Week 5

Journal Entry 5

Hola, it's that time of the week again!

  It's been a busy couple of days, but there's no time like the present to do my blog post! Well, that, and it's due tomorrow. Yeah, there's always that. Moving on now...

  This week's post is about questions. Important, hard-hitting questions like, "why don't people bake bacon or fry fries?" and "in Star Wars, how did Anakin Skywalker grow so much between episodes I and II, when his lady friend didn't age at all?" because seriously, he was like 9, and she was like 17, then suddenly they were both around the age of 20 in episode II when they GOT MARRIED. 

  Whoa, tangent. Let's just stick to the powerful questions for the rest of this page or so.

Powerful Questions

  Okay, there are three big aspects to powerful questions: assumptions, scope, and construction. The linguistic construction of a question can either open our minds or narrow our view. For example, "how can we fix the problem?" is not nearly as powerful as "what can we learn from this problem?". The scope of a question has a major effect on its power, too. If the scope is too broad, it makes the question vague and unmotivating. If the question is too narrow, it limits the question's creative potential. If the scope is just right, it not only opens the innovative possibilities, but the promise of an immediate difference makes it encouraging, as well. The assumptions regarding our questions are also critical, since exploring them opens up any underlying beliefs or would-be givens about the situation. The more data we have, the more we can question, and the more we question, the more we discover about ourselves and the world around us.

Create three powerful questions you have about your future. 

  What will my career be in the future?

  This question assumes that I will have a career in the future. I think that's a safe bet. It's admittedly a little vague, but it's an important question that I find myself wondering often. I continue to ask this question because the answer to it will drastically affect my future.

  How will I work towards God's will in all that I do in the future?

  I think this is a pretty powerful one. It holds more questions than assumptions. How will I know God's will? Will I know God's will for me? What will I do to work toward it? How can I apply God's big plan for my life in the little things? The main assumptions in this question are that God has a will for my life, and there's something I can do to work towards it.

  How do I achieve success in anything that I set out to do?

  This question is again a bit vague, but then again, so are the guidelines surrounding these questions. It assumes that I can't already achieve success in anything that I set out to do, and that I value the ability to succeed. It also assumes that success is always possible, with the right tools and know-how.

Create three additional powerful questions that you want to explore during your courses at UC.

   How much can I learn from these classes?

  This isn't as much a question of their teaching ability, but a challenge issued to myself. How much can I learn if I really try? How much can I make myself learn? What can I take out of this? It assumes that I can learn something, which shows a sliver of humility and pushes me to learn anything and everything I can.

  What kind of person will I become if I go in this direction?

  I think everyone should ask themselves this question every once in a while. By "this direction" I mean that we should examine any direction that our life could take if we allow it to. Who we are is more important than what we know, what we think, or what we do. This question assumes that we may be heading in a direction that makes us into a different person than we are now, or that the option to become a different person is in front of us.

  How can I make the best of this opportunity (Azusa Pacific Online)?

  This question assumes that being in my current college is a great opportunity, and one that I should make the very best of. I believe that both of those assumptions are as true as any assumption can get. By seeing my current situation(and any situation, for that matter) for the fantastic opportunity it is, and consciously making an effort to maximize the potential of it, I can accomplish, learn, grow, and achieve more than someone who sees the world around them(school, college, work, etc.) as a mandatory waiting period between them and the "fun" parts of life.

Create three more powerful questions that you want to ask important people in your life.

  If I could ask you any three questions, what should I ask?

  This question could reveal what the person values, or an important lesson that they've been looking for a chance to teach. It assumes that the person would want to have questions asked of them, and that the person would have a substantial answer.

  What matters most to you in life?

  This question could reveal a lot about a person. Someone's priority number one could give you enormous insight on who they are, and why. It assumes that the person you're asking has something that matters more than anything else to them. 

  What is the number one thing that you think I should improve about myself?

  This question not only helps you to better yourself in an efficient way, but it also shows what qualities are valued by the person you're asking. It assumes that you have room for improvement, which may be slightly humbling to the question asker. It also assumes that you value self-improvement over personal pride.

Write a brief paragraph about the results of the Curiosity Challenge.

  The Curiosity Challenge basically means I was supposed to try something this week that I wasn't sure I could actually accomplish, and write about the experience.

  This week, due to an oversight, I realized that one of the biggest papers in my art class was due a day earlier than I previously thought. That meant that I only had one night to crank out an A+ paper on a work of art that I had never seen before in my life. What a perfect opportunity.

  Four hours, three Wikipedia articles, and two cups of coffee later, it was done. I'm still waiting on my grade, but let me just say that I didn't sleep much that night, so it better have been worth it. The experience? Exhausting, stressful, headache-causing, and oddly satisfying in a bizarre way. Am I glad I did it? For sure. I was worried for a bit, but I finished the paper, and I did it in one night. Would I do it again? Not a chance.

  My fingers are getting tired, and my "eyes are getting soft", as my parents used to say back in my obsessive gaming days. Guess that means it's time to sign off! Suppose I should credit The Art of Powerful Questions by Eric E. Vogt, Juanita Brown, and David Isaacs for about 90% of the powerful questions stuff before I go. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

“The problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking that created them."

-Albert Einstein