Are you a planner, or are you spontaneous?

It’s time for question #9! I’m going to be using Arthur Aron’s “36 Questions” for awhile. Aron is a social psychology researcher at Stony Brook University. His 36 Questions have been published in various places all over the internet and are usually referred to as the “36 Questions to Fall in Love.” However, the questions are useful for improving any sort of relationship, because they push us past small talk.

The 3rd question in Arthur Aron’s list of 36 is this: “Before making a phone call, do you ever rehearse what you’re going to say? Why?”

At first, I was going to skip it, because it seems so silly. But actually, I think it can be expanded a bit…and I think it says a lot about us.

Rather than just thinking about phone calls, specifically, do you rehearse things before you do them? Do you plan ahead, down to the detail, and walk through events in your mind?

Or, are you the type of person who just dives in and lets it happen, with no need to review the possibilities?

It’s basically a question that digs to see if you’re spontaneous or deliberate, whether you’re a planner or a shoot-from-the-hip(er), whether you dive in or just dip your toes to see how it goes. It may also be digging a bit to test your confidence level, which may be different depending on the situation. For example, I might not rehearse what I’m going to say in a phone call to the cable company, but I might if I’m calling someone to give them bad news.

So, tell us about that. Do you rehearse before you do things? Or do you just dive into life and let it happen? Are you a planner, or are you spontaneous?

As always, you can keep your responses light and simple, short and sweet, or dig in deep. You can head down a sexy road, or keep it safe for work. It’s totally up to you! The goal is simply to get to know one another better. There’s also certainly no one way to answer a question. Maybe your answer will come in the form of a photo…or a poem…or a story. And feel free to twist the prompt however it works for you. Linking up to multiple memes is a great way to get your work out there, so if you can make it work that way, have at it!

CLICK HERE TO READ THE INSTRUCTIONS/RULES.

You can also see future prompts on the main #tellmesomethingtrue site.

Link-ups open from Sunday to Sunday (noon PST).