These questions came from a series by CEO and startup thought leader Greg Isenberg on Twitter. You can read the full thread here.

1. Can you really control that?

Know what falls within your sphere or control and what does not. Do not try to control what falls outside of that sphere.

The commentary Greg provides that I just love:

• If you’re living in the past, you’re nostalgic
• If you’re living in the future, you’re anxious
• If you’re living in the present, you’re at peace

2. Did you start today with a victory?

Start each day with a small win, whatever that is. Sometimes it’s doing a workout, sometimes it’s reading, sometimes it’s just making your bed. Kicking off your day with a victory incentivizes you to keep the momentum going.

3. What are you optimizing for?

Money? Time in front of the TV? Learning? Time with family?

Check in with how you are prioritizing your time and energy. Make sure it is in line with your values. You might think you are optimizing for one thing but are actually focusing on something else.

4. Are you being optimistic?

Believe in good and you will find it

5. Are you reacting or responding?

Reacting — you are in the backseat, putting out fires as they come. You’re often stressed, panicking, behind. Things often slip through the cracks because there’s simply too much going on with too little time. Working in this way is a fast track to burnout.

Responding — you are in control of your work and life. You are able to make preemptive strikes to break big projects into smaller, more manageable tasks. This is the difference between writing one section of a paper each day over the course of a week versus trying to do the entire thing in one night.

6. Can you disagree politely?

It’s okay not to see eye to eye. However yelling and insulting never gets anyone anywhere.

7. Are you thinking in decades or years?

Decade goals are the new annual goals. Start thinking about what you can accomplish over a longer period of time and start to optimize for that.

8. Are you earning trust?

Trust > success

And actually, being someone who is trustworthy can often lead to success. People don’t want to do business with someone they do not trust, not matter how smart or qualified they are.

9. Do you understand the rules?

From Greg: “Success is 40% talent and 60% understanding how to beat the game”

Or at least how to play the game. Advocate for change when you see something out of line, but rather than getting upset when others have success by playing the game, understand how you can make it work for you.

10. Why don’t you get straight to the point?

People are busy. Be direct.

11. Why do you take things so personally?

Greg: “When you’re 20 you care what everyone thinks.
When you’re 40 you stop caring what everyone thinks.
When you’re 60 you realize no one was thinking about you in the first place.” – Reddit

What kind of insecurity are you projecting by getting so worked up over a comment or situation. How does this person’s views or actions really impact you? You have finite emotional capacity. Is it worth you energy?

12. Are you seeking the truth or do you just want to validate your beliefs?

Confirmation bias will stifle your growth. It takes courage to seek out different views. Challenge yourself.

13. Are you building something authentic?

Do what you want to do, not what you should do. When you get to the end of your life, there’s no medal for having been the most unhappy while doing the most “right” thing.

The world rewards risk takers

14. If you could be paid to do absolutely anything on earth, what would you do for a living?

Why? What can you do to incorporate more of that into your current work? Or can you build a company around that?

15. Which parallel universe versions of yourself would you want to meet and why?

From Greg: Explain this to me in one sentence.

16. If our legs bent the other way, what would chairs look like?

What assumptions do you make about the way things are and how can you challenge them?

Think about it

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