Back in 2020 I came across Tiago Forte's compilation of essays called Design Your Work.
One component that stood out to me was this:
I think one of the least appreciated methods for connecting ideas and producing breakthrough work is the 'slow burn.'
Richard Feynman put it best:
“You have to keep a dozen of your favorite problems constantly present in your mind, although by and large they will lay in a dormant state. Every time you hear or read a new trick or a new result, test it against each of your twelve problems to see whether it helps. Every once in a while there will be a hit, and people will say, “How did he do it? He must be a genius!”
Too often, we force ourselves to take an idea from blue sky ideation to practical execution in 48 hours flat. We call it a “rapid prototyping sprint,” and pride ourselves on how little time was spent, as if a new idea is something to be excreted and moved on from as quickly as possible”
Taking this as a prompt, I did 30 minutes of free writing around my 12 Lifelong Questions.
Here's what I came up with (it's only four, but more to come later):
