Don’t Forget the ABCs of a Fulfilling Life

“Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning.” – William Arthur Ward

Have you ever watched a scene from a movie that stuck with you? In the film “Glengarry Glen Ross,” Alec Baldwin is a high-pressure, “motivational” trainer sent in to give a speech to a real estate sales team about the ABCs of selling, which in this case stands for “Always - Be - Closing.”

I like my own ABCs better. They stand for “Always - Be - Curious.”

Humans are creatures of habit, so it can be easy to get stuck in particular frames of thinking, ways of seeing the world, or how we relate to others. But allowing ourselves to get curious gives us the power to see things from new perspectives and can open our minds to all new possibilities.

William Arthur Ward famously said, “Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning.” I love that because if we maintain a healthy sense of curiosity, we’ll constantly grow and evolve.

Metaphorically speaking, if we think we have reached “the end of the internet,” then we adopt a belief that we already know everything and have nothing else to learn. Well, that doesn’t sound like a very fulfilling life.

There is solid brain science showing that it is critical to keep learning as we age because once we stop learning, we are much more susceptible to things like dementia and Alzheimer’s. Just like what happens when moving parts get rusty due to lack of use. Therefore, curiosity is key to life. So, if you feel stuck and don’t know what to do next, get curious.

What are you challenged with? Are you being held back by fear, or is it something else? Are you trapped by comparison or a perception of not being enough? Are you confronted by a story you have? If we get curious about where we feel stuck, we can get insights into the next step.

Curiosity has been one of my core values from before I even knew what a core value was, and it’s one of the things I appreciate most about who I am today. Life is so much more fun and rewarding when we live with curiosity.

But it can also have its downsides because I can get pulled in many different directions. Yeah, it’s complex being a human, and that’s why we need each other to help illuminate the path forward.

There’s no need to sit in the dark by yourself when all you need is someone to help you get your candle lit. So, if you need a little spark to get it all started, I got you covered.