Be more curious today

About thirty years ago, a mate of mine asked me a question I couldn't answer.

"Who invented carpet?"

There were two reasons he asked:

1. He thought I was pretty good at general knowledge

2. And he was a bit stoned.

I didn't know the answer. I've since Googled it. Carpets are Middle Eastern in origin, dating back well over 4,000 years. Not that this satisfied him. He wanted a name. He still asks, occasionally, whenever the subject comes up. I'll never have one for him.

But I remain curious. Who was it who first looked at a bare stone floor and thought, "this is a bit bland, and my feet are cold, I know..."? And, on a slightly more sobering note, who was it that worked out (to the benefit of the rest of us, and to their own considerable cost) which mushrooms were safe to eat?

I'm not suggesting you lick a mushroom

But I am inviting you to be a little more curious today.

Meeting a friend for coffee? Try the cafe you've walked past a hundred times but never been into. In the mood for music? Skip the go-to playlist and hit shuffle on something you've never heard. Walking the dog? Turn left instead of right when you leave the house.

Small stuff. None of it changes your life on its own. But who knows what you'll discover.

Why curiosity, specifically

Curiosity is the purest form of adventure available to you. It doesn't need a passport, a budget, or a weekend free. It just needs a question you haven't asked yourself yet.

There's a growing body of research behind why this matters more than it might first appear. Studies have found that curiosity activates the brain's dopamine system, the same reward pathway involved in food and social connection, which enhances both memory retention and the ability to absorb new information.

In other words, being curious doesn't just feel good. It makes you better at learning, at adapting, and at holding onto what you discover along the way.

Research into entrepreneurial curiosity has found a measurable link between an entrepreneur's curiosity, their innovativeness, and the actual growth of their company. And whilst curiosity doesn't sit neatly on a spreadsheet column (apologies to the finance teams) there is a clear correlation between staying curious and staying profitable.

Curious people, the research also suggests, tend to view novelty as an opportunity rather than a threat, which allows them to adapt more quickly when circumstances shift. That's a genuinely useful trait for anyone running their own business, where circumstances have an unhelpful habit of shifting constantly.

Being more curious is where change actually begins

Every conversation I've had with a client, past, potential, or new, has started with some version of the same sentence.

"Here's where I am. Here's where I'd like to be."

The gap between those two points can feel enormous. Overwhelming, even. But the very first thing that moves someone from one side of that gap to the other is never a five-year plan or a fully formed strategy.

It's curiosity. A single new question they'd never thought to ask themselves before.

What if I tried this instead? What would happen if I said yes? What's actually on the other side of the thing I've been avoiding?

You don't need the answer yet. You just need to be willing to wonder.

What will you be more curious about today?

Turn left today. See what's there.

Mark Franklin is The Four Fears® Guy: a transformational mindset coach, speaker and author working with creative professionals and small business owners who are ready to close the gap between the business they have and the one they actually deserve.

What will you be more curious about today? Let me know in the comments.