Being curious includes your sense of awe, interest, and open-mindedness in whatever life presents to you and in other people’s perspectives, opinions, and actions.
How curious do you think you are in your personal life, and also, how curious do you think you are in your sales role?
The Danger of Moving On
One of our greatest capacities as humans is not only to be inquisitive during amazing moments in our lives, but also to enhance the more mundane parts of our lives by approaching them with an open mind and willingness to explore, learn, and grow in our knowledge, competence, and character.
It is so easy just to live our lives on ‘autopilot’.
When we do this, we aren’t present … we aren’t really experiencing life ‘in the moment’ … and we just move on and only experience awe, joy, and gratitude on rare occasions.
Experience More Moments Daily
You can use your curiosity to turn the mundane and ‘everyday’, into more moments worth experiencing.
Now, I know that sounds a bit like ‘hug a tree’, but when you tap into your curiosity, you can look at the world anew – it encourages you to explore your environment, discover possibilities, and grow, both personally and professionally.
Activity
This week, practice being even more curious than usual by consciously and purposefully asking yourself questions about something you would typically ignore or take for granted in your everyday life.
For example, if you go for a regular daily walk, try to look for something you haven’t noticed before, or pick something you always notice, but ask yourself some questions like the following:
- How long has this been here?
- What else does this impact?
- What is it about this that causes me to notice it more now?
- What might my noticing this tell me about myself?
Don’t be restricted by these questions; let your curiosity challenge you.
While practicing the activity outlined might seem a little childish, the research shows benefits you will experience (if you have the courage to try it) can include:
- an increased sense of cognitive awareness and vitality
- an increased sense of gratitude,
- an increased sense of awe and wonder
- increased health and longevity
- increased meaning and purpose in life
- improved social relationships, and
- increased general happiness and well-being
If all it takes to experience those benefits is to intentionally practice being more curious, count me in.
What about you?
25 Contributing Elements to Living a Good Life
This topic of Curiosity is just one of 25 contributing elements to living a good life that I write about in my book LIVING in the Light of Day.
If you haven’t got your copy yet (in hardcover, paperback, kindle/ebook or audiobook versions), you can Buy It Here.
