What is one of the most powerful things you can do to be BETTER? The secret to your success lies in cultivating curiosity. Curiosity can give you a profound advantage both in business and in life.
Curiosity is something we feel when we are struck by a strange or unusual object or fact, which then results in a strong desire to know or learn something. Many people believe that curiosity is a trait (i.e. it can’t be taught, it is a natural tendency), but that is not the case. Curiosity is a behavior, which is fantastic because this means you can LEARN how to do it.
Why be curious? There are many, many positive outcomes from being curious, but I have chosen just to highlight my “big three” here:
• Strengthen Relationships – Curious people are genuinely interested in others, and asking questions builds connection.
• Increase Competence: Gathering knowledge and sharing information sparks the ability to innovate, enhances credibility, and supports the achievement of outcomes.
• Fuel Positive Mindset: Growth-minded people ask questions and believe that there is always an answer to any problem or situation.
The September, 2006, Edition of Psychology Today outlined some easy ways that you can “train” yourself to be more curious.
• Reframe “boring” situations.
If you’ve got an inquiring mind, it’s possible to turn even mundane events, like waiting in line at the DMV, into something meaningful. Look for details others might miss, and seek to learn more about them. For instance, try turning to another customer in line and saying, “I noticed the Purple Heart pinned to your jacket. What war did you serve in?”
• Don’t let fear stop you from trying something new.
“If you’re curious about something, it acts as a positive counterweight to anxiety and fear,” Silvia says. Exercising your curiosity won’t wipe out doubt, but it may help you focus on the likely positive consequences of a new venture (learning to execute a perfect swan dive) rather than the negative ones (doing a belly flop and surfacing to the sound of laughter).
• Let your true passions shine.
A key component of curiosity is what Boston College psychologist Ellen Winner calls a “rage to master”—whether that involves accumulating rejection slips from The New Yorker or spending hours in the basement learning banjo fingerings. An intense focus on specific interests or goals invites the state of mental immersion called “flow,” which in turn elicits feelings of accomplishment and well-being.
James Cameron (the Director of Titanic, Terminator, Aliens, Avatar and several other movies) says “Curiosity is the most powerful thing you can own”. His curiosity as a child about exploring the world around him spurred numerous dives to the bottom of the ocean (including a dive of 45,756 feet to the bottom of the ocean to film Titanic), the creation of several undersea documentaries, the invention of several underwater apparatus, and the creation of several of biggest blockbuster movies ever. The secret to your success lies in cultivating curiosity.