How curious are you willing to be? Are you willing to ask questions and dig deeper into learning more about a subject?
The whys and what-ifs of curiosity can broaden your thought process and bring you new insights for growth. As I think about 2026, I am focused on being curious about my feelings on various topics. Am I prepared to grow professionally? Am I ready to jump into group coaching? Would I enjoy an overseas adventure? There are no right or wrong answers, but these questions invite an interesting, fun journey of discovery.
Curiosity allows us to expand our thoughts and feelings. It gives us the opportunity for exploration. Research shows that fostering curiosity offers many benefits. Asking questions and learning new things support brain health by encouraging the brain to produce new neurons and form new neural pathways. Being curious about another person and showing an interest in getting to know more about them encourages a reciprocal sharing of information that strengthens relationships. Furthermore, studies show curiosity enhances empathy, emotional intelligence and resilience by increasing our psychological flexibility and ability to adjust our thoughts, emotions and behaviors in response to challenges.
But curiosity isn’t an automatic quality. Sometimes we tend to be focused on expressing our own thoughts and beliefs, and we forget to ask questions or try to understand something new and different.
The good news is, you can choose to be curious. I recently came across an article in Psychology Today that provides some excellent questions we can all ask ourselves to build our curiosity:
“To get more curious, try asking yourself one of these ‘curiosity sparks.’
- What might I be missing?
- How else might someone else interpret this situation?
- How might I be affecting them?
- What can I learn from this person?”
I’ll add another one: Ask yourself how you might want to grow personally or professionally in the year ahead. Let’s be curious together! Check out the website to see how I can help you answer this question and achieve your goal in 2026