Spending time with family for the holidays?

Here are 10 thought-provoking questions guaranteed to spark an interesting dinner conversation.

1) In something he calls the “theory of maximum taste,” columnist David Brooks says that each person’s mind is defined by its upper limit — the best content that it habitually consumes and is capable of consuming.

How did you improve your "content diet" this year?

2) Malcolm Gladwell says there are 3 three things we need for work to be satisfying: 1) autonomy, 2) complexity, and 3) a connection between effort & reward.

He adds, “Hard work is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning.”

Do you feel this way about your work today?

3) Research shows the seemingly trivial social encounters — chatting up a person in the elevator, making small talk with the barista, or even just smiling through your face mask at a passerby — can have profound positive changes in your mood.

When's the last time you did this?

4) Some of the world's most successful (Beyonce, Adele, LeBron James) adopt an alter ego when they have to perform.

It's a psychological tool that helps people reason & see the situation from a slight distance

When have you used an alter ego to reduce anxiety & gain confidence?

5) None of us are ever really bored anymore.

Anytime you have a small window where your heart rate isn't spiking, you open your phone for a dopamine hit.

Boredom can actually enable creativity by allowing the mind to wander & daydream.

When is the last time you felt bored?

6) The Roman Emperor Charlemagne once said: “To have another language is to possess a second soul.”

Research shows that the language we speak can influence our thinking, giving us wildly different perspectives of the world.

How has the language you speak shaped your identity?

7) Happy couples have a ratio of 5 positive interactions to every negative interaction.

“A smile, a head nod, even just grunting to show you’re listening—those are all positive,” John Gottman says.

How many positive interactions have you & your partner had today?

8) Our society labels people as fixed characters — ones incapable of change. Entire swaths of people are labeled as "addicts," "racists," "socialists," & "criminals."

Every time you label someone, you filter what you see.

Who is someone you can see through a lens of nuance?

9) When we set goals, we're told to be realistic. So, they tone down their ambitions.

Chef Grant Achatz decided he wanted to open the best restaurant in the country. "Anything else would be a failure."

What is the biggest, boldest, most ambitious goal you could conceive of?

10) The Theseus Paradox posits whether an object which has had all its components replaced remains the same object.

Same goes for identity.

Is it your body or mind that defines you? Which ‘you’ is the real you? The person you are today? Five years ago? Five years from now?

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