# Life Story Questions Start with a scene if you've got about 15 minutes, or start with chapters if you'd rather see the whole shape of your story first. You can choose any question. Try the core value and theme later, once you've told more of your story. You can come back and change your answers. Tell as much or as little as you want. There are no right answers, and you don't have to tell the whole story. You can leave out names and other details that would identify someone. You can skip any question or stop anytime. This is a way to reflect on your life. It isn't therapy or a diagnosis. The structure draws on Dan P. McAdams's *The Life Story Interview II* (Foley Center for the Study of Lives, Northwestern University, revised 2007). These questions use original wording. For any scene, start with what happened. If you want to say more, you can add roughly when and where it happened, who was there without naming them, what you thought and felt, and why it matters to you. You can also say what the scene tells you about yourself, if anything. A few details are enough. If the scene feels hard, you can leave it there. ## Chapters ### LS-001 If your life were a book, what would the chapters be? Aim for two to seven. Give each one a title, a line about what happens in it, and how it leads into the next. - Is there a chapter you usually skip when you tell your story? ### LS-002 What chapter are you in right now, and what would you call it? - When did it start? What would have to happen for it to end? ## Key scene ### LS-003 Tell me about a memory that stands out as one of the best in your life. - What happened, and what do you remember most? ### LS-004 Tell me about a memory that stands out as one of the hardest. It doesn't have to be the very worst. Share only what you want to. - How do you see it now compared with then? ### LS-005 Tell me about a time when something about you, or the direction of your life, changed. If no single turning point stands out, any important change works. - Did you know it was a turning point at the time, or only later? ### LS-006 What's a memory from childhood or your teen years that still feels good? - Why do you think this one stuck? ### LS-007 What's a memory from childhood or your teen years that still feels heavy? Share only what you want to. - Does it still affect anything you do today? ### LS-008 Besides anything you've already told, what's a memory from your adult life that stays especially vivid? - What makes it so vivid? ### LS-009 Tell me about a memory that felt bigger than you. It could be religious or spiritual, or awe at nature, music, a person, or anything else. It's fine if nothing comes to mind. - Did it change how you see anything? ### LS-010 Tell me about a time you handled something wisely, or gave someone good advice. If that's hard to claim, a time you watched someone else do it works too. - What did you or they understand that others missed? ## Future ### LS-011 What do you think the next chapter of your life will be? - What would make it a good chapter? ### LS-012 What are your hopes, dreams, or plans for that next chapter? - What do you worry it looks like instead? ### LS-013 Is there a project you've been working on, or want to work on, across the rest of your life? It could involve work, family, a hobby, or anything else. - How did it start? Why does it matter, to you or to someone else? ## Challenges ### LS-014 What's the biggest challenge you've faced in your life? - How did it develop, how did you deal with it, and what does it mean in your story now? ### LS-015 Has a major health problem, yours or someone close to you, shaped your life? - How did you cope? What was dealing with doctors and the healthcare system like? What did it change? ### LS-016 Tell me about losing someone important to you, through death or separation. Share only what you want to. - How have you carried it since? ### LS-017 What's a failure or regret you still think about? - What would you tell yourself back then? What effect has it had on you? ## Wins ### LS-018 What's a win you're proud of that most people don't know about? - Why does it matter to you more than it might look from outside? ## Values ### LS-019 What do you think is the single most important value in how people live? - Where did that come from in your own life? ## Theme ### LS-020 Looking across your whole story, past and future, what's one idea or thread that runs through it? - Has that thread changed over time? ## Closing ### LS-021 What else would someone need to know to understand your story? ### LS-022 What did telling this part of your story bring up for you?