When Questions Sting

Have you ever brushed against a stinging nettle plant? Those plants with plain-looking leaves covered in nearly invisible hairs that, once attached to your skin, remind you of their presence for hours?

Unanswered questions work the same way in our minds.

They live near the surface — sometimes unnoticed, sometimes irritating — but always there, affecting everything we do.

Nagging questions don't just bother us, they:

• Interrupt our focus

• Slow our progress

• And sometimes stop us completely.

I lived with one such question for too long. It followed me everywhere, hovering over every decision I made for a while. The irritating question was: "Should I close the online and traveling bookstore?"

I won't bore you with the mess that followed — the circular reasoning, the justifications, and the "what-if" scenarios I imagined. When I finally decided to close the store, I was relieved. The mental "stinging" stopped. I wondered why I let the question take up space in my head for so long. 

What unanswered questions are stinging you right now?

That's what this survey aims to discover. I'm building the editorial calendar and want to address the questions that matter most to you. 

What are your current concerns? 

Call out those "stinging hairs" in your professional life. Share what's on your mind.

Photo by Alex Shuper on Unsplash