These 11 Questions (#11qs)

Tim Ferriss posted the 11 questions he has asked over 100 people he admires. I was wondering how I'd answer them myself, and figured I'd do so in a LinkedIn article.

1) What is the book (or books) you’ve given most as a gift, and why? Or what are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life?

I have given these books as gifts:

• What Do You Do With an Idea? (a children's book about thinking big)
• The Power of Moments by Chip Heath and Dan Heath (so that people get ideas for how to create moments in their lives)
• Wired for Joy or anything by Laurel Mellin (powerful)

For a few people that I know are on my wavelength, I've given a book with subtle humor and fun contrarian thinking: The Grasshopper.

Of course, I've given these three books many times: 1) my book co-authored with Margaret Greenberg: the business book Profit from the Positive, 2) my Dad's dystopian thriller Publicani, and 3) the first of my Dad's series of children's books Truth: The Merchant of Dreams.

2) What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months (or in recent memory)? My readers love specifics like brand and model, where you found it, etc.

Gretchen Rubin's The Four Tendencies. It helps me better understand myself and some of the people closest to me. I'm an Obliger and Upholder. One of the people closest to me is a Rebel. Another is a Questioner.

3) How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a “favorite failure” of yours?

Ah, a good question. Yes.

4) If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere with anything on it — metaphorically speaking, getting a message out to millions or billions — what would it say and why? It could be a few words or a paragraph. (If helpful, it can be someone else’s quote: Are there any quotes you think of often or live your life by?)

Be good. Do the right thing.*

* If people wanted more clarity on what I meant, I would explain: you already know what to do. You already know what the right thing is at any point.

Note: "be good" does not mean "be a good girl or good boy"; it means be good to what is right for you and be true to what is right for you. For mind-blowing ideas on why "be a good girl/boy" is a really bad message, see my Dad's first young adult book in early form Truth: Flying Fox.

Also, one of Tim Ferriss' interviewees had a great response to this question (paraphrasing): I would get rid of all billboards.

5) What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you’ve ever made? (Could be an investment of money, time, energy, etc.)

My investments into the things that go into being a Mom: investments of time in reading, investments of time in slowing down and watching them for cues, investments in healthy routines, investments in simple, reliable toys, investments in the time to explore life and nature with them.

6) What is an unusual habit or an absurd thing that you love?

Rock climbing. International-style waltz and hustle (that latter one is a dance in addition to being Gary Vee's philosophy).

7) In the last five years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your life?

Deep work, like Cal Newport suggests. Setting outrageous goals with short deadlines for things to learn or complete - and working on them while getting eight hours of sleep.

8) What advice would you give to a smart, driven college student about to enter the “real world”? What advice should they ignore?

Do one informational interview per week, and post the results of that interview into a LinkedIn article. It keeps you learning and moving forward and keeps new people connected to you on a regular basis.

9) What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise?

Executive coaches run into various situations and have various recommendations on those situations. Here are two recommendations that I've sometimes heard that don't jive well with me:

1. Set SMART and hard goals and go after them. The opposite: there's so much powerful research on direction and process as opposed to goals, and on small steps as opposed to huge plans.
2. Follow your dreams and drop your day job. The opposite: I can't tell you how often I coach to this as an executive coach. I suggest everyone who's thinking about dropping their job read Herminia Ibarra's work on dabbling before leaving a career and Kabir Sehgal's ideas on having more than one career.

10) In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to (distractions, invitations, etc.)? What new realizations and/or approaches helped? Any other tips?

My friend D-- once gave me advice that a mentor of his gave him, "Do what only you can do." I so try to do this.

11) When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do? (If helpful: What questions do you ask yourself?)

Sleep more. Ask a good friend who's a coach* to spot-coach me on some topics.

* A good friend who's a coach who spot-coaches me: M, K, D, J, V, The Coaches, you are this for me.

Senia's note: I'd love to read your answers to Tim's #11qs. If you write a LinkedIn article answering these 11 q's, please link to your article in the comments here so I and others can go read your thoughts! Possible tag within your article: #11qs.

Senia Maymin, PhD, is the Founder and Owner of Silicon Valley Change Executive Coaching (SVC). What does SVC do? When large multi-national companies want to invest in their highest performing leaders by providing them third-party strategic thinking partners, they reach out to us. We are honored to work with companies that include VMware and Logitech. We have coaches based around the world, coaching in seven languages. Reach out to get on board for coaching for 2018: hello@svchange.com.