The Benefits of Curiosity and the Easy Way to Use It to Enjoy Life.
“Life isn’t about finding the answers; It’s about asking the questions” — Brain Grazer.
Curiosity is one of the great secrets of happiness. Many of life’s best discoveries happened because of curiosity. On the other hand, so has many of life’s greatest disasters, but I would argue that curiosity has done more good than it has harmed.
The reason why curiosity is so powerful is that it makes your mind active instead of passive.
Curious people always ask questions and search for answers; you never know where that curiosity will take you.
I switched careers 13 years ago from banking to oil and gas because of sheer curiosity. I used to be a financial service representative for a big Canadian bank. Then, one day, a client called in talking about opening a new account to put his cheque in.
I ran through the usual spiel they gave us before we tried to upsell a client, and he said, “Any account will do; this is the light check that I want to save.”
I replied, “Out of curiosity, why did you say light check?”
The client then told me there was a boom in his industry and lots of money to be made; he continued, “There is a massive labor shortage. They will take anyone as long as you have a pulse and are willing to be trained.”
I thought he was joking, but he said, “take a look at my account and see the last few months; look how much money I made.” So I did as he said and saw he was making bank.
The guy told me which companies to call and inquire about work. I took the information and said I would check it out for sure.
Funny enough, if my manager were listening to the call, I would have probably got written up for not following call etiquette. At that point, I didn’t care. I followed the guy’s advice and was gone making the same kind of money within two months. All that because of being curious.
The beauty of curiosity is that it is a part of everyday life.
Curiosity allows you to embrace unfamiliar circumstances, giving you a greater opportunity to experience discovery and joy.
When you are curious about someone you have a crush on, you may start to make a move to get to know them.
When you are curious about a destination, you may research it and plan to go.
Curiosity is life.
I always had a curious nature but never really thought much about the importance of curiosity until I stumbled across “A Curious Mind — The Secret to a Bigger Life” by Brian Grazer.
I was fascinated by a book that was all about curiosity. So, you could say I was Curious.
I recognized the name and realized who Brian Grazer was.
He is an award-winning Hollywood mega-producer and writer with films that grossed over $15 billion. Films such as Apollo 13, Nutty Professor, 8 Mile, and American Gangster, to name a few.
I guarantee that if you watched any movie over the last few decades, you saw one of his. He had some involvement in writing, producing, or putting together the necessary parties involved to make it happen.
In this book, Grazer says the root of his success was curiosity. He shares how it shaped his life in ways he’d never imagined and how it can potentially transform yours.
In a nutshell, “A Curious Mind” is a homage to the power of asking questions. It shows you how being curious can change your entire life, from your relationships, career, and how you do business — even in society.
If you doubt the impact of curiosity, think about how many times in a given day something gets Googled. So someone somewhere is curious about a topic and wants an answer.
Curiosity is in our nature as the mind is always naturally active. The mental exercise caused by curiosity makes your mind stronger.
“The best things that happened in my life resulted from curiosity; it has occasionally gotten me in trouble. But even when curiosity has gotten me in trouble, it has been interesting trouble. Curiosity has never let me down — it is my secret weapon” — Brian Grazer.
2 great lessons from this book about curiosity are;
#1. “In business, whoever is the most curious, wins.” — Brian Grazer.
Curiosity fosters cooperation and connection. If you care about your customers and the people around you, you want what’s best, leading to better products or services.
Many entrepreneurs have made fortunes due to curiosity — the simple act of asking “What if?” led them to build empires around a solution.
#2. Everyone loves being asked questions, including the people closest to you.
You can dramatically improve your relationships with family, friends, and acquaintances by showing interest.
One of the main lessons from the classic book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie was to be genuinely interested in other people.
Carnegie goes on to say;
“You make more friends in two months by becoming genuinely interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”
The whole basis for being genuinely interested in people is curiosity.
You can dive deeper into ways you can be there for them.
As in business, so in life: Curiosity connects.
Keep this in mind; curiosity is linked hand in hand with success because it takes you into the unknown, where you make discoveries. Throughout those discoveries, you will meet new people, uncover opportunities, and experience growth.
While curiosity alone does not always lead to success, it’s a great place to start in life.
My biggest takeaway from this book is Grazers’ method of having curiosity conversations.
A curiosity conversation is a low-stakes chat with no agenda other than learning more about someone, their work, and the questions that interest them.
Grazer has had curiosity conversations with people from all walks of life, outside of showbiz, for 35 years. These conversations helped him tell incredible stories that translated into good movies — hence the numerous awards.
Here is how you can conduct your curiosity conversation in 6 Easy Steps;
1. Think of every meeting as the best date the person you’re talking to will ever have.
2. Do your research. (Easy nowadays with social media.)
3. Add empathy. Think, “What is this person going through in their life? What matters to them?”
4. Never ask for anything. If you do, it poisons the purity of the conversation.
5. If you can’t resist having an agenda, say, “I have an agenda.” Otherwise, you undermine the process.
6. Pay attention. Always have smart, thoughtful, interested eyes.
Imagine the interesting information you will come across with your curiosity conversations.
Creativity flows when curiosity is stoked.
Indulge your curiosity.
Take care.