When you were first born, two things struck everyone in the labor and delivery room.

The first was that you made no noise. But that was likely because of the second thing – your eyes were wide open and your look was intense. You kept looking around, taking everything in.

Your mother, for the first year of your life, kept wondering when you would learn to giggle. But you were my girl. An apple that didn’t fall far from my tree. Intensity was your middle name.

But that inquisitive, eyes open, constant observing dynamic can easily be distracting if you don’t learn to control it. And if it leaves you distracted all the time, without any focus, you’ll likely find that it’s a hindrance to your success.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Curiosity, when focused, can be incredibly useful and powerful.

The best thing about staying curious is that it will stretch your mind.

I’ll be honest, most people don’t like having their minds stretched. It’s a lot easier to believe something, and then keep believing it. Look up “confirmation bias.”

But it’s the people who are comfortable will having their ideas changed that can change the world.

The ability to be a constant learner – the notion that all your old ideas will have to get upgraded – keeps you open to embracing any idea, regardless of where it comes from, or who it comes from.

What we know about how our brains worked all changed dramatically in 1993 when we were able to start doing FMRI’s. By the time you were born, we rarely talked about “right brain” and “left brain.” Instead we were talking about neuroplasticity. Look that word up. It’s cool.

Here’s what I recommend (for now – who knows, my notion of this may change when I hear a new and better way):

  • When something sticks out to you, allocate an hour or two to go deeper into it.
  • Give yourself 30-45 minutes every day to read. It’s an incredible way to discover new things.
  • When you hear someone say something you disagree with, do a little research.
  • When you hear something you don’ understand, do a little research.

These things will help you stretch your brain, your sense of what you know, and highlight how little you do actually know.

That humility coupled with curiosity and focus will help you become an incredible person.