Many of my greatest successes and strengths can be directly traced back to wasting time on the unimportant.
Or perhaps more accurately, to things of which the importance would’ve been impossible to point out at the time—and often felt like a dumb choice.
Like how I spent many days as a kid making lists of random stuff and ensuring I didn’t miss an item.
Or how I skipped class many times in high school to go out on the street, play guitar and build friendships with strangers.
I didn’t know what I was doing, I just made choices that were not in alignment with what should’ve been my priorities, and somehow they led to being decent at project management or the career that’s the reason you’re reading this.
Now, these examples are still somewhat linear. They continue a seed of what they’d later become.
But most of the time, it’s less clear.
I’ve dabbled in short-term love affairs and long-term obsessions with anything from etymology to postural correction or handwriting analysis.
The strange thing is, the majority of those weird side-quests I barely tell a soul about, directly contribute to what I’m doing now.
And the reason I’m on the path I’m on is because I went down so many rabbit holes they eventually showed me the way.
Which is why I highly recommend curiosity as a life strategy.
What this looks like is taking a radical commitment to following what you’re genuinely curious about, without much concern for any clear reward.
Yes, in case you’re wondering, this does look like spending the whole busride reading fun facts about cows. Or boiling a steak and regretting that you fudged around and found out.
It’s having faith that your curiosity is not coincidence. That it is pulling you towards something you would never know is your destiny until you’re there.
Why did I drop out of high school?
Many reasons. But a frustration I’ve had since I was 5 was this:
When I was genuinely curious about a subject, the curriculum couldn’t keep up with me.
And when I had no curiosity? I couldn’t get the knowledge drilled in my head for the life of me.
I suspect this isn’t just a me-thing. If I were to generalize, I’d say:
Learning things because you’re coerced to is hard every step of the way.
Learning things because you’re curious is hard to stop.
(Curious if this applies to you? Feel free to reply to let me know.)
Additionally, I had zero curiosity about college or any known career path.
So in that area, I also spent years on random exploriments.
I sampled many different jobs and ways of breaking the rules of traditional employment, with no plan of building a resume or gathering experience.
Having spent time in so many slices of life is now something that allows me to relate to and converse with a wide variety of people whose realities are nothing like mine, which funnily enough is one of the foundations of my career.
…but so was my obsession with drinking games as a teen.
And that’s the point I hope to impart on you today:
Honoring curiosity fully often seems like a waste of time because the gains are nonlinear.
Who in their right mind would choose to spend the afternoon learning the finer details of birdfeeding when there’s a deadline due?
But that’s how curiosity tests you.
Will you pull the thread and follow it down until the spoils arrive, even if you have no guarantee how long it’ll be?
Some of the threads it teases you with take minutes to unravel, others take years. But once you pull on one, it won’t lead you anywhere unless you follow it down all the way, completely.
And you’ll know it’ll be complete, because in that moment, your curiosity will cease.
Whether the external project or interest appears finished or not is of little relevance here.
It’s a piece in a larger puzzle that in time will be revealed.
A moment which, in my experience, always comes.
But the paradox is that it requires a great commitment that will look like a lack of it to everyone else.
It will look like being scatterbrained when in reality it’s a devotion to where focus intrinsically already wants to exist.
I’m not saying this is the way for everyone.
But if the linear life path always felt a little off for you, or if you feel there’s a life out there that you’re meant to live but can’t quite articulate what it is, I invite you to exploriment with the strategy of radical curiosity as an alternative.
See where it takes you.
And if the answer is “nowhere”, you’ll still have had a lot of fun on the way there.