The Kick-Ass Benefits of Being as Curious as Possible
We can learn so much from the way different people live their lives
It doesn’t happen as often as I would like, but every so often the Medium algorithm gods gaze favourably upon me and give me the gift of a viral story.
It happened last week with my piece I Was a Sommelier for 8 Years. Here’s What We Really Think of You.
Once the story started to hit a few thousand views a day, it got me thinking. What is it about sneak peeks into people’s lives that we love so much? Because that’s what this story is. It’s a portal into the brain of someone who, unless you work in the wine trade yourself, has a job you may not have come across much before.
It’s all about curiosity and connection.
We are human and we love to connect with other humans. We love to learn from them and get ideas from them. We are curious about them.
Being more curious about other people has a ton of great advantages for you. In fact, I can’t believe we don’t all engage in curiosity more often…
Being curious can give us awesome ideas
Have you ever had a conversation, or read something that just sparked something?
I became curious about Minimalism many years ago and it morphed into a lifelong passion that has been the making of me.
I once listened to the radio when they interviewed someone who was financially independent. Although at the time I figured it was never something I could (or maybe even want to) aspire to, I was curious enough to read more about the subject. 18 months later, I had my own weird little version of financial freedom.
Then there was the time my mother-in-law said a throwaway comment that morphed into my first business venture. “You have lots of time on your hands and you love to stitch and knit. Why don’t you make stuff and sell it?”
The more we read about what other people do and how they live, the more we really listen to people around us, the more chances we have of finding these eureka moments. Moments that could turn your life upside down and inside out.
Being curious makes us more successful
Author Adam Bryant asked 700 CEOs what qualities they see in people who succeed. Curiosity was the overwhelming answer.
The more curious we are, the more we have a chance of succeeding. It opens minds, it makes room for flexibility and understanding, it is a great problem-solving tool.
There is also a strong link between curiosity and happiness. Curiosity is linked to positive emotions, less anxiety, and higher levels of wellbeing. And happier people are actually more successful in life.
Curiosity is a reminder that not everyone lives like us
Yesterday, I met a friend who was recently offered a full-time job he couldn’t refuse, swapping his freelancing career for a government office job. I asked him if he missed the freedom of freelancing.
“Sometimes,” he replied. “But I freelanced for so long that I needed a reminder that most people in the world don’t live like that. Most have a boss, a routine, office politics. If I’m going to help people in my job, I need to understand how they work and live.”
He’s absolutely right. Sometimes we can forget that not everyone lives the way we do. That there are as many types of people in the world as there are humans. That everyone approaches their life differently.
What can you learn from the ways other people live their lives that you can implement in your own?
Curiosity makes us more understanding
Peeking into other people’s lives gives us a chance to exercise our empathy muscle. If we learn more about the person, their motivations, and what makes them tick, we will be more attuned to their emotions and feelings.
And we could all do with giving and taking a little more empathy in this messy, complicated world.
5 easy ways to become more curious
Read widely and read often. Read about people you wouldn’t normally give two figs about. Read around subjects that you do give two figs about. Read, read, read.
If something makes you say ‘well that sounds ridiculous,’ is there something you can learn from it anyway? You might think someone living in a tiny house is a stupid way to live, but they could still teach you about prioritisation, making better use of small spaces, or questioning if you really need all those possessions.
Listen to people when they talk, don’t just be waiting for your turn to speak. What are they telling you? What are they not? What follow-up questions can you ask them? Can you learn from them? The chances are, you probably can.
Channel your inner child and ask why. All. The. Time. Why does this work like that? Why does that person live there? Why do I feel that? The more you ask why, the more aware you will become of yourself and others around you.
Check your ego. If you go into a situation thinking you already know all the answers, you might not even hear the real questions.
Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it turns out it’s great for humans.
Thanks for reading! I hope you’re enjoying the still fledgling Simple + Straightforward mailout but if you have any questions or ideas, feel free to ping me an email at charlotte.emma.brown@gmail.com
And find more of my stories about living life on your own terms over on Medium.
Until next week, keep on trucking, amigos.