On this page
THE SHORT ANSWER
A useful question says what happened, what matters to you, what you do not know and what you want from this exchange. A short account with one real constraint usually gives the Agent more to work with than a request to analyze your entire life.
- Describe observable events and label assumptions about motives separately.
- Include a relevant limit: time, budget, missing information or something you have already tried.
- Ask for a concrete result, then correct a specific omission in the next reply.
Will I regret changing jobs?
Do they care about me?
Am I suited to design?
Find my exact birth time.
The cards select work, relationships, learning and birth information, pairing each with an initial question such as “Will I regret changing jobs?” These are starting questions, not complete requests. The five-row table below supplies the fuller rewrites and adds a research example.
Start with what happened
Your first message does not need to be polished. Describe an event, then where you feel stuck. “Work has been frustrating” might become: “Requirements keep changing at short notice. I am unsure whether to keep adapting or discuss boundaries with the project lead.”
If finding the words is difficult, ask: “Help me narrow this down. Ask one question at a time, with a few options and space for my own answer.” The choices are suggestions you can change, not a test you have to pass.
Try this starting point
“I am dealing with [situation]. What matters most is [priority or concern]. I know [fact], but I am unsure about [missing information]. Please help me [one task].” Fill in only the parts you know.
For example: “I want to talk to my housemate about our different schedules. I need more quiet at night. They often come home late, but we have not discussed it properly. Help me find an opening that does not sound accusatory.” A conversation can help with this directly; you do not need a card draw first.
Five questions you can make more useful
| Situation | First attempt | A more workable request |
|---|---|---|
| Work | Will I regret changing jobs? | I value regular hours and know the salary, but not the travel schedule. List three things to ask before accepting. |
| Relationships | Do they care about me? | They canceled our last two meetings. I feel disappointed but do not know why. Help me ask without assuming a motive. |
| Learning | Am I suited to design? | I can try design for two hours a week. Suggest a two-week exercise and what to reflect on afterward. |
| Birth information | Find my exact birth time. | My family remembers between six and eight in the morning. Explain which fields may differ and what records I could check. |
| Research | Which solar-time method is most accurate? | Explain longitude correction and the equation of time. Separate astronomical definitions from Wenbu’s conventions and school differences. |
On a small screen, scroll the table sideways.
Keep the concern; make the question answerable
Focus on something you can observe, check or act on, while keeping the issue that matters to you.
- Work: “Will I definitely succeed?” → “What do I need to find out before accepting this opportunity?”
- Relationships: “What are they really thinking?” → “What have I observed, what am I assuming, and how could I ask?”
- Self-reflection: “Am I just unlucky?” → “Help me examine a recurring difficulty using a recent example.”
- Learning: “Which school is most accurate?” → “Which calculation rules differ, and what sources describe them?”
Give the next reply a clear direction
If you want to use tarot or I Ching, add: “Use the symbols as prompts, and keep track of what I still need to check in real life.” For research, name the concept, the claim you have encountered and the comparison you want.
Then follow up on a specific point: “Your second point is closest to my concern. Can you give an example?” Or: “That suggestion is beyond my budget. What could I try in two hours a week?” You can start with one sentence now and refine it through the conversation.
Worked example: discussing last-minute requests at work
You begin with “Am I in the wrong job?” Start by examining one recent situation before deciding what it means for your whole career.
Write the observation: “Twice this week, a new request arrived just before I finished work. Both times I stayed late.” Do not present disrespect as an established motive.
Add your priority and limit: “I want fewer late changes, but Friday’s delivery cannot slip. I have not asked which requests genuinely need same-day completion.”
Name the task: “Help me prepare three sentences to check priorities with the project lead. Do not decide whether I should leave.” The answer now has a specific job to do.
Revise a mismatch: “The second sentence is too formal for our chat messages. Make it shorter but keep the question about delivery priorities.” Remove any background the model invented.
Try: “This new request would take the evening. Which comes first: task A or request B? If B is needed tonight, can A move to tomorrow?” Record the reply before deciding on a follow-up.
A clear request cannot guarantee cooperation. It does let you check whether the answer actually prepares you for the conversation.
Key terms
- Observation
- Something you witnessed or have a record of, with its scope intact.
- Inference
- An explanation that needs evidence beyond the observation itself.
- Constraint
- A practical limit the answer should respect, such as time or missing data.
Common questions
Will more personal information make the answer more accurate?
Not necessarily. Share details that could change the advice. Names, addresses and other people’s contact information are usually unnecessary.
What if I cannot identify my goal?
Ask for one question at a time with two or three options and space for your own answer. You can remain unsure.
Does a clear prompt guarantee a correct answer?
No. It can clarify the task, but the model may still miss a constraint or misuse a source. Check important claims.
Sources and their scope
Supports how topic, goal, background and method form a draft. Work and relationship examples are original exercises.
Supports focused clarification, answer choices and rules against invented context or motives. These are product rules, not guarantees of every model response.
Traditional interpretations are not established predictions. See the source notes for context.
Read this guide with your agent
Get the complete text, diagram descriptions and sources in an open format. These files contain public knowledge only.
Ready to put this into practice?
Open Wenbu Agent ↗