Ask Questions

Ask questions. It sounds simple, but to me, there’s no excuse for a lack of knowledge. With the vast supply of information available on the internet and in the experiences of others, I always ask if I don’t know or understand something. Sometimes, I risk looking unaware or underprepared, but I believe it’s more valuable to increase my understanding when I can. This helps me understand other people’s perspectives better while talking to them because my questions help me empathize with and rationalize their thoughts. When I become complacent with my understanding, I remind myself how much can be learned from sources one might typically overlook. 

Why do some people find asking questions so terrifying? Is it believable that public speaking is such a widely practiced fear? More than even death, people fear looking stupid. That has an interesting implication for our society and what that implies about human nature. We all are born "stupid," but as we grow up, we feel entitled to not feel stupid, entitled to know it all. Although we've evolved to create tools smarter than us, we still place these unreasonable expectations on ourselves

Rather than competing with others for knowledge, we need to embrace a more collaborative mindset, and that starts with curiosity, a genuine desire to capitalize and lean on the people and tools in our life to attain more knowledge. Only together can we prosper.