Coaching practices for How to Be More Curious

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For How to Be More Curious, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

  • Everything has gone flat and routine
  • I keep judging whether something’s for me by whether it felt fun in the moment, but plenty of things feel pleasant and go nowhere
  • I catch myself just waiting for my turn to talk instead of really hearing the person in front of me
  • I walk into conversations preoccupied with how I’m coming across
  • I started thinking something through and now I’m less sure than when I began, and the unsettled feeling makes me want to just grab the first answer and move on

Practices that may help

  1. Cultivate curiosity as a daily emotional practice
    Curiosity is a broadening emotion that expands attentional scope and drives exploratory behavior — it can be deliberately triggered.
    Broaden-and-Build, Made Practical
  2. Track what makes you ask questions, not what makes you feel good
    Curiosity is a better signal for developing passion than pleasure.
    Passion vs Interest: How to Actually Find Work You Love
  3. Genuine curiosity about others
    Ask real questions and listen, instead of waiting to talk.
    The Good Life: Lessons from the Harvard Study
  4. Become genuinely interested in other people
    You make more friends in two months by being interested in others than in two years trying to make them interested in you.
    How to Win Friends and Influence People, Made Practical
  5. Treat aporia (confusion) as a sign of progress, not failure
    When questioning leaves you confused and without a settled answer, recognize that as a gain, not a loss.
    The Socratic Method, Made Practical
  6. Distinguish genuine interest from performed interest
    Separate goals you are genuinely curious about from ones you believe you should be curious about.
    Self-Concordant Goals, Made Practical
  7. Choose low-agenda, high-curiosity destinations
    Pick somewhere that interests your inner child, not somewhere impressive — curiosity, not accomplishment, is the fuel.
    The Artist Date, Made Practical
  8. Using openness to calibrate your learning approach
    High openness means you need variety and novelty to stay engaged; low openness means deep, bounded practice outperforms breadth.
    The Big Five Personality Model
  9. Stay curious one beat longer before advising
    Resist the urge to give the answer for one more question — ask what they think first.
    The Leader as Coach: A New Management Paradigm
  10. Replace statements with questions in familiar territory
    Wherever you would normally state a conclusion, form it as a genuine question instead.
    Beginner's Mind (Shoshin), Made Practical

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