Welcome to the Stop Sabotaging Your Success Podcast, episode fifty-one. I’m your host, Cindy Esliger. This is the podcast focusing on what we can do today to take control of our careers and overcome the inevitable barriers to success that we encounter along the way. 

So many of us are feeling stuck in our jobs. On some level we know that there must be other opportunities that would make us happier and more successful and give us a greater sense of purpose, but it’s not always that simple to make a change, even if we know it will be better. No matter how stuck we feel in our jobs or how much toxicity we’ve endured in the workplace, we have to find that place inside us that is able to look at the world with childlike wonder. 

In this episode, I want to encourage you to follow your curiosities. You never know what you might stumble upon by experimenting and exploring that just might turn out to be priceless later on in your career and your life. 

We get busy. Everything around us is so noisy vying for our attention. You might be pushing aside that sense of dread you’re feeling, that your job, that you thought would be great, is starting to feel like a grind, but your inner voice is often drowned out. I want to invite you to find the courage to listen to that inner voice. Encourage yourself to follow your own hunches, explore, experiment, and discover what interests you. Give yourself permission to explore new things. 

For me, until I forced myself to slow down, I wasn’t listening to my inner voice. I was too busy checking off items on my to-do list, doing my best to keep my head above water so that I could climb the corporate ladder. Slowing down made me realize that I could no longer ignore my inner voice. Something needed to change, and while I wasn’t exactly sure where to start, I began to follow my hunches. With practice, this helped me coax my inner critic, who always prefers the seemingly safer route of following other people’s suggestions, to just notice what I was curious about and where my interests were leading me. 

I finally realized that while other people’s thoughts about what was best for me didn’t always resonate with me, I didn’t need anyone else’s permission to pursue my own interests. I started to pay attention to the patterns and learn to trust their validity regardless of what anyone else thought. 

We’re often told to follow our passion, but some of us don’t know what our passion is, and even if we do, our passion isn’t always available. It can burn out, and then what? Where does that leave us then? What I’ve found is that passion is the result of following your curiosity, exploring, discovering, and then developing mastery in something that interests you. 

Passion isn’t something you begin with or depend upon to figure out which path to take in life. When it comes to figuring out what you will enjoy doing, it starts by following your curiosity. And curiosity is more sustainable. It’s what teaches us how to become who we really are, but you have to be paying attention when it taps you on the shoulder. The hints can easily get drowned out by the busyness and the fear. 

Just start doing what fascinates you, then making more time for it, as you can. That’s just how it works. Follow your curiosity. Become enthusiastic about your discoveries, and then you’ll find others who are interested too. 

To follow your curiosity, play with ideas, take those paths that are barely visible, and be open to discovering new perspectives. That is the secret to staying inspired and productive. We just have to learn to listen to that inner voice and follow where our curiosities lead.

But how can you tell when you’re feeling curious and something has captured your attention? Well, it starts with your mind racing with questions to learn more. You can’t stop talking about it. You feel physical sensations like a warmth in your chest, your heart racing, you’re feeling a bit flushed, and you’re probably talking faster. It also is a feeling of being genuinely excited.

Start noticing what sparks your attention and any patterns that emerge. As you develop awareness for what captures your curiosity, focus on the things that compel you to learn more about them. Which are the most challenging, and at the same time, most gratifying? 

People are searching to find their place in today’s ever-changing world. Conventional wisdom encourages us to play it safe, to find security, and to pick the path most traveled. And yet, the traditional, scripted life of starting with that entry-level job, climbing the corporate ladder, not rocking the boat, and working until you retire has left so many people unhappy and unsatisfied. It’s not a terrible idea, in theory, but many of us feel a call to courageously explore, discover, and experience our own path in relation to our careers. This is what’s needed to ignite and revitalize your professional aspirations. 

When you were a kid, it was your curiosity that was the key to exploring everything around you. Then you started to feel like it was silly or scary to want to venture beyond what you knew well and explore something new. 

