One of the best things a teacher can do for a student isn’t give them answers—it’s to spark a curiosity around a good question.
Answers represent outside-in information. Questions elicit inside-out information. The two are not the same.
Copy and paste an answer into your life and it won’t be long before you hit another wall that’ll require new outside information.
Start a fire inside that’s curious enough about answering a good question and watch as walls are continuously burned down time and again.
The caveat here is centered around the idea of the question being “good.” Just any question won’t do. In fact, some questions suck and may even have the opposite of the desired effect.
For example, if somebody asked me how they can lose 30 pounds in 30 days—I’d tell them their question sucks. There are things I could tell them that might help with that, but that doesn’t make me a good teacher.
What would make me a good (better) teacher is reframing the question (in this instance).
Depending on who I’m speaking with, I might reframe the question to, “Why do you feel like you need to lose 30 pounds in 30 days?” And let that lead them down a path of introspective work around identity and self-worth. Or “What’s something you feel like you can do for 30 years, that’ll make you feel healthier/ happier?” And let them chew on the idea of making lifestyle changes that are free of finish lines. And so forth.
With that, I leave you with two questions: (1) What’s the primary question you’re trying to answer in your life now? (2) Is there a better question?