Deep Intro Questions
- What’s been bringing you the most joy lately?
- What are you passionate about (or are into)? (What do you pour your heart into?)
- What’s one thing (or things) that never fails to light up your smile?
- Where are you from –> What was that like growing up? What was your favorite part of living there / What do you miss the most from there? What are your greatest memories from there? Should I visit? Would you show me around? What should we do when we go there?
- What is your family’s background? When did your family move here? Did they come over on the Mayflower?
- Do you feel a sense of purpose or sense of belonging is more important?
Daily Life
- Do you normally take the scenic route or expedited route?
- Walk me through your typical day (before they talk, assume and make up your own story for them)
- Counting is all the rage lately – counting calories / steps with your fitbit. What would be interesting to know about yourself or other people? How many times people pee everyday? The avg # of croutons in your salad? I’d want to do research studies on happiness. Happiness by how many times they look at themselves in the mirror? Happiness by square footage of living space? What research study do you want done?
- Epicureanism – Would you live in a farm house or trailer park with all of your friends the rest of your life, living off the land?
- If you were like one of the people who make a stereotype a lifestyle and wear the stereotype’s clothing and jewelry, what would be the one thing you’d be all about? Did you ever live a stereotypes in the past (hipster, skater, punk rocker)?
- What side of the bed do you sleep on? Do you flip the pillow to get the cool side? Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out?
- What’s the best sign of having yourself together as an adult? Meal prepping every week, making your bed, not hitting the snooze button?
- If you keep your Christmas tree up all year, festive or lazy? Wearing a Santa hat anytime of the year?
- Which of our body parts we feel most vulnerable about?
- Are you a couch potato? What type of activity do you choose – new restaurant / food, museum, show?
- Would you rather get up early or stay up late? Stay in or stay out?
- Would you rather ask for help or figure it out yourself?
- Do you stop to smell the flowers after you wake up? How often? Along those lines, do you try to enjoy every moment of life or do you feel you miss some?
- What are your techniques for being productive everyday?
- What traits do you think the happiest people share? I think it’s people able to appreciate the little things rather than big things – making and having homemade coffee everyday vs striving for years to have a Lamborghini. Might harken back to an appreciation factor.
- How do you eat a box of chocolates? Try to guess their flavor or read the label and choose which one to eat first? Eat one a day?
Hobbies / Free time activities
- What is your natural habitat? Rooftop bars? Restaurant patios? The beach?
- What activity brings you the most joy?
- Which do you find yourself frequenting the most usually – the outdoors (hiking, kayaking), cultural city activities (museums, music shows, comedy) or indulgences with friends like food, drinks? Which would you like to do more of? Or what would you do if you had more free time?
- Where do you feel most at peace or rejuvenates you the most? Beach time, mountains, gardens, gorgeous indoor museum? An intense activity or more relaxed?
- Most frequent song you play?
- Guilty pleasure of a TV show you secretly enjoy?
- What do you like to do on a rainy day?
- What are you good at?
- What game are you really good at?
- What kinds of things do you enjoy learning the most about in your free time? Politics, culture, food?
- What is something you think you will regret in the future not starting now and what is something you already regret not starting sooner?
- What are you most passionate about and what do you wish you were more passionate about?
- What can you talk all day about?
- What is something you are obsessed with?
- What’s your favorite way to waste time?
- What are you hyped about? (look forward to the most)
- What is your favorite museum(s)?
- More exciting to meet new people, visit new places or try new things (food, activities) or learn new things?
Experiences / Childhood Memories / Family
- Favorite subject? Favorite teacher? Why?
- Favorite toy growing up? What were your stuffed animals’ names as a kid?
- Role model(s) you most admire(d)? Kindest person you know?
- What is the best part of having / not having siblings?
- Most embarrassing childhood memory? Best childhood memory?
- Favorite family vacation?
- Do you regret being mean to people in school? What do you regret?
- Scariest dream you’ve ever had? Best dream?
- Embarrassing vomit story?
- When you were a kid what silly thing were you deathly afraid of?
- What was the last time you worked incredibly hard at?
- What’s the dumbest thing you’ve done in the last 24 hours?
- What habit are you most proud of breaking?
- What song or cd impacted you the most or helped you through something?
- What is something you are ashamed you spend money on?
- How many siblings do you have? Do you think you’re nurturing because you’re the eldest? Seek attention because you’re middle child? Spoiled because you’re the youngest? How do you guys get along?
- Favorite childhood books? I love you forever?
Career
- Would you rather go to school or work?
- What paper that you’ve written are you most proud of?
- Dream job? Planet Earth narrator?
- Have you had any business ideas? What were they? What kind of business do you see yourself owning in the future?
- What is your dream retirement job? Open up a beer terrace in a plaza in a European city?
- What little things bring you the most joy in cubicle paradise?
- As a child, what did you wish to become when you grew up?
- What accomplishments are you most proud of?
- Think about where you want to be at 40 and work your way backwards
- What minimum wage jobs have you worked?
Fashion
- Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
- What piece of clothing have you seen that you desperately wanted?
- Do you use Pantone to choose what to wear? (ask people who are into fashion)
- Is it cute for a couple to have matching outfits? Should a couple’s level of dress always match?
- Do you dress up in cute outfits to the airport? Are those people nuts?
Household Living
- What kind of mansion would you own if you could? Favorite architecture? Spanish Revival style, Tudor Revival, Italian Revival / Renaissance / Mediterranean, Neoclassical Revival? Revival (or Romantic) styles are where Americans sought influence / inspiration from Architectural styles throughout the world and history.
