This weekly series of motivation-driven posts are for my creative tribe stuck in the quagmire of indecision.  Many of us want something more from life.  It’s not about finding a better job but yielding to the inner call to be more than we are.  We know it’s out there but we don’t quite know how to get there from here.  I’m in the midst of this transition too, going from who I am to who I want to be.  Part of my journey is helping the people a few miles behind me on that vast open road navigate the potholes.

This week’s theme is curiosity.

Behavioral psychologists can’t even come to a standard definition of curiosity. They do agree that it is  crucial for healthy development. At its most basic, curiosity is the consumption of information.  For those of us in the creative chasm it is the prime motivator in the search for meaning and direction.

If you’re not curious, you’re not learning, growing or progressing.  You’re stuck.

To change the direction of your life you must have a strong curiosity muscle.  We have many questions, problems and obstacles.  Everything needs a solution or figuring out.  This isn’t as bad as it seems.  Everything you benefit from, every convenience in your life exists because someone asked a question.  What started as a problem ended up as a smart phone.  Someone was curious if it could be done.  Just like you’re curious about what’s next for you.

“How will I launch a new life while I’m still in the old one?”

Your curiosity will help you take it apart one piece at a time.  Look at the problem from different angles.  See how it all works in concert and in pieces.  This is your life we’re talking about, which isn’t as complicated as repairing an old VCR.

It doesn’t matter if you sit in a cubicle or your own office.  Maybe you earned a degree and discovered it doesn’t satisfy you.  Perhaps you feel pulled toward something everyone says is foolish but it won’t go away.  If you’re asking the questions then it’s time to investigate becoming the person you see in your mind, not in your mirror.  It’s a tough leap though, full of risk and uncertainty but you must go anyway.  It’s the Hero’s Journey in real time.

“But what about the risk?”

Risk is a part of everything.  If you’re afraid of risk it’s because all you can see is the failure.    Don’t look for failure.  Taking the leap is about reaching the top of the mountain, not getting buried in an avalanche.  Believe you will get to the top.

Risk = [uncertainty + fear + inexperience] x the desired reward.

You must take that insatiable curiosity you were born with, the one filtered out of you by well-meaning parents, schools and society in general and bang the rust off it.  Ask questions, do research, try things, screw them up, take notes and try again.

In one particular study on how curious people are perceived researchers discovered;  ” A curious personality was linked to a wide range of adaptive behaviors including tolerance of anxiety and uncertainty, positive emotional expressiveness, initiation of humor and playfulness, unconventional thinking, and a non-defensive, non-critical attitude.”

In other words, curiosity gets you to the top of the mountain. 

“Is it possible to do what I love and be successful at it?”

The internet provides a viable audience for almost everything.  There are enough of us out there to support your enterprise and sustain you.  It doesn’t matter if you paint landscapes, photograph sunsets, launch a business venture, act, write  or whatever.  If you begin, strive, grow, and get better every day at what you do, you will find the  people out there who need you.  Be fearless.

First you must have curiosity.

You must have a focused curiosity about what you love doing so you can learn everything about it.  Be the best writer you can be.  Get so good at rendering sunsets that people squint when they look at your paintings.  Be so amazing in your enterprise that hiring you is a no-brainer.

If you are insanely curious about your potential, about how far you can go  you will forge new pathways to places you never thought existed in yourself.

Curiosity will help you get unstuck.  It will make you ask questions that demand answers. It will force you to move out of your comfort zone.  That seems terrifying but it will make you happier.  That new thing won’t kill you and it actually expanded your life for the better.  Curiosity is the best tool for moving you out of that safe space and make you wonder.

“What’s over here?”

That’s a universal human pondering.  By nature we are explorers.  It doesn’t have to be something a continent away, it could be right behind your eyeballs.  Remember, curiosity gives our lives meaning and direction.  Having a healthy dose of curiosity, wanting to know who you could be and how you get there is the cornerstone of the vast temple of awesome we build our lives upon.

To pull a final quote from the study mentioned earlier;  “Curious people possess a number of adaptive attributes including an appreciation of beauty, enjoyment of complex and abstract thinking, strong intellectual capacity, initiation of humor and playfulness, comfort with uncertainty and anxiety, lack of timidity, and a tendency to avoid judging, criticizing, or blaming other people.”

Tom Serafini is a writer, illustrator, motivator of dreamers and sometime stand-up comedian residing in Brooklyn, New York.  His first illustrated picture book, Ollie Bug and the Icky Sticky Thing From Space, will be funded through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign coming soon.  It’s on the list.

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