Who gets to say that you should do this and not that? More importantly, who gets to say that you can’t? You and only you. 

That voice knows it’s your turn to create something new for yourself, no matter how ridiculous it may sound to anyone else. It’s time to say so what?! And do it anyway. 

Cultivating curiosity means venturing beyond definitive answers and exploring those questions that leave us wondering. It’s not that we lack curiosity as we get older, but we tend to want to reign it in and focus on fewer ideas, more of the tried and true. But what about that rush of discovery? Do you even remember feeling completely lit up by what you might find around the next corner? When you had trouble sleeping, not because you were worried about the future, but because you could not wait for the next morning to map your discoveries?

Now, I would guess it’s more common to have trouble sleeping because you’re dreading having to do the same old thing over and over again, stuck in a job that you don’t like, just to make a living. We have an opportunity to face life-changing decisions every single day. Is this job right for me? Should I take this promotion or should I be looking to see what else is out there?

Some of us have inherited cultural messages that can bias us against curiosity. Those in authority sometimes shut down other people’s curiosity. Some see it as threatening and try to punish those who tend to question the way things have always been done, who are in search of a new way, something more efficient and effective. You have permission to discover your own path and what works for you.

We are all plagued by false expectations of quick outward success leading to inner fulfillment. When these expectations aren’t met, we tend to blame other people, circumstances, and possibly ourselves. We need to be focusing less on dream-defeating self-judgment, and more on our curious questions. 

Lack of curious experimentation with your career advancement process can lead you to fall victim to the passion myth, that idea that fulfillment comes to those who simply follow their passion. People with a growth mindset understand that they will need to pivot and reorient their direction, as many times as needed, in order to steer their career toward their own areas of interest. They recognize that they will find fulfillment in the learning process as much as in the achievement or reward. 

Your curiosities may not lead to scientific theories or insights, but your quirky inquisitiveness can advance you toward more career fulfillment, even when the outcomes are uncertain or ambiguous. Honor and pay attention to your peculiar interests. Capture, track, and pursue those curiosities even if some of them send you off on tangents or only seem valid in your own imagination. 

Curiosity often appears in a more subtle manner, like a vague hunch. None of this has to be productive. Sometimes it’s just something to play with without really understanding where it might lead. Explore those ‘what ifs’ and ‘why nots’. It might just spark a new connection or open you up to possibility. It could be a way of priming your mind for serendipity through curiosity, so reimagine the possibilities. 

Experiment like a scientist. Approach everything you pursue hypothetically. Embrace experimentation instead of striving for perfection and getting stuck in over planning. Conducting little experiments with your endeavors reframes your work as part scientific method, part creative process, and part risk-taking. 

Ask yourself a set of questions to prod your curiosity: 

• What results did I get? 
• What did I learn that works in the process? 
• What didn’t turn out the way I assumed? Why not? 
• What did I find that was unexpected, both in the process and the results? 

That kind of reflection helps you see more meaning in what you’re doing and assess the best next steps. Collect your curiosities so they become a reminder of the things you want to pursue. Make each day an adventure. 

When there’s a professional or personal challenge that’s bothering you, we tend to avoid it, worry about it, hope someone else will deal with it, or just wish it away. Consider bringing your curiosity to the problem. Make your day more intentional, more directed, and less reactive. Take a moment to train your attention on that specific challenge or problem that you’d like to get insight into. Get curious about it. You have the power to change the quality of your days. 

So ask yourself, what have I been curious about for a long time? What do I want to investigate further? What questions do I want to get answers to? 

Connect your curiosity to what you care about. Devote consistent attention to learning more about it and solving a problem that really irritates or annoys you. Take a moment to be quiet. Free yourself from distraction to align yourself with this challenge. Keep track of your ideas and insights. Your collection of questions and challenges will make a big difference in your lived experience at work. 

People are extremely versatile in adapting to new realities and finding innovative solutions, while seeking new and creative opportunities for revamping their careers and reshaping the world of work. Beware of unhelpful career advice. It’s not always easy to find what excites us or how that can be incorporated into your career.

