Following Curiosity
Written by: Fritz Nugent

Backstory

I wrote an email to someone in my tribe yesterday. She had mentioned that a large factor in joining Invictus was to place herself around people who have their sh*t together. She seeks to understand what makes successful people “tick”. She has difficulty with consistency. They struggle to stick to a training schedule. To a diet. They have specific goals, but still find challenges with motivation. 

I thought about this for a week, then responded with the intention to inspire and came off neutral with some positivity and some negativity sprinkled in:

“To dig into your last email a little bit, you mentioned wanting to learn how successful people at this gym “tick”. I’ll tell you. Some people only have a go button, so they go until they break. These people are easy to motivate and difficult to keep healthy because they tend to do too much and end up with injuries and setbacks. Other people are more cerebral and have to ponder every little thing. They are more difficult to keep consistent. I’m the latter.

The truth is that after a few or many years of training, we all get sick of it. It’s not about enjoyment. There are definitely moments of joy throughout the process, but it is fleeting. Most days are about punching the clock. We must each learn how to consistently muster up the will power to show up, whether we want to, or not. There is no secret. There is no trick that you will learn about how these people “tick”. Everyone has pro’s and con’s about how they view the world, exercise, nutrition, everything. And we must all find our own way.”

Digging Deeper

I probably should have waited another day. Soon after hitting the send button on this email, I began to dig deeper into my own why with training and health. I definitely fall into the latter camp, those that overthink every little detail and have trouble making definitive decisions. And I do experience spurts of highs and lows with training and life, similar to many others. Then something jumped out at me. I have been really enjoying my training and life lately. One major thing that jumps out right now is not a mental toughness aspect, or digging deep into my why. It’s simply that I’m curious.

Curiosity leads to all sorts of offshoots, long cuts, and detours. You get lost in your thoughts. You get physically lost sometimes. And along the way, you find things you didn’t even know you were looking for. Things that you didn’t know existed. Things that change your life forever. Sometimes you explore so far along a pathway that when you stop to look around, you realize that you are nowhere near where you once were and cannot fathom if you are better off, worse, or just different.

How to Follow Curiousity

Curiosity is more than a distraction. It’s digging into the minutia. Begin by asking questions and following their tendrils, even if the avenues seem silly, redundant, or even stupid. 

Here’s a summary of my thoughts over the last 3 months:

“Why does my hip still hurt? It’s only a little painful, and some days are really good. Just leave it. Go power clean. No, that’s not enough. There’s an answer out there. All you have to do is look. How have others solved this problem? Let’s try those things. How does it feel when I do “X”? No, that’s not right. “Y”? Better. How about “Q”? Ok, that feels different. What if I tweak it? No one’s done it this way before that I am aware of. Is this because it’s wrong, or because no one else thought of it? What am I missing? Or maybe someone has thought of and tried it this way and it didn’t work for them. Maybe it’ll work for me. That actually feels really good. Wow, my hip likes that. I actually feel tall when I run now. And I can jump again without feeling like my hips and spine are not connected! And now my foot strikes the ground differently when I run and my right foot pain has changed. A new pain! That is truly exciting. Now, what does that mean…?”

Following Curiosity is a Process

And the process continues. The questions build off of each other. Following your curiosity seems to provide rich fuel for exploration. And exploring provides inspiration and motivation! You begin to see old things renewed. And if your intention is self improvement, then you will most definitely be better off when you stop and look around. Not all who wander are lost.