Frappe Break: Figure Out Your Goals with One Question

Frappe Breaks are little doses of creativity that can be injected into your day at any point. They’re meant to inspire, wake you up, and put some fire under your feet! They’re just as potent as any cup of real coffee (or in my case, a good ‘ol frappe), just without all the jitters, and possible midday energy drains.

Brief:

I recently saw a post that explained that with a simple question you’ll get to the root of what you really want to do.

By asking this same question multiple times, you also eliminate distractions, which opens up the door for self-awareness.

So what’s this magical question? It’s, Why? Simply asking why helps you gain clarity.

I couldn’t find the OG video that I watched, but the one below will help you understand the concept.

Deliverables:

In the original video I watched, the speaker shared that someone that he was talking to, said they wanted to have lots of money. He constantly asked this person “Why.” He came to the conclusion that the person really didn’t want lots of money, he really wanted to help his community.

So I’m challenging you, to do the same thing. Try to ask yourself “Why” at least 5 times to get to the root of what you really want. In my example below, I work through my career goals, but you can use this for personal goals as well.

My Results:

I want to be a creative director
Why

Because I want to tell big stories
Why

Because I like being innovative and connecting people together
Why

It’s fun to learn about people and what they like and also experiment with current technologies
Why

Because people and technology make the world go ’round.

So what I really need to be thinking about is:

• Learning more about people. I could do this through things like psychology, networking, storytelling, traveling, reading, etc.
• Exploring technology. I could do this by building it, using it, breaking it/putting it back together, etc.

Personally, I could do this using any medium. That could look like me creating a blog around those topics, starting a podcast, volunteering for organizations in these spaces, or even doing more in my local community.

If I wanted to use this insight to clarify my career path, I’d look for roles that revolved around the psychology of people, storytelling, community building, and experimenting with new/innovative technology (which is kind of what I do right now!)

Your Results: 

I want to see how you did! Send your thoughts to Human Resources if you’d like to be featured on the community’s Employee Resource Group page!

Featured Image by Reuben Juarez