Somewhere along the way, curiosity got a bad reputation. Curiosity killed the cat, right?

But in performance? Curiosity is usually what keeps you improving.

Most people would say they’re curious. But their behavior often tells a different story.

You hear it all the time:

“I already know that.”

“We’ve tried that before.”

“That won’t work.”

Those aren’t signs of experience.
They’re signals that curiosity has stopped.

And when curiosity stops, so does improvement.

Curiosity isn’t something you either have or don’t have.
It’s something you choose, moment by moment.

High performers don’t jump to conclusions.
They explore.

They stay in the question just a little longer.
They look a little deeper.
They resist the urge to shut things down too quickly.

From there, you have a choice:

Stay with what you already know or expand your perspective.

Following one of my early Olympic experiences, where we were expected to win and didn’t, I knew we had to do something to elevate our performance for the next Games.

We needed to be fitter, stronger, and higher in the water than anyone had ever been before.

There was just one problem.

I didn’t actually know how to train that.

So, I started asking questions.

Who would know how to train this?

Who understood the physiology behind it?

Who had actually helped athletes get stronger and fitter in a way that translated into performance?

That curiosity led me to an exercise physiologist at the University of Calgary who had worked with swimmers and the National Volleyball team. He had a track record of getting results.

So, I reached out to him.

And then I started asking questions. A lot of them. Some probably pretty basic. Maybe even what others would consider “dumb”.

But that’s part of curiosity. You keep asking until you start to understand. And then you ask a little more.

He didn’t shut it down. He leaned in. And before long, he became part of our program.

We eventually gave him a nickname—Dr. Death.

That tells you a little about the workouts.

But here’s what mattered.

That willingness to expand my perspective led to new ways of thinking, new methods of training, and a level of innovation we hadn’t had before.

It didn’t just add something new.

It changed how we trained. It raised the standard. It made more possible.

In the next Olympic cycle, we didn’t just improve. We won two Olympic gold medals. In doing so, we helped push the sport to another level globally.

All of it started with a simple decision:

I don’t know enough yet… so I’m going to find out.

Curiosity is easiest when things are new.

It’s hardest when you feel certain.

The moment you think, ” I already know this,” is the moment curiosity matters most.

Because that’s usually where growth is about to stop.

Curiosity isn’t passive. You can train it.

Try these:

• Ask one more question than you normally would
• Pause before forming a conclusion
• Replace a statement with a question
• Look for one thing you might be missing

It doesn’t require a complete shift.

Just a small extension of your thinking.

Curiosity won’t hold you back.

Shutting it down too early will.

Sometimes the difference between staying where you are and moving forward is simply being curious long enough to find a better answer.