I just finished reading a blog post by Everett Bogue titled, 13 Hidden Timesucks You Can Eliminate to Focus On The Essential.  I couldn’t help but relate this to what had been brewing in my head recently…

In today’s digital age, we have more balls in the air than we can conceivably handle.  Most of the stress that we deal with comes from dropping the ball in some area of our life.  Why does this happen?

It happens because we try to do too much.  I’m a firm believer that you can do anything, but you can’t do everything.  The people that realize and live by this tend to become the ones that everyone else looks too.

And yet, some people seem to have some sort of, “secret” that keeps them ahead of the curve.  While being ahead of the curve is admirable, I tend to gravitate toward people that are doing good at the same time.  These people see to have a vibrant energy beyond what their less charitable counter-parts possess.

I don’t believe that their “secret to success,” if you want to call it that, is truly a secret.  I’ve been following those I admire for awhile, and believe I can summarize the secret in a minimalist fashion:

Get clear, then focus, then persevere.

This simple mantra can take you anywhere.

First you work smart, then you work hard.  It doesn’t matter how intelligent you are.  There are many reasons why intelligent people fail (check out the link for a great list of reasons).  No my friends, to win, you must adopt at least a few minimalist practices…

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For a few minutes, I need you to forget who you are.  Instead, I want you to become the hero of an epic journey. You, and only you, have the potential to be the hero that is needed.  If it helps you, read this and then close your eyes and visualize this scene.

Imagine that you are on a quest – a quest that no one else can hope to complete.  The world depends on your success.  Your’s is a journey of knowledge.  You seek the answer to a Burning Question.  This Burning Question drives you forward – it gives you passion, energy, inspiration, and motivation to succeed.  You have been on your journey for weeks and months.  As you started your journey, every choice you made and piece of the answer that you found, fueled your desire to find the answer.

The journey stretches on.  One night, you find yourself fatigued and alone with your thoughts.  The raging inferno that drove you forward at the onset of your journey has grown less intense.  It is now a mere campfire that keeps you warm, telling you that what you’re doing is worthwhile.  Eventually, even this campfire becomes faded and dim as you move away from it.  The fire burns out.

Now, you find yourself in the dark.  There are beacons of light in the distance, but you do not know how to get there.  This is the dark night of your soul, where you must stare into the abyss and make a choice.  The only fire left is the one that burns inside.  Will you stand and complete your journey?  Or will you turn away, and wander into the darkness to find a new direction?

How do you confront the dark night of the soul?  In every story that captivates, there is a moment of crises, of failure.  Every hero that is loved, has a fatal flaw.

There is a cost that must be paid in every journey, and every hero chooses whether they will pay.

In every journey to answer a Burning Question, there will be times where you are fatigued, where the passion dwindles, and where you question whether the journey is worth it any more.  No one can tell you what to do in those moments, for they are yours alone to experience.

How you respond to those moments, define you as a person.  They will define your life.

As time draws on, the passion you have to answer your Burning Question will go through peaks and valleys of intensity.

In the darkness of those valleys, how do you keep the fire that burns inside you alive?

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Have you ever found yourself so overloaded with information, that you find yourself paralyzed by indecision?

I have too.

It has been a few weeks since I have written about the One Burning Question concept, and something about it has been bugging me.

Once you have your question, where the hell do you start?

If you were reading a book, playing a game, or performing some “task”, I would tell you to start at the beginning. The problem is that answering your One Burning Question is not a linear journey – nor should it be. The greatest surges of creativity in life happen organically and tangentially.

I’ve talked about how to find your OBQ, finding the courage to answer it, and I have provided some tips to help you along the way.  This can all be helpful.  The problem is that I have given you a picture of your destination, without giving you a map or directions.

The more that I think about my own Burning Question, I realize that you can’t have a Burning Question until you have lit the fire. Until you set it on fire, all you have is a fancy idea.

Imagine taking all of the energy you have to tackle your Burning Question, and intensely focusing it in one direction.

What do you get when you take immense amounts of energy and focus it in one spot?

You get a laser, that’s what.  And lasers are awesome.

Lasers focus insane amounts of energy through perfectly focused lenses.  You need to find a lens that will allow you to focus your energy.  To ignite your question with your focus, you’re going to need kindling to get the fire going.

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Every so often, you run across a resource that inspires, motivates and revolutionizes your thinking.  About two years ago, I started watching talks from the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conferences.  Some of the best minds in the world meet to present their ideas to one another.  Then, it is shared with the world.

To this day, I believe that Ken Robinson has one of the most socially important messages of any presenter at TED; he is also an amazing speaker.

Ken Robinson’s One Burning Question is clear: How can we revolutionize education to best support our children’s futures?

He has spoken twice at TED – once in 2006, and once this past year in 2010.  Both talks were incredible and powerfully addressed his Burning Question.

What We Can Learn

Once you have found your One Burning Question, you must begin to take action.  There is no other way to find an answer.  Ken Robinson has written books, spread his message across the world, and shared his vision with some of the most creative minds in the world.

Answering a Burning Question is a way to change the world.  Take the time to learn from Ken Robinson.

When we model those that have most achieved success, we find paths and methods that can help us in our own journey.

To celebrate the release of his latest talk, I’d like to share both of them with you here.  Please take the time to either watch or bookmark these.

The problems in education are not as terrifying as global warming or nuclear weapons; this is not an issue of how our children will die – it is an issue of how our children will live.

Education is not a one size fits all system, though we attempt to treat it as such through standardization and testing.  Education has been industrialized, selling the best products (top students) at a premium, and letting the malfunctioning products (poor students) make it to the scrap bin.

Ken Robinson Rocks the Mic

Here are the amazing talks by Ken Robinson – each is between 16 and 20 minutes.  Play them in the background at work if you have to, but WATCH THESE.  They will rock your perceptions of creativity, learning and education.

If you enjoy these, please take a moment and share them with a friend or someone you know with children.  The more the message is spread, the more likely change is to occur.

What do you think of more case studies like this?  Perhaps some more in-depth ones, perhaps with an interview with some of those focused on?  I’d love to hear your input on this and where you’d like to see this exploration go.

Photo by Robert Scoble