Is Infinitely Curious.

Hey everyone!

I hope you’re doing well.

This week’s newsletter features the return of ‘A Piece of Mind’, where I share something insightful I read in the past week.

Let’s get into it.

In September 2009, Jay-Z played a 9/11 benefit concert at Madison Square Garden.

A short film highlighting the preparation for the event featured John Mayer speaking about working with Jay-Z. One of his comments attributed Jay’s longevity to being “infinitely curious.”

At this point in time, Jay-Z was entering the twilight of his rap career. But Mayer’s comment highlights a trait not every artist carries. Those who do, create beautiful, lasting bodies of work.

“Infinitely curious”, which I instantly adopted as a motto, can be a neat way to say “open-minded” but there lies more to that simple phrase.

Fall into the gap.

Curiosity shows up when we have a part of the information but know there’s more undiscovered.

That’s what the Information Gap Theory proposed by George Loewenstein presents.

Realizing we don’t have information, a sense of uncertainty arises and now we’re driven to discover the missing information.

While curiosity is not a reason to pry into the private matters of others, it’s a fantastic way to expand knowledge. We then approach challenges with new experience and efficiency.

But problem-solving isn’t the only benefit of being curious. We see the authentic joy and excitement people find in their hobbies, led by the curiosity to dig deeper into them.

Obviously, Behavioral Science has its fair share of curious minds as they continuously work to understand why humans speak, act, and think the way they do.

Within mindfulness, we become curious about ourselves and the reasons we think the way we do.

In the eyes of John Mayer, Jay-Z leveraged his curiosity to create a diverse catalog of music, placing him amongst some of the greatest artists of his generation.

That is being infinitely curious with a purpose.

Children are some of the most curious beings in the world.

We know somewhere along the line curiosity begins to diminish and restrictive thinking patterns begin to emerge.

Those patterns, formed by our experiences growing up, provide us with a sense of comfort and safety.

While living that way can be sustainable and provide contentment, there lie opportunities to expand one’s experience of life that provide a multitude of benefits found with being curious.

Here are a few of them:

More dopamine: We all love to feel good.

Studies have found that experiencing something new increases levels of dopamine.

We’re not trying to create a dopamine-chasing habit but the excitement of learning something new in addition to the actual experience itself is a nice two-for-one package.

A few easy options:

• Trying new cuisine

• Starting new hobbies and routines

• Asking deeper questions about a new interest

A calmer life: Curiosity did not kill the cat.

We know stress has a negative impact on the human body. Often, it’s attributed to uncertainty within important aspects of our lives.

Gaining clarity and building a better understanding of our everyday experiences can reduce said uncertainty and related stress.

The more we understand, the easier it is to remain calm in situations. And not because we hold more information but because we understand how much more control we have.

Bonus points: For those who meditate, combining the awareness you develop through that with a curious mind can create a zen-like mindset.

Create more time: Enjoyment via efficiency.

We all want more time to do things that bring us joy and make us happy.

Curiosity doesn’t just expose us to new cultures and perspectives, it allows us to problem-solve more efficiently.

Inquiring with others on how they go about solving things may provide insights you can apply.

"Work smarter, not harder!” as they like to say.

So being curious is just asking questions?

Strive to be curious with a purpose.

“How can I adopt that thinking pattern?”

“Am I properly equipped to progress further?”

“What will happen if I do this?”

Take the answers given and apply them to your life to create better approaches to solving challenges you face.

A similar approach can be applied when getting to know people. Strengthen meaningful relationships by following hypothetical questions with a “why?”

You not only more learn about the person but quirks and unique qualities begin to emerge. They see you’re invested in the conversation and you gain new perspectives.

Even if you find there are no shared commonalities, you understand the train of thought held by someone with a different point of view and reinforce the notion we don’t have to be the same to come to an understanding.

For the everyday person, curiosity enlightens us about the unknown simply by asking “What’s this about?”

Often you'll hear people say “I wish I knew of this sooner!”, I know I’ve said this many times.

Curiosity is simple as taking a few minutes to ask a few questions and spend time immersed in a new experience.

At the minimum, curiosity improves our social interactions, creates clear work goals, and can provide a roadmap as to how we want to live our lives.

A Piece of Mind.

I recently read Trung Phan’s newsletter, “Steve Jobs, Rick Rubin and ‘taste’” which highlights how they leveraged “taste” in their respective creative fields.

It’s definitely worth the read as it touches on the importance of knowing yourself so you can better know, and grow, your taste.

And while you may not be looking to work with a plethora of artists or start an industry-leading tech company, both Rubin and Jobs believed in using your taste to create something beautiful and meaningful.

As a writer, it’s reassuring to read since growing your taste falls in line with honing your craft and voice.

While curiosity isn’t implicitly said to be the main driver of its development, it’s hard not to think being curious has led Rubin and Jobs down roads that developed their unique, and success-bearing, “taste.”

We should feel content and trust the decisions we make in our creative endeavors.

In the end, something meaningful you relentlessly created is shared with the world. Hopefully, influencing others to do the same.

I’m glad your curiosity carried you this far. Thanks for reading.

Have a great weekend and we’ll talk soon!

-Matt