Have you ever wondered why the sky is blue or why the toast always seems to land butter-side down?
This Sunday’s topic is about Curiosity so buckle up and stick till the end.
Why is it so important?
Let me share with you a quick story:
Once upon a time , there was someone who observed an apple falling from a tree.
He could just leave it as it was, but his wild curiosity led him to understand what happened, why it happened, and how it happened.
This is Isaac Newton , who came to change our understanding of the cosmos forever .
Most of the greatest thinkers in the world attribute most of their success to having a curious and open mind together with asking great and stupid questions. (I talk more in-depth about the power of questions in my blog post if this spikes your interest: The Power of Questions: How Better Questions Can Transform Your Life)
“The important thing is not to stop questioning… Never lose a holy curiosity.”
Here is the good news:
You don’t need to have a 200 IQ to leverage curiosity in your life and benefit from it.
And having curiosity, even towards the smallest and more habitual events in your life, will bring you more excitement and peace into your life.
How to apply it in my life?
Here are some ways in which you can develop more curiosity:
Embrace the beginner’s mind
Kids are known for asking a lot of questions questions. They ask on average ask about 300 questions per day , a study says.
Unfortunately, that number tends to decline as we start getting older, and we might find ourselves not asking questions at all, may it be because of the fear of looking stupid, or other reasons. But the thing is:
The moment we think we know something is the moment we stop learning.
Having the humility of a child, in every area of our life, will leverage our personal growth and learning.
Curiosity in the habitual day-to-day activities
Most of us, do our habitual daily activities in automatic mode.
And that’s normal, and also something you want. It’s our survival habituation mechanism, and it’s very useful for us…
However, it can also not be a great friend for our life satisfaction.
If your mind is thinking of the hamburger when you are washing the dishes, you will be thinking of something else when you are eating the hamburger.
This is the problem when we are not present in our daily activities, we are missing out on life, myself included.
And that’s where having a curious mind can help, if we approach our daily activities always with curiosity and leave our preconceived assumptions aside , we can take back control of the present moment. So we are actually there in the moment, and not somewhere else.
This is something I struggle with a lot, and I’m sorry I can’t give you more practical and actionable insights, but I still have so much to learn as well.
Try and explore new stuff
Joining the new club.
Taking the course.
Learning the skill.
Reading a new genre book.
Going to a new place.
All these allow your mind to open to new paradigms, experiences, and points of view.
So we stop being afraid of the unknown, and instead embrace it and let our curiosity lead our way.
“Never stop learning, because life never stop teaching.”
Don’t be afraid to ask questions
Every person has something of value that you can learn from. Every single one.
This is an extremely powerful statement that everyone can benefit from if applied in their life, and is also so true .
Our Ego will tell us that it’s better to stay quiet than to ask that stupid question, that it’s better to stay quiet and not learn than to sound ignorant to the other person…
“If you need to be proven right, learning is a challenge. If you're eager to be proven wrong, learning is delightful.”
Don’t be afraid to ask questions, ask lots of them, with curiosity and willingness to learn and see things from other lenses.
The Benefits
Achieve more: Following your curiosity will lead you to learn and solve problems that you would not have figured out otherwise. Most of the greatest discoveries have come from people who have insatiable curiosity towards life.
Curious people are happier: Some studies link curiosity levels with positive emotions and more life satisfaction. They are more present in life. They embrace the unknown with curiosity, rather than anxiety.
Strengthen relationships: The ability to listen instead of talk, the ability to learn instead of teaching that comes from curiosity, that strengthens our connections with the people around us. Just try to remember the last time you had a great conversation, does the other person had a great ability to listen and interest and curiosity towards you?
Wrapping-up
A quick review.
Curiosity is very important and is the reason we make huge steps in our understanding of the world, life, and cosmos.
Embrace the beginner’s mind, and leverage your personal growth.
Have curiosity in the habitual day-to-day activities, so you are more present and have more satisfaction in life.
Try and explore new stuff, and never stop learning.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions, every person has something of value that you can learn from.
I want to end this one whit another famous quote from Albert Einstein:
“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”
I hope you got something valuable in this edition of Curiosity Fuel, and thank you for reading, it means the world.
It’s always an honor to be in your inbox, until next Sunday. 👋
— Idris Moura
