Say YES! to Success Peg Stookey – Founder of Legacy Connection

What We Are: Curious!

I've really enjoyed writing this series of "What We Are" posts but, more significantly, I've enjoyed the "thinking" that it's caused me to do!  I have a  heightened sense of awareness around what entrepreneurs are, do, can be, etc.  Are you getting there too?

Recently, I was in an email discussion with my friend, Elaine.  Elaine and her husband Eric own Hansen Resource Development and are very involved with an organization I belong to, A Small Group (ASG).  Elaine replied to something I said with a very profound statement: Replace certainty with curiosity.  Thank you, Elaine, for giving me these words to write about today!!  Thank you, Peter Block, for helping ASG members to value "curiosity" over "knowing".

Replace Certainty with Curiosity

I've written numerous posts on the topic of what an entrepreneur is but NONE of them get at the core like this one sentence does: Replace certainty with curiosity.  Take a minute to close your eyes and absorb what this means to YOU.

Breathe

Breathe

Breathe

Breathe

Breathe

OK-open you eyes with renewed sight!

What did you come up with?  To be honest, I'm having trouble putting my thoughts into words-it's that big!  AND, it's not just about entrepreneurism.  Can you imagine what the world would be like if we ALL replaced certainty with curiosity about

• our relationships
• our neighbors
• race
• social status
• religion
• education
• money
• family
• politics
• foreign lands and their people

What is it that you "know" that really isn't true?  Or that you're not sure is really true?  We grow up with the values and beliefs of our family because that's what we're taught.  It's all we really know.  We go to school and believe what we're taught because we're not encouraged to do otherwise.  WHAT IF THERE WEREN'T CURIOUS PEOPLE OUT THERE?  Would we still believe the world was flat, that fire was evil and that getting to the moon was an impossibility?  I could go on and on but I really need to get to how this affects as an entrepreneurs!

As an entrepreneur, what does it mean to replace certainty with curiosity?

1. We ask questions-lots of them!
2. We see possibilities where others see roadblocks
3. We seek-always!
4. We are "itchy", never quite satisfied or content
5. We are life-long learners
6. We identify needs
7. We look for solutions
8. We want more....

More knowledge, more relationship, more information, more money, more success, more efficiency, more caring, more concern,  more, more, more.  We are driven by what we personally don't have enough of or, more often,  by what we don't see the world as having enough of.

Most businesses are started by people that have VERY little small business, entrepreneurial experience of any kind.  They have been trained through education and experience to be good employees.  They have "employee mindset" down to the core.  Transitioning to "entrepreneurial mindset" is the most important factor for their sustainable success as a business owner.  Becoming CURIOUS is the first step in that transition.  Maintaining curiosity is the continuing challenge of us all.

Our human nature is to feel good about "knowing".  We feel safe and comforted when we're certain of things.  As an entrepreneur, we're called to give up some of this comfort in order to seek more.  We're called to be curious.  Are you ready to become more curious?

Say YES!

To your success,

Peg

About Peg

Peg is a passionate entrepreneur, wife and mother (of 4 kids and 3 dogs). She loves to write and to share what she's learning by working with business owners, as a parent, reading, training or general life experience. Through her blog she hopes to create discussion and to continue to learn as she also has the privilege of teaching! More than anything, she wishes for you to grab the brass ring and say YES! to success!