Issue #5: How to unstuck your life one question at a time

Hey there. It’s March. Spring is finally here. If you are stuck in life, asking yourself important questions can help you get unstuck and move forward. More user stories in this issue for our note-taking web app. People's love for uncovering hidden truths shows how much we all want to make sense of things. And looking at places like Park Güell in Barcelona is a reminder to dream big and be bold in being ourselves.

Let’s dive in.

Today in a nutshell:

• How to unstuck your life one question at a time

• How to design and build a web app - Lesson #4: User Stories (continued)

• Appeal of secret conspiracies and the quest for "the truth" in modern society.

• Dream big and dare to be different - Park Güell, Barcelona, Spain. 

— Sofia

TODAY’S INSIGHT

How to unstuck your life one question at a time

Everything starts with a question.

Why am I working a job I don't enjoy? What if I followed my dreams? How can I change my life to make my dreams come true?

It always starts with a quiet voice inside my head - subtle at first.

Over time, it becomes louder and louder, poking my brain, demanding answers.

Why? What if? How?

For a very long time, I was stuck in a river of daily responsibilities, unable to change the direction I was swimming toward.

Until I started asking myself questions.

Only then did I start seeing things more clearly. Most of my decision-making was poor because I wasn't asking myself the right questions.

As children, we ask questions about everything. As adults, we lose that curiosity. Schools and jobs often focus more on having the correct answers than on asking good questions. So, when we feel like asking questions, we worry we'll look silly or that we're stepping out of line.

Asking questions helps us understand problems better. The best questions make us think hard and challenge the usual way of doing things.

Here is a process you can follow to get unstuck if you are in the situation I used to be in. Use these questions to go from thinking about problems to solving them.

Step 1: Acknowledge your feelings

What am I feeling right now? Why might I be feeling this way? Dig deeper into your emotions and understand why you are unhappy with your current situation. These questions help bring to the surface underlying issues that need managing.

Step 2: Define what you truly want

What does success look like to me? What activities make me lose track of time? Find out what you really care about and what's important to you. This clear picture helps you set goals that match your true self.

Step 3: Start small

What's one small step I can take right now towards my goal? Who has done something similar, and what can I learn from them? Identify potential mentors or sources of inspiration and figure out the next steps to take.

Step 4: Create a plan

What obstacles might come my way, and how can I overcome them? What resources do I need? Planning with these questions in mind prepares you for potential problems and helps you find support.

Step 5: Find people who have your back

Who in my network can provide the support, advice, or mentorship I need? How can I reach out to them? Build a supportive community that will lift you on your journey.

Step 6: Be flexible when things don't go as planned

What is this obstacle teaching me? Is there a better path forward? View challenges as opportunities to learn and adapt.

Step 7: Be thankful for what you've got

What am I thankful for today? How have my challenges contributed to my growth? Adopting this mindset can make you more resilient and make the journey more enjoyable and sustainable.

Step 8: Reflect and adjust

What progress have I made, and what have I learned? What needs to change in my approach? Reflecting regularly on these questions will help you learn and grow, aligning your goals with your evolving circumstances.

Closing notes

Making a change in your life starts with asking yourself some tough questions. It's not just about getting out of a rut; it's about figuring out how to live a life that feels right and true to you.

So, keep asking those questions. They're your tools for cutting through the noise and confusion.

Remember, every question is a chance to change your story, one answer at a time.

NO-CODE, NO PROBLEM

To pick up from where we left off last week, the user stories for searching and tagging customer journeys are:

User journey 2: As a creator, I want to search my notes so that I can find the one I want easily

Feature: Note Search

User Stories:

- As a creator, I want to be able to search my notes by keywords so that I can quickly find specific notes I have written (basic search).

- As a creator, I want to search for text within the content of my notes so that I can find detailed information without remembering the exact title (search within note).

- As a creator, I want to use advanced search options like date ranges and tags so that I can narrow down my search results more effectively (advanced search).

- As a creator, I want to sort my search results by date created and last modified so that I can easily find the most relevant or recent notes (sort search results).

User journey 3: As a creator, I want to tag my notes so that I can see them in categories (tag note)

Feature: Note Tagging

User Stories:

- As a creator, want to add tags to my notes, so that I can organise them into categories for easier retrieval (basic tagging).

- As a creator, I want to view all notes under a specific tag, so that I can easily access related notes together (view notes by tag).

- As a creator, I want to edit the tags on my notes, so that I can correct mistakes or update the categories as my needs change (edit tag).

- As a creator, I want to manage my list of tags, including creating new tags, renaming existing tags, and deleting tags, so that I can maintain a useful and organised tagging system (tag list management).

- As a creator, I want to tag multiple notes at once, so that I can organise my notes more efficiently without having to tag them individually (bulk tagging).

Next week, we will finish the rest of the user stories for the remaining user journeys (add and cross-reference related notes). Can you guess what they will be?

See you next week for more!

BITS AND BOBS

Paul Millerd touches on a deep and complex aspect of human psychology and social behaviour here - the appeal of secret conspiracies and the quest for "the truth" in modern society.

This appeal often comes from a strong desire for certainty and to make sense of a world that feels more complex and hard to understand. People often fall into thinking they've found hidden truths that make everything clear, but this can be misleading.

Life is naturally messy and complicated. "Waking up," or becoming more aware of the world's complexities, makes us start looking for answers. This search can lead us to groups or beliefs that offer simple, comforting explanations of how things work, giving us a feeling of belonging and certainty. However, this can actually take us further away from understanding the real world, as we might end up trading one oversimplified view for another.

The real challenge is to try to understand life without getting caught up in easy answers or attractive stories that promise to explain it all. It's important to navigate life's uncertainties, ask questions, and remain open to learning, even when some questions don’t have straightforward answers.

In truth, there's no one story that explains everything. Getting to know the world means being okay with not having all the answers and learning to live with the complexity and confusion that come with life.

CORNER OF THE WORLD

In 2013, while on a trip to Barcelona, Spain, Nick and I visited Park Güell. The park was designed by Antoni Gaudí, a Catalan architect with a unique creative style. He was a significant contributor to the development of modernist architecture.

Interestingly, the vision for Park Güell was to be an exclusive neighbourhood for the wealthy - a kind of private retreat where rich families could nestle away from the hustle and bustle. This plan was not realised in the end, and instead, it turned into a public park, open for everyone to enjoy. Which, to be fair, was perfectly Ok for us.

As we entered the park, we saw a beautiful mosaic salamander fountain. Its body was decorated with colourful ceramic tiles, and water flowed from its mouth. Walking up the stairs next to the salamander, I came across a large terrace supported by Doric columns. The ceiling of the terrace featured detailed mosaic designs, and the columns resembled tree trunks.

The park contained many structures designed by Gaudí, including viaducts, arcades, and buildings, all decorated with colourful ceramic tiles and sculptures. These architectural pieces blended beautifully with the nature around us. We genuinely enjoyed strolling through landscaped pathways, surrounded by palm trees, pine trees, and Mediterranean plants. It was like being in a fairytale.

Exploring Park Güell is like having a peek into Antoni Gaudí's mind. Every corner of the park radiates imagination, creativity and bold innovation. It's a loud reminder that going beyond the ordinary and embracing what's unique can create something truly special and lasting.

This place doesn't just showcase Gaudí's genius. It invites us all to dream a little bigger and dare to be different in our creative efforts.

That’s all for today and thank you for reading!

If you’ve got a spare minute, we’d love to hear what you thought of this email.

Until next week,

Sofia & Nick