Ask more Questions
Kids are curious. They ask questions. They genuinely want to know the answers. They challenge assumptions. I was like that too. Annoying adults around me.
But, when I got involved in the school system, I reduced drastically the number of questions asked. Not sure if it was my fault or the fault of the system, but I only answered the teachers’ questions when I was sure of the answer. I didn’t ask many questions either, nor did the other kids, at least, from what I’ve experienced. I continued with this bad habit until I was older. The classes were good to show you knowledge of certain things. Not the contrary.
If you’re asking a question you don’t know something, right? That’s why you ask a question in the first place: to understand something you didn’t before.
We have this need to pretend we know everything. We all want to look smart and a “know-all”. But in reality, we can only become a “know-all”, if we ask questions daily and risk looking dumb.
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”
People who ask questions are courageous. They put their ego to the side and risk crushing it.
According to this study, curiosity seems to be as important as intelligence when it comes to determining students’ performance. It was shown that people learn better when they’re curious about a topic. And curiosity can easily flow by practicing the art of asking questions.
I was a curious kid, but then I become affected by the grading system, and the need to have everything figured out. Thankfully, I overcame this phase of my life, by practicing and learning more about the importance of asking questions and cultivating curiosity.
It doesn’t cost much to ask a question. A bit of courage and the guts to look dumb. Well, those were risks I decided to accept in order to satisfy my curiosity.
A few things did help me to ask more questions:
Realize that asking questions will help you to acquire more knowledge. This realization is, in itself, a great motivator to ask questions, even when you believe they are dumb;
Read books. I read a book about the life of Bryan Penne, a movie director. His whole story and the opportunities he was given were a consequence of the questions he made. This gave me an extra reason to pursue my curiosity.
Make 2020 the year of asking more questions!