Curiosity is a wonderful thing.
As a child we have so much of it but as we grow up we tend to lose it. Maybe it’s because of disappointments we’ve had or the lessons we’ve learned but regardless of the reason we should all try to get it back.
Why? Simple – a key component of success is one’s desire to learn and try new things.
When Tony Robbins’ mentor was asked what set Tony apart from all the other speakers he had met he responded by saying, “his incredible, insatiable appetite for learning.” And I believe that if you were to ask many of the teachers of successful people you’re likely to find a similar answer.
Curious people ask the questions no one else asks.
Curious people take the extra classes while their friends are out partying.
Curious people buy the books that others say are a waste of time.
In a nutshell, curious people want to know.
Me, I thought I’d be able to figure things out on my own. Heck, I was smart enough. I was willing to work hard. I would figure out a way to make it.
I wasn’t curious. Big mistake.
But when I started reading and studying I realized how little I really knew.
And I wasn’t studying textbooks from our school days but books written by some of the most successful people around; Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki, Brian Tracy, Keith Cunningham, and Stephen Covey.
They had build organizations, empires. They knew things no one had ever told me, the things that weren’t taught to us at school.
They had techniques I would never have thought of.
It was like finding the missing pieces to a jigsaw puzzle.
And each time I read another book I would not only get the ideas contained within them but I would come up with my own.
It was incredible.
For many years my dream had been to build a big English school and while that remains A goal, it’s no longer THE goal.
I found that my passion for teaching had come from a desire to help people do better, to live better lives and what better way than by writing books (and this blog) to pass along good ideas?!
I could be helping people 24/7.
As an English teacher I needed to sit across the table from someone to help them.
But as an author, an educator and an entrepreneur, I could be halfway across the world and help make a difference in their lives.
That excited me.
On my fridge I have my plan – I glance at it each morning. I’m in the center of it and my goals (of which writing iSucceed was a BIG one) surround me. They excite me.
And I have curiosity to thank for that.
I can’t remember which book or audio session was the turning point for me but I do know that one day everything changed. Studying became more than an activity, it became my passion.
As Neil Armstrong said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Whatever it was, it was a giant step for me. I hope that maybe one day a book or a post I write may be yours.
Adrian Shepherd