Follow your curiosity – it will take you where you want to go in life

Children learn about the world in a quick, playful way, driven by curiosity. Once we get older, we lose that ability. But if you let curiosity lead the way in your adult life, it can make life much more fun, more challenging and more meaningful. 

Curiosity is something special. It’s a bit like being in love: it’s a powerful source. If you let curiosity guide you, you’ll go places, because there’s an invisible thread pulling you further.

It even helps robots

Robots that are guided by curiosity, learn to play a game more quickly, then robots that just follow a random path. It’s the same for people. Curiosity helps you to remember things, or to get involved in something you didn’t know anything about.

What am I curious about?

Ask yourself: what am I curious about? Do I want to know everything about embroidery, about the life of deep sea octopuses, about the moss growing on the arctic tundra or about football? Whatever it is: go for it. Learn about it, without feeling ashamed. It doesn’t matter if it’s odd. It’s your curiosity taking you places. And why would you restrain from something that interests you, because other people might have an opinion about it?

Protecting and cultivating

Curiosity is a character trait you have to protect and cultivate. If you don’t pay enough attention to the things that make you curious, they lose their glow. But if you look closely at them, your enthusiasm will grow. And life will get better and better.

So just send your inner child into the world and ask yourself: what makes me tick? Which things intrigue me, and make me want to get to the bottom of it, what keeps me going?

Go for it, you won’t regret it.

Text: Marijn Baar – Photo: Nine Köpfer