Weekly Question & Framework: April 19, 2024

Hello and welcome to the Curiosity Chronicle Weekly Question and Framework. In three minutes or less, I will give you one question and one framework to get you thinking going into the weekend. Without further ado, let's dive right into it. A question to build a bright future what is one positive decision you can make to improve yourself today? This Reddit post hit me hard. It says I chose water over Coke with my meal and had one bowl of cereal instead of three this morning. Deciding to be better. It has a powerful lesson on self improvement. Contrary to what you may believe, self improvement is not about cold plunging at 4am, lifting weights for six hours, running 100 miles per week, or going into monk mode for six months. Self improvement is about self improvement. It is about you, about your baseline, wherever you are coming from, and beating that version of you from yesterday. Stop comparing your day one to everyone else's 1000. Stop allowing the highlight reels on social media to hold you back from improving yourself. What is one tiny positive decision I can make to improve myself today? Make it, then make another, then another. That is self improvement to anyone out there making those tiny decisions today. I'm with you and I salute you. A framework to assess your friendships Leaves, branches and roots Actor Tyler Perry, portraying his wise Medea alter ego, once shared a brilliant framing for thinking about your relationships There are three types of people in your life. Leaves. These are the people that are only around from time to time. When the weather is good, they blow around as the winds change. They provide shade during the summer, but as soon as winter comes, they fall off the tree and disappear. Branches. These are the people who are more present and stable than the leaves, but they aren't permanent. They look strong, but if you try to stand on them or pull yourself up from them, they may break under your weight and roots. These are the people who are permanent. They are deep and wide. They are there in the summer and the winter. They are unperturbed by the changing seasons. The leaves and branches may come and go, but the roots are there forever. I love this perspective. There's nothing wrong with having leaves and branches in your life. When times are good, these people can bring joy to your world. But never make the mistake of thinking they will be there during the bad. The most important who are your roots? Who are the people who will be there through good and bad? Who are the people who will sit in the mud with you? Find them. Cherish them. That's all for today's piece. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you learned something and I hope you'll share it with others. As always. Until next time, stay curious, friends.