Curiosity drives us forward

Over the past two weeks, I’ve had the exact same thought in three different situations, so I think that’s probably a sign from above that I should write it down and share it with all of you.

As you may remember, when you signed up for my newsletter, you get an automated reply asking you what made you choose to sign up. This isn’t because I want to segment readers or run a complicated audience analysis. It’s because I’m genuinely interested in the answer of why someone would be willing to give me their email address.

I’m always grateful and honored that so many of you reply and say that you found value in my articles and are looking forward to reading more from me (ironically, this also makes me feel bad because I’m so much worse at writing these days). One reply stuck out to me a few weeks ago and ended with, “I am early in my career and feeling like I never know enough.” I’ll soon tell you what I replied.

The second time was when I was out walking Taylor and listening to a podcast with my friend (#humblebrag) and Olympic winner Therese Alshammar on the Swedish podcast Värvet. Therese was discussing how it was never really about winning medals or breaking records; it was about learning and improving. Naturally, the medals were a good gauge of her improvement, but that’s not what inspired her to train 12 times per week.

And finally, I was reading about Kobe, and this quote stood out to me:

“In the NBA, it was actually easier. What I found in the NBA is a lot of guys played for financial stability. When they came in the NBA, they got that financial stability. Therefore the passion and the work ethic and the obsessiveness was gone. I’m looking at that and I was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s like taking candy from a baby. No wonder Mike wins all these f—ing championships,” Kobe explained.

This brings me back to the first situation - the feeling of never knowing enough. I recommend holding on to the desire to approach situations from a place of curiosity and exploration. Even after 20+ years of experience, I still feel that desire because I choose to take on new things.

Albert Einstein once said, “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.” Stay humble and search for answers.