Month: December 2024

What Are You Most Curious About?

What you are curious about as an individual helps define you. And what we are curious about as a society helps define us.

Curiosity is one of the driving forces in our development as a species. It can influence the questions we ask, and bring about the scientific discoveries we make as a result. It can inform the stories we tell, and even before that, the stories we read.

But society is made up of individuals, and what we are curious about individually ultimately defines our collective curiosity.

With that in mind: what are you most curious about? And what do you do about that curiosity?

When we are young, the interests we have drive our learning, growth, and development. That might include which books we choose to read, the friends we make, the elective classes we take in school, as well as other life choices.

As an adult, it can influence the jobs we pursue, where we choose to live, who we marry, and so on. Seen in that light, our curiosity helps inform many of the key decisions that define us.

Can you think of examples of something that made you wonder, and how that eventually led, step by step, to some aspect of your life today? Does your curiosity play a part in the hobbies you take part in? The job you have, or the work you do in that job?

Do you read books, skim Wikipedia articles, watch documentaries, or take part in discussion groups? In what ways do you satisfy your curiosity?

Related questions: What makes you curious? How can we encourage curiosity? How can we maintain wonder?

Religious, Agnostic, Or Atheist?

Would you describe yourself as religious, agnostic, or atheist? How does it compare to how you were raised?

Share why if you wish.

Religious, Agnostic, Or Atheist?
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Are You Happy With What You Studied In School?

Fairly often, the subject you study in school is not what you use in your career. Are you happy with the subject matter you studied?

Share why if you wish.

What Keeps You Motivated?

It is one thing to get motivated to take a risk or to start something new. It is another to maintain that motivation.

It is an all too common story: you are excited to start something new.  That excitement wanes, however, as you get into mundane — but necessary — tasks. It might even ebb so low that you forego the project altogether.

As it turns out, there are two different, yet equally important, steps. One is to work up the motivation necessary to begin. The other is to remain motivated, through all the ups and downs that may follow.

Building the initial excitement is not a trivial task. But let’s assume for a moment that you can work up the necessary enthusiasm. How do you keep motivated, or at the very least, keep working despite fading energy?

Do you continually remind yourself of the end goal you are trying to achieve? Or do you enlist the help of others that you hope will motivate you? Do you try and structure the project so there are a number of accomplishments along the way that you can use as little boosts of momentum? Or perhaps you announce things publicly and hope that outside expectations will provide the necessary motivation?

What keeps you motivated, particularly when that motivation starts to wane?

Related questions: What motivates you? How do other people motivate you? Where do you get your energy? When is it useful to fail?