.

My growth through inquiry and questions were the result of answering hard questions straight from the heart. My friends and I would know it was a real answer when the answer landed with a dull thud. These were the answers that were not sugar coated, or on the Instagram highlight real, but a solemn moment of truth.

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In Life Operating System Tags Journal, Growth, Questions, Inquiry, Inspire, Honesty, Action, Healing
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What are your journaling tactics?

December 19, 2016

The Marine Corps develops a plan before an invasion. The Navy SEALs strategize how to conduct a special operation before taking action. Is it any less important for you to detail your plan of daily engagement? We have one life and how we allocate our time is critical.

What is the structure of your journal?

I have used three different formats over the years. The five-minute journal is a quick bulletized list of questions regarding planning, accomplishments, and gratitude, completed in the morning and evening. Julia Cameron popularized the morning pages in her enduring work, The Artist Way. These pages are three stream-of-conscious pages...

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In Life Operating System Tags Journal, Tactics, Five-Minute Journal, Julia Cameron, The Artist Way
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What has music taught you?

December 17, 2016

"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats." ~ Albert Schweitzer

For such a smart guy, he was half right.

My lessons include:

Enjoying this life is good. Music transforms the mundane into magical. Insert earbuds, press play and be transported through time and space. A little jazz and the refuge appears.

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In Life Operating System Tags Music, Lessons Learned, Albert Schweitzer, Inspire
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Why do you like your favorite musical artists?

December 15, 2016

Details matter and being specific makes all the difference. Honoring an artist as "great" is an empty compliment and lacks integrity. How does this particular artist stand out from the others? What makes them "great" in your eyes?

Is it their vocal range, emotion on stage, music writing, the ability to sing and dance, knowing the right songs to choose to record, music production, talent on an instrument, willingness to shock the audience or their causes outside of music? 

There isn't a right or wrong answer. It is your opinion and your taste.

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In Life Operating System Tags Music, Artist, Inspire, Appreciate, Amanda Palmer, Sting, Matt Kearney, Adele, Matias Puumala
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What musical genres have been your favorite?

December 13, 2016

My cousin betrayed me, and it took a change of heart to forgive.

I was about ten-years-old before paying attention to music. My cousin, Crystal, is a few years older and introduced me to the world of country music. Kenny Rodgers, The Oak Ridge Boys, Dolly Parton, and Alabama were well-worn records in my collection. We were country music fans, and nothing was going to challenge this loyalty.

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In Life Operating System Tags Music, Genre, Taste, Preference, Change, Crow, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, The Oak Ridge Boys, Alabama, Motley Crue, Whitesnake, Drake, Sam Hunt, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Generation Z, Diversity
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How does music nourish your soul?

December 12, 2016

"The end of all good music is to affect the soul." Composer, Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)

Music blows past our mental gatekeepers and lodges deep in our soul. I have declared a new release as my new favorite song, sung along, bought the record and only then, realized the lyrics were terrible. The power of the music or the beat was enough to hook me and motivate me to exchange my cash.

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In Life Operating System Tags Music, Inspire, Nourish, Soul, Tara Brach, Claudio Monteverdi
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What filters are applied to your actions?

December 8, 2016

You do not see the world correctly. The good news is neither does anyone else.

A standard camera lens is built-in to your smartphone. Accessory lenses are now available to zoom or magnify your subject. The software provides a myriad of filters to adjust the final picture, of your breakfast, for distribution to the global media outlets.

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In Life Operating System Tags Action, Filters
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What is your response to commitments?

November 27, 2016

Commitment is a word that has many running for the hills. In the age of hookups and the gig economy, the practical definition has taken on a new meaning.

The celebration of a 50th wedding anniversary is a party for two reasons; honoring the longevity of the commitment and celebrating the pending extinction of the graying unicorn. Party stores will only stock the 1, 5, and 10-year anniversary glitter. They will regulate the rest to the discount bin.

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In Life Operating System Tags Commitment, Definition, Guardrails, Fear Of Missing Out, FOMO, Promises
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What is an early memory of thankfulness?

November 25, 2016

Disclaimer: I never claimed to be normal.

I really wanted a dog. My dad said I needed to prove I was responsible before we invested in a dog. We visited the pet store and settled on a rat as my first pet. Squeaker was all black except for a white necktie on his chest.

I poured a lot of love into this rodent. I ensured the dribbles of batter on the griddle each Saturday morning would guarantee a pancake breakfast for my companion. I tucked my t-shirt into my pants and rode my bike around the neighborhood with him riding on my shoulder or running around my waistline in my shirt.

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In Life Operating System Tags Thankfulness, Memories, Pets, It's A Wonderful Life, Jimmy Stewart, Mentor, Gratitude
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What has thankfulness taught you?

November 24, 2016

Every experience can teach us something. Too often we don't take the time to unpack the the insights and lessons. The world is moving fast and will not make introspection easy.

When an accident happens on the job, managers pull the team together to conduct an investigation to understand the process breakdowns that led to the issue. The organization reviews processes, and updates procedures to ensure avoiding a repeat accident in the future.

What investigations do you work through for the good things in your life? Reviewing our lives and redoubling our efforts is a common practice at the beginning of the year, birthdays, or other milestones. Understanding what is working and why it is working can be a powerful tool to enhance effectiveness and duplicate these successes to other areas of life.

What are the findings of the thankfulness investigation in your life?

Did you learn who you legitimately care for and others not as deeply as you thought?
How you define gratitude?
Who has invested in your life?
Imagined what could have happened and didn't?
Determine if you are an optimist or a pessimist?

If we don't learn the lesson, the first time we will often get more opportunities to learn the same lesson again. I have plenty of unpleasant experiences that I didn't learn the first time, and repeating the curriculum is bitter.

Let's make the most of the educational opportunity that life delivers. Choose to repeat the life-giving experiences and move on from the negative.

In Life Operating System Tags Thankfulness, Lessons Learned, Inspiration
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Engage

These INQUIRIES are here for you.

My intention is for you to ask better questions and think deeper.

Our fast paced, always on, society provides little time for reflection. 

After answering the initial inquiry, dig a little deeper and follow-up with a bit more thinking:

What do I think about it?

How can I make it better/worse?

How does this influence my life and those around me?

How can I be more generous?

© Kenneth Woodward and Inquiry Of The Day (IOTD) 365 (IOTD365), 2016.

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kenneth Woodward and IOTD365 with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Give me a chance to say "Yes".

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