My 12 favorite problems
Without actively thinking, our subconsciousness is always working on problems. And, while most people find problems inconvenient, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman thought articulating those helps you find meaning and purpose in life. He wrote:
“My approach to problem-solving is to carry around a dozen interesting problems, and a dozen interesting solutions to unrelated problems, and eventually, I’ll be able to make connections. […].
You have to keep a dozen of your favorite problems constantly present in your mind, although by and large they will lay in a dormant state.”
Here are mine:
What brings us meaning and happiness? What makes life worth living?
How do individuals and teams achieve peak performance and reach their highest potential?
How can we reinvent work in a way that is geared towards meaning, purpose, and excellence? What will work look like when we no longer need to work? (UBI, automation, etc)
What is my work to do, my ikigai, at the intersection of skill, impact, financial reward, and enjoyment?
How am I complicit in the conditions or situations I say I don’t want in my life?
How do my childhood and past experiences shape the way I build my life, my businesses and generally show up in the world?
What is spirituality, beyond religion and other highly imperfect ways of "manifesting" it, and what is its role in my/our lives?
How do I run a profitable, sustainable, impactful/successful business yet still have a rich personal and intellectual life, including maintaining a variety of interests and potentially having children? How can I maintain a multitude of interests and ventures yet achieve a level of depth that makes them worth exploring?
Where is the balance, the sweet spot between celebrating, savoring, being content with what you have, and ambitiously going after the next dream in the pipeline (Eastern philosophies vs. the Western way of life)?
Should we bring more children into the world? Am I meant to be a (biological) mother?
Both socialism and capitalism are imperfect ways of running our societies. What do we invent next?
Is remote work (and other aspects of the future of work) the ultimate equalizer(s) or the ultimate divider(s)? How do we ensure we don't leave large parts of our societies behind?
What are yours?
