Your curiosity is one of your greatest assets in all areas of your life, especially your business.
If you are willing to cultivate it, you can bring some enormous benefits.
When you are feeling stuck or in a rut, it’s the perfect time to bring in some curiosity. When you aren’t sure what you should do or want to do, curiosity works, it’s a great tool for discover and it’s always available to you.
Your curiosity is a useful and easy bridge between where you’re at and where you want to be. Used well, your curiosity will inspire your creativity which will help you get to the next level or stage in your life and business.
This article will look at a few of the benefits, then focus on how to cultivate it and use it every day to increase your creativity and grow in all areas.
The importance of curiosity
Curiosity can lead you many places, many of which are unknown. That’s one of the great things about it. There are many unexpected things to discover along the way to where you think you are going. The problem is that often there is such a rush, curiosity gets left behind.
I know I have many times. When I focus on only outcomes, whether it’s getting a project done and delivered, creating a new post, or having a conversation with someone, I usually take an established path.
The only problem in doing this, is that you miss a lot because your focus is on the end goal, not what you might notice along the way that could valuable and useful information.
If this sounds familiar, you aren’t alone. It can’t always be helped, but there are many reasons to bring in more curiosity and really engage it
Here are a few important benefits that come from engaging curiosity:
You can do things no one else does
Curiosity will lead you to strange, new places. Maybe it’s a new topic for an article, or a new type of product or perhaps it’s a new way to show people you care. When you let your curiosity guide you, you can find things other people aren’t doing and this leads to greater success.
Push away fear
Anytime you can engage other emotions like curiosity or creativity, you automatically disengage fear. You may still feel it, but it is no longer your primary focus. You are guided by something more meaningful.
Greater imagination
When you are curious, suddenly you have possibilities everywhere. And when there are possibilities, there are new ideas to choose from. This is helpful for getting out of ruts and breaking mental blocks.
Go the extra mile
When you let curiosity drive you, there is a willingness to discover what happens when you do more for your customers, your clients, you family and friends. There are many extra benefits that you will never know unless you put in more of yourself. Be curious and find where you can do more for others.
Do more than just what is easy.
Learn more
Curiosity is a great drive to learn, grow and discover deeper knowledge. You can use it to help you go learn new skills in your field. This will further set you apart from everyone else. Don’t be satisfied with only knowing the basics. Learn even more and apply it.
Discover new emotions
Let your curiosity guide the inner exploration too. What other feelings do you have and how can use them to help yourself go farther? We are motivated by emotions, so be curious about your own. Learn to use them to your advantage by being curious about yourself.
Emotions are often the cause of blocks and resistances. A little curiosity about the source of these emotions can loosen them right up and allow new growth.
Curiosity it a part of having a great mindset
You know having the right mindset is key to doing anything consistently and to advancing yourself. Use your curiosity to help yourself along by using it on a regular basis. The great thing about curiosity is that it leads to so much more, creativity, discovery, excitement and enthusiasm, new ideas to name just a few. It’s part of your system for success.
How can we cultivate curiosity?
There are lots of ways to cultivate greater curiosity. Here are a few suggestions. Find what works best for you.
Slow down
Curiosity takes time.
Its nature is to pull us off you off your original track. Being overly outcome-oriented is a sure way to miss chances that could lead to new explorations and knowledge.
When you rush or follow routines blindly, you miss opportunities to use your curiosity and make discoveries.
Allow yourself a little time in your projects to follow up on questions that come up. You never know what they will lead to.
Questions
Ask a lot of questions. Brainstorm up great questions and let your questions lead to new questions. They are natural curiosity builders.
Make a journal for your questions and write a few every day. Pick out the great questions and act on those.
Listen to others
Other people can spark curiosity. It doesn’t matter if it’s spoken or written words, every person you come across has the potential to make you curious. Follow up on the idea you come across. It isn’t always easy to take a pause, but some of these ideas are the most interesting and useful.
If you still aren’t sure where to start then ask this question:
I wonder what would happen if….
This is a natural curiosity builder. Apply it to your business, apply it to your life, art, anything you like. Follow up with action and find where it leads you.
Practice allowing the curiosity in
This is something anyone can do at any time and it only takes a couple minutes, so you can do it daily to help you.
Close your eyes and imagine feeling curious. Allow more of it into your mind and heart. Do you feel like your curiosity is centered in any part of your body? Like your hands, or eyes or forehead. Whatever it is for you, focus on allowing curiosity in.
This is an excellent place to begin. From here, you can practice greater curiosity by finding one thing to be curious about and discover one new thing about. Or find one new action to test and learn from.
Curiosity is one of your greatest strengths and can lead to all sorts of new discoveries, ideas, and knowledge. Build it up through daily practice using questions and searching for one new thing to follow up on. That’s all it takes to establish curiosity as a habit. You can always allow more of it into anything you do. Allow your curiosity to grow and push aside fear and uncertainty. You can’t focus on both fear and curiosity at the same time.
One of the best things about curiosity is that it is such a great driver of creativity. And it is here that we can really stand out from the crowd and be more ourselves.