Exposure to different interests is often what brings new connections and creative ideas. Take your time and keep an open mind. It takes effort to become better at anything. Find creative ways to incorporate that into your daily work experience. Passion comes after you try something. Follow the opportunities that you think will help you learn the most professionally and about yourself. Be willing to commit to developing your skill and naturally grow your passion over time. 

Beware most passions don’t translate well into careers, and when something means a lot to you, you won’t want it to become your job with daily responsibilities and demands. You will want to continue doing it simply for pleasure. Find out what you’re good at. Sometimes the thing we care about most isn’t what we do best. Figure out how to transform your dream into reality.

What skills have helped you in the past? What tasks make you feel energized and motivated? What do other people compliment about your work? 

Passion is a consequence of effort. You develop passion, you don’t follow it. Often, when you dedicate time and energy to something, then you realize how much you enjoy doing it. We’re constantly changing, and our interests and values change over time. Expectations and reality don’t always align. 

You may feel trapped in your current job, but focus on your goals by working on developing transferable skills and acquiring experience in your current role that will help you pursue other professional opportunities in the future. It’s not your passion that will drive career success, it’s your willingness to explore and expose yourself to more of what’s out there, then seeing how it aligns with your interests, skills, values, and personality. Passion comes from the desire to seek out new knowledge and from the joy of learning and growing, while developing new skills and integrating them into your professional toolkit. 

Here are five reasons why cultivating curiosity is better for your career than following your passion: 

Number one, it opens you up, so you’re open to anyone and anything, exploring new ideas, experiences, and possibilities because meeting new people, learning new things and hearing new perspectives fuels career growth and new opportunities. 

Number two, it allows you to discover your passion. Many people are hard pressed to identify a specific passion they can link to a career, so you want to expose yourself to different roles and working environments to help you discover what matters most to you. It’s worth taking the time to explore anything and everything that interests you. 

Number three, your passion can change over time. Rarely do we have the same passion at age 50 that you had at 20. We feel the pressure to pick a passion and stay on that track, but at some point, your interests and what you thought you loved to do will change.

Number four, passion doesn’t always equal proficiency. Being passionate about something isn’t enough to build your career. For success, you need proficiency, so find ways to combine your passion with your inherent gifts to cultivate a successful career. 

And finally, number five, curiosity transcends passion. Career passion is rooted in the intense enthusiasm and excitement for what you do, but even the most passionate among us don’t feel that way every day.Passion can wane over time, making you feel stuck and unmotivated. Curiosity picks up where passion leaves off, allowing you to follow new interests and reignite your spark. So get curious about yourself. 

One of the biggest obstacles to finding your passion is allowing others to define what is best for you. This is for you alone to decide. We tend to focus too much on what others will think. And making no decision is still making a decision, just without the results or data to work with. You need to get curious about the most important topic, which is how to learn about ourselves. 

Finding what we’re passionate about isn’t a goal, it’s a process. Everything you experience can be used to help you, and eventually everything connects. The process of finding a passion is really about learning about yourself, what motivates you, and what makes you tick. Trust that you’ll figure things out as you go along. It doesn’t happen all at once. 

Practice self-awareness by giving yourself permission to be curious and follow your curiosities. If you’re feeling stuck, unnoticed, or frustrated, you must remember that things will change. You won’t always feel this way. Take full advantage of whatever season of life you’re in, no matter how long it seems to last, knowing that it’s preparing you for what’s next. 

And that’s it for this episode of Stop Sabotaging Your Success. Remember to download your Guide to Exposing Your Curiosities at cindyesliger.com/podcast, episode fifty-one.

Thank you to our producer, Alex Hochhausen and everyone at Astronomic Audio. Get in touch, I’m on Instagram @cindyesliger and my email address is info@cindyesliger.com. And if you liked this show, please tell a friend. Subscribe, rate, and review. 

Until next week, I’m Cindy Esliger. Thanks for joining me.