- Would you rather have a walk-in closet or a jacuzzi tub?
- As a kid, would you rather have a treehouse, small playground, or sandbox in your backyard?
- If everything in your house had to be one color, what color would you choose?
- Is the flat bedsheet pointless?
- Are you a tidy person? Organized?
- Does having a pied-a-terre make sense?
- Would you rather own a yacht, vacation home (lake or beach), or a pied-a-terre (tiny city place)? Would you rather live full-time on a houseboat, in the beach, the mountains?
- What items does it takes to make a house become a home? Adding art on the walls? Family photos? When you first sit on the porch and have your first whiskey? When you drop the first cheeto in between the couch cushions?
Health / Hygiene / Self-care
- Do you believe in homeopathic medicine (part of Naturopathy)? What types? Tea? Essential oils?
- Are baths or showers better?
- Do you shampoo first in the shower or body wash? Blow dry your hair, let it air dry, or dry it by towel?
- Do you wet the toothbrush before applying toothpaste? Shouldn’t a toothbrush be called a teethbrush?
- Would you rather not shower for a week or not brush your teeth for a week?
- Do you ever get out of the shower and go back in because it felt too good?
- Would you ever take a shower at a party?
- What do you think would work best for you – art therapy, music therapy, or dance therapy?
- When hungover, would you rather nurse yourself back to health (bring yourself back to life) with brunching, hibernating, a certain food???
Vacationing and Travel
- Favorite place you’ve traveled? Why?
- How many meals a day do you ideally have when on vacation?
- Are you a paradise or a cultural city vacationer?
- What experience would you most want to do? Snorkeling, sky diving in Australia, hiking in New Zealand, swimming with whale sharks, swimming the English Channel, see the Borealis?
- Where did you go on your first airplane ride?
- What’s the first thing you do when you get home from a trip?
- At the beach would you rather play in the sand, or play in the water?
- Where do you feel most at peace? The beach, mountains, hiking trail in the woods?
- What is your first memory?
- What was the worst phase you went through?
- What’s the most rage inducing thing you’ve had to make or put together?
- What movie have you seen more than seven times?
- What place in the world (out of the places you’ve been?) do you feel you would be the most interesting tour guide for? Or it would be the most fun for you?
Food and Restaurants and Events
- Do you cook or go out to eat?
- For what fruit is the juice worth the squeeze?
- What would your food pyramid that you follow look like? The food pyramid you wish you followed?
- Is it rude to ask for a waiter’s recommendations and then not take any of them?
- Is it rude to ask someone to sit down at a concert or sports game?
- Are you a dessert or entree person? What’s your favorite meal of the day?
- Would you rather eat something while not having sense of smell or sense of taste?
- If you could eat only 3 foods for the rest of your life, what would they be? One single food that you would never give up?
- What’s better: Pickle or cucumber? Tootsie roll or blowpop? Pancake or Waffle? Chunky or creamy peanut butter? Is a better nickname for a cucumber cuke or cumber?
- Favorite kind of sandwich? Difference between a sandwich and a sammich?
- Foods you could never bring yourself to try? Foods you haven’t tried but want to?
- Lemon in your water – thanks for the garnish or thanks for the weak lemonade? Why not cucumber or strawberry? What is the best fruit or veggie for flavoring water?
- Cake or pie? Difference between pie, cobbler, crumble, tort, tart? Pie crust used to be only the shield for the filling – people used to only eat the filling. Favorite cake?
- What’s your favorite hard drink? Soft drink?
- Favorite cheese? I’m an underacheeser.
- Would you rather go to a fancy, expensive restaurant or a cheaper relaxed atmosphere where the food is equally good?
- What’s your biggest screw up in the kitchen?
- What’s your favorite midnight snack?
- Prefer your drinks spirit or mixer forward?
- Are you a methodological eater? Save the best for last?
- Would you consider tablescaping a hobby? Table dancing? Nesting?
- If you were a farmer and could only plant one cop what would it be? Would you have an avocado farm?
- Do you think foam is the biggest sign of a high end restaurant? Or dishes topped with truffles? Anything “deconstructed”? Low end restaurant? Laminated menus?
- Have you ever had mindblowing (or life-affirming) dish or food? What was it?
Favorites / Preferences / Dislikes / Media / Misc
- Favorite book? Do you like writing? Pen or pencil?
- Favorite time of day? Season? Day of the week? Holiday?
- What is your favorite movie quote?
- Best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
- What are your feelings on having a TV in the bedroom? Is it a good measure of giving up on life?
- Sunset or sunrise better? Did you know it’s called the golden hour (before sunrise and after sunset)?
- Carousel or rollercoaster?
- Favorite card or board game to be played at home? To be played while on vacation?
- What are you competitive about?
- What have you been trash talking these days?
Adventures / Excitement
- Do you think snowmobiling or jet skiing would be more scary? If they broke down would you rather be stuck out on a snowy mountain or ocean?
- If you were in a burning building and could either save a child in one room or a painting worth a million dollars that you could sell and feed thousands of children in Africa with, which would you choose to save?
Philanthropy / Morality
- If there was one thing you could change about the world, what would it be? How would you ideally like to change the world?
- If you were in a burning building and could either save a child in one room or a painting worth a million dollars that you could sell and feed thousands of children in Africa with, which would you choose to save?
Hip Trends
- Morning Pages – Cultivate creativity by writing three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness, completed first thing in the morning
- Self Journaling – Help your personal growth by creating a life strategy – 1) first document your past and how it affected how you currently are 2) document your current state – strengths and weaknesses 3) document how you envision your future.