Three types of action that cultivate curiosity
This is a story I share in my Empathetic Curiosity Keynote: When I was in 5th grade, I had a huge crush on a girl. So I bought a magic kit to enter the school’s talent competition. I thought if I win the competition, I’d win the girl.
So for two months, I practiced everyday. My curiosity for magic was never higher. This was my big chance to make an impression on my crush.
Unfortunately, I had absolutely zero performance experience. At the day of the competition, I found myself standing on stage overlooking 150 students. With 300 eye balls on me, I could feel the pressure.
Long story short: Something unexpected happened during the performance. I failed completely. Not only did I not impress my crush, I had to experience the most embarrassing moment in my young life… After that, I stopped learning magic for 4 years. My curiosity was destroyed completely.
What kills curiosity?
Studies have shown trauma will severely diminish your curiosity. To prevent your curiosity from extinguishing, we must safeguard it. Society likes to glorify those who make the boldest moves to create disruptive innovation. But the truth is, your first steps should follow the following 3-S principle:
Swift: The longer you wait, the less curious you’ll try
Small: You don’t have to make biggest boldest moves right away. The best ideas always start with the smallest tests first. Taking small steps at first has a secondary benefit, it entices you to act more swiftly
Safe: Failure is part of a curious process. The key is to plan strategic stress tests early on. Nothing kills curiosity faster than a devastating setback right off the bat.
How it eneded?
The first time I performed magic, I took swift action, but they were high stake (had to impress my first crush) and high risk (performing first time on the biggest stage). That extinguished my curiosity.
But four years later, I reignited my curiosity in magic when I immigrated to the US. For the next 6 years I’d practice daily. Every time I learned a new trick, I’d immediately perform it for my close friends in a much smaller scale setting.
Surely, I would still mess up a trick. But these low risk stress tests were learning experience. It kept my curiosity going. 6 years later, I did my big performance. This time was for 30 people in my dorm and the result was tremendous.The rest is history.
If you have a great idea right now, I encourage you to take action that fall within the 3-S category: Swift, Small, and Safe. Stay curious my friend.
