Why You Should Kill The Cat And Embrace Curiosity
Consider the many benefits we enjoy today from various inventions that someone, at some point created. These individuals did something rather special.
- They discovered something that no one had discovered before.
- They solved a problem no one had solved before.
- They connected the dots to see something no one had connected before.
What was it that caused such individuals to make new discoveries, solve problems, and connect the dots?
They embraced the value of Curiosity.
Those who were passionately curious disregarded the warnings that being curious would get them into trouble. They completely ignored the familiar proverb that has been around for centuries:
While saying this today might help parents feel better when telling their kids to stay out of trouble, it does NOT encourage anyone to make new discoveries. It does NOT inspire someone to find a way to eradicate cancer, develop renewable sources of energy, or get us to Mars.
Maybe it’s time to finally put the cat out of our misery, and embrace the value of curiosity to its fullest. If we want to motivate the next generation of brilliant minds, we need to eliminate the fear of being curious and encourage the desire to be inquisitive.
One person who truly understood this issue was Albert Einstein – someone I referenced in a Values Quote a few years ago. I’ve included the video here with the hope it sparks some new curiosity in you.
Embrace the power of curiosity!
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Today’s quote is from Albert Einstein, the father of modern physics and the most influential physicist of the 20th century.
Most people consider Einstein to be a genius. And yet he made an insightful personal observation, where he said:
“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”
There is both humility and hope in that statement. Brilliance is not necessarily achieved by talent alone. It starts with curiosity.
As a differentiating value, Curiosity means inquisitiveness; or eager to investigate and learn more.
For some, curiosity comes naturally. It just needs to be fostered. For others, fear holds them back from being inquisitive. Maybe you know the old saying “curiosity killed the cat.” That sort of statement only feeds the fear that prevents real learning and growing.
But when you encourage a curious mind, like Einstein, you feed the hunger to explore the unknown and test new theories. That’s what leads to mastering any subject and becoming known as an expert.
So what about you?
Are you passionately curious? Have you found a way to create a compounding effect with your curiosity, taking one insight and building it into another one? If so, you have the potential to excel to greatness, and change the world – like Einstein did.
And if you like formulas for success, consider a new way of using Einstein’s famous equation of e=mc2 which is: Excellence = Mastery x Curiosity2.
There is power in curiosity!
