“Step 1: Wonder at something. Step 2: Invite others to wonder with you. You wonder at things no one else is wondering about. If everyone is wondering about apples, wonder about oranges.”
Austin Kleon, Steal Like an Artist
As someone who’s spent the last 10 minutes staring at a white computer screen, paralyzed, the cursor mocking me with everything blink…I know that coming up with ideas for content can feel heavier than it should. We tell ourselves it has to perform. It has to keep up with what’s trending. It has to inspire the hearts and minds of the people! Before long, writing a simple post or planning a short video feels less like creative work and more like a test you didn’t study for.
When that happens to me, I’ve learned it’s usually a sign to stop pushing and start paying attention to what I have actually been curious about lately.
That shift changes the work in some important ways.
1. Curiosity keeps your work authentic
Audiences are remarkably good at sensing when something is performative. If you’re forcing yourself to talk about a topic because you think you should, that lack of energy shows up immediately.
When you follow real curiosity, your interest does the heavy lifting. Your enthusiasm sneaks into the tone, the examples, and the questions you ask. Even if someone doesn’t fully agree with your perspective, they can feel that it’s genuine, and that goes a long way.
In my work, this often means starting with questions I actually want answers to, not just ideas that seem safe or strategic on paper. When I’m engaged, the work tends to feel more honest and more compelling to others, too.
2. Curiosity sparks better ideas
Anyone who has ever fallen down a Wikipedia rabbit hole will know how quickly curiosity can take you down a strange path and leave you somewhere you didn’t expect. In a world crowded with content, following your curiosity down the path less travelled can give you a fresh perspective, keep you close to new developments in your field, and help you spot connections no one else is talking about. That kind of perspective is what makes thought leadership content feel worth paying attention to. When a video starts from real curiosity, it doesn’t just deliver information. It invites people to lean in, stay with the idea, and come back to see where you’ll go next.
Some of my favourite creative breakthroughs have started as side paths that didn’t look particularly efficient at first.
3. Curiosity helps prevent burnout
Boredom is harder on our brains than we like to admit. In a study, participants were left alone in a room with nothing to do but sit with their thoughts… or administer a mild electric shock to themselves if they wanted. But who would want to do that?
Well, it turns out sixty-seven percent of men and twenty-five percent of women chose the shock over sitting alone with their thoughts. People would literally rather experience physical discomfort than boredom. (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4330241/ ).
When creative work starts to feel like a grind it’s a warning sign. Curiosity is often the fastest way out. Learning something new, chasing an unfamiliar idea, or exploring a question that sits just outside your comfort zone is energizing. It keeps the work interesting and makes it much easier to actually finish what you start.
So instead of grinding out content that checks every expected box, consider taking a small risk. Follow the question that won’t leave you alone. Wonder a little. See where it leads.
And if you don’t feel like wondering alone, we’re always happy to go exploring with you.
About the author
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