Why Curious Learning Will Make You Smile

Published by Linda Rolf on 6/15/2021



I confess. I'm a committed curious learner. Always have been -- at least for as long as I can remember.

There's nothing like hearing the excited voice in my head shout, "What? Hold it! I need to know what this is all about." And I'm diving into the next rabbit hole.

What about the curious learner in you?

Take a minute and think about your typical day. When do you find yourself smiling over a newly-discovered idea – buried in a book, seeing unexpected dots connect in a webinar, sharing what you've learned with a colleague?

With all the pressure to do more in a day, it's easy to convince ourselves that curiosity is a wasteful distraction. The opposite is true. Indulging in learning and exploration feeds our sense of purpose and contribution.

Productivity pundits tell us we should organize, prioritize, and maximize our time to achieve the goals we've set. Even writing that sentence felt stressful. Of course, planning and list-making are responsible, grown-up activities that keep us from wandering aimlessly through life.

But we owe it to ourselves to include continuous learning in our plan.

A Fun Challenge for You

Here are a few ways to encourage your curious learner. Checks as many as you like.

___ Give yourself permission to include curious learning time in your overly-scheduled days. You will thank yourself for it.

___ Read every day. Mindlessly scrolling through your social media feeds doesn't count.





___ Make notes. Write in the margins, highlight. What did you learn that made you smile?

___ Share a link to an article or post that a client will appreciate. Not only does it say, "Your thoughts are valued.", but it also invites an in-person conversation.

___ Start a list of books you've read and share it with colleagues, clients, and social media connections.

___ Write every day. You don't have to be an aspiring author. There's something about putting words on paper that creates the confident feeling of "well done."

___ Continually add to your learning to-do list. Pick whatever tool works best for you, and jot down those rabbit holes you want to visit later.

___ Regularly revisit your learning list. There are going to be some things on the list that will make you laugh. I say this from experience.

I would love to hear what you're learning. As Einstein said --

"I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious."

Tags: Learning



Linda Rolf is a lifelong curious learner. She is fueled by discovering the unexpected connections among technology, data, information, people and process. For more than four decades, Linda and Quest Technology Group have been their clients' trusted advisor and strategic partner. They actively contribute to each client's success through mutual collaboration, thoughtful business analysis, enterprise software development, technology integration, database design and management, opportunity discovery, business growth strategy, and marketing initiatives.

They believe that lasting value and trust are created through continuously listening, sharing knowledge freely and delivering more than their clients even know they need. As the CIO of their first startup client said, "The value that Quest brings to Cotton States is far greater than the software they develop."