School of Curiosity
Explore. Dream. Discover.
You can scroll the shelf using ← and → keys
Break dancing
November 28, 2012
Have a look at the phrase in the picture above. What do you see?
Most adults agree that it says “I love Paris in the springtime”. But if you look again it actually says “I love Paris in THE THE springtime”.
Don’t worry too much if you didn’t see the extra THE. It’s pretty normal. As intelligent adults we look for patterns, that allow us to see shortcuts and that can be helpful. Sometimes though, we get so stuck in our normal patterns that we see what we think is there rather than what is actually there.
We miss a lot of possibility that is all around us, because we are too busy looking for patterns that we are familiar with.
Break your pattern today. See what’s there.
Have a curious day.
You know you should
November 27, 2012
Sure. There are 101 reasons why you can’t do all of the things you always wanted to. If you really try you’ll probably find 101 ways around your obstacles.
Just remember all those things you’ve always wanted to do.
You should go and do them.
Have a curious day.
You can’t afford to be sad
November 26, 2012
It’s official. You can’t afford to be sad. Researchers at Harvard University induced sadness in groups of people and then observed their financial decision making compared with a control group.
They found that sadness increases impatience and the need for instant gratification. Sad people are willing to accept smaller returns now, even when they know that the long term benefits are greater. A sad person will accept between 35% and 79% less money when faced with the same investment decisions as someone who isn’t sad.
Don’t be sad. It costs you money. Do a small thing to make yourself happier…it’ll pay for itself in the long run.
Have a curious day.
Its right to be wrong
November 23, 2012
People who are right a lot of the time are people who often changed their minds
Jeff Bezos (founder of Amazon.com) doesn’t think consistency of thought is a particularly positive trait. It’s perfectly healthy — encouraged, even — to have an idea tomorrow that contradicted your idea today.
He’s observed that the smartest people are constantly revising their understanding, reconsidering a problem they thought they’d already solved. They’re open to new points of view, new information, new ideas, contradictions, and challenges to their own way of thinking.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a well formed point of view, but it means you should consider your point of view as temporary.
What trait signified someone who was wrong a lot of the time? Someone obsessed with details that only support one point of view. If someone can’t climb out of the details, and see the bigger picture from multiple angles, they’re often wrong most of the time.
— Jason Fried, Some advice from Jeff Bezos, 37signals
Have a curious day.
Audit your five a day
November 22, 2012
Everything that we do can be categorised into five kinds of activity. By looking at what you do and how it fits into the five categories, you can concentrate on shifting the balance so that you create a more positive and vibrant life for yourself. Here are the five…..
1. Activities we truly enjoy and naturally want to continue doing
2. Activities we don’t enjoy, that aren’t necessary, and take a toll on our lives
3. Activities we don’t enjoy, but for important reasons, are necessary to continue
4. Activities that allow us to rest and replenish ourselves
5. Activities we don’t engage in that might contribute positively to our lives.
Have you audited your day recently?
Have a curious day.
Shoot!
November 21, 2012
Nicknamed “The Great One”,Wayne Gretzky has been called “the greatest ice hockey player ever” by many sportswriters, players, and the National Hockey League itself. He is the leading point-scorer in NHL history, with more assists than any other player has points, and is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season – a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, he tallied over 100 points in 16 professional seasons, 14 of them consecutive. At the time of his retirement in 1999, he held 40 regular-season records, 15 playoff records, and six All-Star records.
He made a simple observation “You miss 100% of the shots you never make”.
Whatever it is that you are trying to do, if you don’t shoot, you won’t score.
Have a curious day.
Be immortal
November 20, 2012
There’s really nothing more to add to this, other than….
Have a curious day.
Believe and your beliefs become your reality
November 19, 2012
It seems that humans need consistency between beliefs, actions, and words. In Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert Cialdini calls this “The Rule of Consistency”.
This is how beliefs hold us down or lift us up. If you believe you can’t, you start acting and speaking like someone who can’t, so you actually can’t. Interestingly, the relationship also works in reverse: Change your action or words and you can change your beliefs.
It’s really that simple.
Have a curious day.
Can you cha cha?
November 5, 2012
“Optimist: Someone who figures that taking a step backward after taking a step forward is not a disaster, it’s a cha-cha.”
— Robert Brault, writer, journalist, Six Definitions of an Optimist
Give it away
November 2, 2012
Have you noticed how people can be secretive with ideas? The problem with hoarding your ideas is that you end up living off your reserves and eventually your ideas and you will become stale.
If you give away everything you have, you are left with nothing. That’s helpful in the world of ideas because it forces you to look, to be aware and to replenish your store.
Somehow, the more you give away, the more comes back to you.
Go on, give one away.
Have a curious day.