I've been thinking about a universal type of mind framing that is required to truly understand what is uniquely needed for each of us to succeed in the search for happiness. I believe, for the most part, it is actually a framework around modelling certain questions to create a thought process in order for us to see who we are, what we want, what that means, and what we need in order to achieve it.

It's easy to frame these questions around broad concepts like who we are, what we enjoy, and how we want to live our lives. However, those questions are almost cliché in the way they don't really help us identify our wants, needs, haves, the gaps, and the strategy to address them, they are just easy questions to ask like they can find the answer, and to an extent they can, but in order to truly find the underlying answers, we need to find a pathway to a deeper understanding.

I have thought for a while about these questions and have kept in my notes various questions that I believed might be useful in helping us understand our thoughts and ideas around our search for happiness. Although the following questions are still yet to be refined, these are the top 5 framing questions I have modelled to help create that mentality to assist in our own search:

1. What truly makes you feel that deep sense of connection? Something that almost creates a sense of understanding, without even knowing anything.

2. Do you feel like your core values, ideologies, and instinctual understanding align with how you approach and actively engage in life? What aspects do you know are counterproductive, counterintuitive, or simply not right for who you are?

3. Forget any societal expectations. How do you define success? What key factors do you believe are required to achieve this success?

4. Stop, think, and listen to the voice inside your head and the engine inside your body. Do you allow enough time for yourself? Where do you think you need more balance, and what does that balance look like to make you feel fulfilled and complete?

5. Remove all material possessions, responsibilities, and the need for support or guidance from any externalities. Where would you be? Who would you be with? What would you be doing? Why would you be doing that? How does that make you feel?

These are some questions that have helped me iron out some clutter in my mind, and potentially they could help someone too. Fundamentally we all need to understand who we are, what we are, and why. Then we model around those aspects, because happiness is internally driven, and until we can truly understand ourselves, the search will never end.

Sometimes it’s more important to understand the questions, than the answers we seek.

Thanks,

Dean