Being curious about the world has some distinct advantages.
It might often place you in a state of anxiety, which is associated with being thrown outside of your comfort zone. However, this in itself is an excellent way to expand your options and open yourself up to new opportunities.
Without stepping outside of our comfort zone, we cannot grow.
When I achieved my dream of becoming a professional writer, it caused me to look back at the choices I had made and examine what lead me to this point. I realized that everything I had ever written or researched started with an innate curiosity about the subject.
5 Ways Curiosity Can Breed Success
I’ve come to the conclusion that curiosity is a highly underrated tool for success. Curiosity means a thirst for knowledge and new experiences, and not being afraid to ask questions. Plus, even questioning the answers you’re given sometimes.
Here are five ways you can use curiosity to breed success in your own life. Whether it be in your career, relationships or finding innovative ways to drive your business forward.
1. Venturing outside your field of expertise
Innovation tends to stagnate in isolation. Often the most creative solutions to problems are found when two ideas from disparate fields are coupled together.
Finding out about the latest developments in other industries can inspire you to apply similar ideas or technologies to a problem you’re currently working on.
You need not to look too far to find great ideas either.
Sometimes getting to know what your colleagues in other departments are doing can be enough to spark creativity within your own team.
At the very least, you’ll make new personal and professional relationships, which will add value to your life and potentially help with your career.
2. Making new friends
New friends and acquaintances breed new opportunities for both businesses and your personal life, offering you experiences that you would not have been open to otherwise.
That might include being invited to go skydiving with a friend despite your aversion to falling from a plane at 14,000ft. On the other hand, it could perhaps involve being presented with an opportunity to become a partner in a business.
Either way, these opportunities will expand your comfort zone and contribute to your success.
As a writer, I believe that no experience is wasted, as it is always an opportunity to be able to write about a subject with first-hand knowledge. The same can be applied to business. Every new perspective will help you broach challenges with fresh eyes.
Developing new relationships requires a degree of curiosity about other people and can raise your emotional intelligence. It also raises your ability to empathize with people from different walks of life. Both of these are critical skills in the modern day workplace.
Also, having a large support network and collection of personal relationships goes a long way in developing confidence and self-esteem.
3. Becoming an expert
Mastering a skill or subject requires totally immersing yourself in it for an extended period of time. This is made infinitely easier if the subject is something you enjoy and are able to stay curious about.
Oftentimes, passion starts off as an early curiosity towards something and develops over time as you become more aware of the nuances and complexities of the field.
If you’ve not yet found your passion, nurturing curiosity and trying different things will help you to discover what excites you and what holds your interest long enough to become an expert at.
When you’re excited about something, your passion has a way of rubbing off on other people.
Share your passion with the world! Start a blog or a YouTube channel and attract other people who share your interest. This will both keep you motivated and broaden your circle of contacts.
You’ll also learn by teaching others and benefit the world by sharing your knowledge. Who knows, you might even become a famous authority in your niche!
4. Enhancing problem solving skills
The creative component of critical thinking is often overlooked. Spending some time exploring art, music or literature will help you look at problems you’re facing from a fresh perspective.
Often challenges seem greater than they are when you’ve been working at them for long periods of time.
Sometimes a change in perspective, or a break away from routine is all you need for that “Aha!” moment of inspiration.
5. Knowing that you can never know everything
Being curious also encourages a humble attitude.
The more you learn, the more you realize there is to learn. People who lose their childlike curiosity of the world, tend to drift into a certain kind of arrogance.
They might think that they know or have seen it all, or that what they don’t know is not important enough to look into. However, the opposite is true. No matter what you think you know, there is always more to explore and experience.
Philosopher, Terrence Mckenna, makes an excellent point when he says,
“What blinds us, or what makes our historical progress very difficult, is our lack of awareness of our ignorance.”
Conclusion
Let’s recap on the 5 ways that curiosity can breed success one more time:
- Venture outside your field of expertise
- Making new friends
- Becoming an expert
- Enhancing problem solving skills
- Knowing that you can never know everything
Staying curious and open minded is more important today in our innovation driven economy than ever before. Nurturing this neglected skill will not only help you get ahead.
It’ll also help you see around obstacles and think more creatively, as well as become a more interesting person.
More than anything else, the great power of curiosity is that it is sure to enrich your journey through this life.
Does your curiosity breed success within you? Leave a comment below.