How to Fall in Love with Questions: A New Way to Thrive in Times of Uncertainty

(Hardback)

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Journalist and applied behavioral scientist Elizabeth Weingarten charts a new path to embrace the questions of our lives instead of seeking fast, easy answers.

What do you do when faced with a big, important question that keeps you up at nightMany people, understandably, seize answers dispensed by experts,influencers, gurus, and more. But these fast, easy, one-size-fits-all solutions often fail to satisfy, and can even cause more pain.

What if our questionsthe ones we ask about relationships, work, meaning, identity, and purposeare not our tormentors, but our teachersInspired by 150-year-old advice from Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke and backed by contemporary science, Elizabeth Weingarten offers a fresh approach for dealing with these seemingly unsolvable questions. In her quest, Weingarten shares her own journey and the stories of many others, whose lives have transformed through a different, and better, relationship with uncertainty.

Designed to inspire anyone who feels stuck, powerless, and drained,How to Fall in Love with Questionschallenges us to unlock our minds and embark on the kind of self-discovery thats only possible when we feel most alivethat is, when we dont know what will happen next.

Reviews

"In a world stupefied by quick fixes and easy answers, Elizabeth Weingarten delivers a smart and urgent wake-up call. She shows why curiosity beats certaintyand why doubt is often the prelude to discovery. Her insights will inspire you to relish ambiguity, reject certitude, and revel in the magic of questions." Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Regret, Drive, and When "Most people waste a great deal of time and energy trying to eliminate uncertainty. This book illuminates how we can learn to live with it. Its an interesting, insightful, and surprisingly reassuring read." Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and Hidden Potential and host of the podcast Re:Thinking "At this moment of high anxiety and uncertainty about the future and just about everything else, Elizabeth Weingartens captivating and timely book shows that the hopeful way out is through not only asking the right questions but learning to patiently sit with them rather than grasp for easy answers. Using her own intensely personal story and that of the soulful poet Rainer Maria Rilke as touch points, Weingarten takes readers on a fascinating journey through history, philosophy, and science to discover that falling in love with the big questions and embracing uncertainty can lead to greater clarity and richer lives." Brigid Schulte, New York Times-bestselling author of Overwhelmed: Work, Love and Play When No One Has the Time "A brave, powerful and insightful book that wonderfully combines personal narrative, the stories of others and scientific research into a celebration of the value of continuing to find and ask questions. The surest sign that something is wrong in your life is if you've run out of questions." Barry Schwartz, visiting professor at Hass School of Business, U.C. Berkeley, and author of The Paradox of Choice and Practical Wisdom "Weingarten's surprising research and deeply personal look at her own journey reminds us to embrace the question itself. How to Fall in Love With Questions maps, with superb frameworks, how to focus on the essence of our inquiries and tricks to invert our questions to get to the core. This must-read is not a 'how to' or 'self help' bookbut one that, in her words, guides us to another way to be in the world." Christopher M. Schroeder, global venture investor and chairman of the German Marshall Fund

Author Bio

Elizabeth Weingarten is a journalist and applied behavioral scientist who works at the intersection of science and storytelling. She has worked on the editorial staffs of The Atlantic, Slate, and Qatar Today, and was Managing Editor of Behavioral Scientist. Her writing has appeared in publications including The Atlantic, Slate, CNN, The Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, and Time. She has led research programsat the think tank New America, the consultancy ideas42, and at tech companies Torch and Udemy. She lives in Northern California with her husband and son.