it all starts with a question a gap
between what we know and what we don’t
know and it’s curiosity that makes the
urge to fill that gap compulsive I grew
up on a dairy farm just outside Nantwich
as a young girl I used to help my dad
collect the cows for milking and I was
fascinated by the cow’s behavior
watching them follow that same path back
through the field every day to the
milking parlor walking at the same
steady pace they would fall into line
filing along their well-worn self-made
tracks compliantly
waiting in line to be milked I was
curious about how they followed that
same pattern every day twice a day
creatures of habit throughout my life
I’ve always been fascinated by human
behavior and how we work as a school
girl in 1986 I made three wishes for the
future one of those wishes was to live
until I was 200 can you imagine
because I wants to see how the world
changed
I was curious still am about where we’re
heading what we’re learning and what
we’re not learning fast enough day to
day day to day in life I’m an explorer I
love discovering new things a different
route home a great book or an
undiscovered country pub and I am
intrigued by what makes people tick
our stories passions and motivations I’m
curious what energizes you and how is
that different from the person who sat
right next to you what’s holding you
back and how is it that sometimes we end
up falling in line just like the cows
curiosity is a natural drive much like
hunger or thirst we’re all born with it
so why is adults do we have a tendency
to pull back stay safe and move away
from anything that’s too far outside
comfort-zone fear undoubtedly plays a
big part in this but so does complacency
it’s as though we reach a saturation
point in life where we’ve experienced so
many things that we somehow assume we
know enough and we settle back into our
familiar well-worn tracks complacency is
no friend of curiosity like a muscle
it needs flexing so I’d like to ask you
something bring to mind your favorite
comfy armchair you know the one or maybe
it’s the spot on the sofa that’s yours
I’d like you to imagine that you settled
into it right now notice how it looks
and feels notice what you can see around
you familiar objects why is it that you
always choose to sit there how do you
feel when someone else is in your spot
and what would happen if you mix things
up a bit my dad’s favorite armchair was
his recliner a huge brown 1980s chair
fabric worn and tatty
were oh so comfy the chair creaks and
groans when Dad kicked it back to relax
and with the further push he was fully
horizontal and ready for his nap despite
my mom’s best endeavours to get rid of
that chair dad hung onto it for years it
was battered and frayed screws were
loose and bits were fallin off but it
was comfortable and familiar ten years
ago I found myself stuck in my armchair
I’d fallen into one of those comfortable
ruts at work doing the same thing day in
day out
operating on autopilot really not
enjoying it
not disliking it enough to do anything
about it stagnating hanging on telling
myself I was staying for the money the
benefits the security all good reasons I
thought and then something happened I
had a moment of realization a wake up
call someone at work who I respected
told me I’d lost my spark they said my
energy used to light up a room now it
didn’t my first reaction was shock shock
that someone had even noticed this for
in my mind I was just getting on with
things being normal I thought was it
that evident that I’d lost my spark
I felt crushed that I’d allowed it to
happen and sad that wasn’t me anymore
but after the hurt had worn off of it I
picked myself up and in my mum’s words
got on with it I began to get curious
about what exactly my spot was I’ve
never thought about it before I wondered
where it had gone and how I was going to
get it back
instinctively I began to write a list a
list of everything I was good at enjoyed
or had ever been interested in I got it
all down in the back of my notebook it
was a really random list I had no idea
where I was heading with it but I
allowed myself to be okay with not
knowing and instead I got curious about
what could happen it felt so good to be
making small steps out of that rot again
and it was the start of a fantastic
adventure Marcel Proust said the real
voyage of discovery consists not in
seeking new landscapes but in seeing
with new eyes so I chose to sit in a new
armchair and I viewed the world
differently
I stalked her one rule and one rule only
I followed what interested me it was
great I enrolled on courses I read books
watch videos join groups and connected
with a whole new world of people who
were curious about learning just like me
I immerse myself in the process and
flexing my curiosity motivated me to
learn in all areas of life that were
meaningful to me
so I delve deeper into human behavior
beliefs and attitudes to change
I was curious about potential how little
of it we actually use and how we often
find ourselves settling for situations
that make us unhappy because we think we
have no choice in truth there is always
a choice
a choice to choose how to look at a
situation a choice to view it a
different way
a choice to move armchairs here’s
something that will make you smile did
you know that on average a child can ask
up to a hundred questions every hour a
hundred questions is that all some of
your thinking I bet many of you as
parents me included get impatient by the
endless stream of questions some days it
feels like it will never stop but what’s
surprising is that by the time children
start school that natural sense of
wonder is already starting to escape
them answers are often more valued than
inquisitive thoughts and curiosity
simply trained out of us can you imagine
if adults asked questions at the same
pace as children it would ping
exhausting and completely unrealistic
but we must beware the opposite end of
the spectrum for when we don’t ask
enough questions when we lose interest
when we settle back we risk losing our
spark
and we find ourselves saying things like
I’m too old for that it’s not really me
or I can’t be bothered William Roth said
every man dies but not every man really
lives so how would you feel reaching the
end of your life sat in your armchair
looking back at how it all went did you
do that stuff you were curious about did
you find and follow what really
interested you no matter how big or
small or did you settle back and think
I’ve got plenty of time
I get round to it next week I want to
challenge you to get out of your
armchair – literally and figuratively
see the world with new eyes go and find
your spark it’s what makes you you
life is a great adventure and there is
no better time than now do you want to
stay safe or do you want to explore
thank you
[Applause]
between what we know and what we don’t
know and it’s curiosity that makes the
urge to fill that gap compulsive I grew
up on a dairy farm just outside Nantwich
as a young girl I used to help my dad
collect the cows for milking and I was
fascinated by the cow’s behavior
watching them follow that same path back
through the field every day to the
milking parlor walking at the same
steady pace they would fall into line
filing along their well-worn self-made
tracks compliantly
waiting in line to be milked I was
curious about how they followed that
same pattern every day twice a day
creatures of habit throughout my life
I’ve always been fascinated by human
behavior and how we work as a school
girl in 1986 I made three wishes for the
future one of those wishes was to live
until I was 200 can you imagine
because I wants to see how the world
changed
I was curious still am about where we’re
heading what we’re learning and what
we’re not learning fast enough day to
day day to day in life I’m an explorer I
love discovering new things a different
route home a great book or an
undiscovered country pub and I am
intrigued by what makes people tick
our stories passions and motivations I’m
curious what energizes you and how is
that different from the person who sat
right next to you what’s holding you
back and how is it that sometimes we end
up falling in line just like the cows
curiosity is a natural drive much like
hunger or thirst we’re all born with it
so why is adults do we have a tendency
to pull back stay safe and move away
from anything that’s too far outside
comfort-zone fear undoubtedly plays a
big part in this but so does complacency
it’s as though we reach a saturation
point in life where we’ve experienced so
many things that we somehow assume we
know enough and we settle back into our
familiar well-worn tracks complacency is
no friend of curiosity like a muscle
it needs flexing so I’d like to ask you
something bring to mind your favorite
comfy armchair you know the one or maybe
it’s the spot on the sofa that’s yours
I’d like you to imagine that you settled
into it right now notice how it looks
and feels notice what you can see around
you familiar objects why is it that you
always choose to sit there how do you
feel when someone else is in your spot
and what would happen if you mix things
up a bit my dad’s favorite armchair was
his recliner a huge brown 1980s chair
fabric worn and tatty
were oh so comfy the chair creaks and
groans when Dad kicked it back to relax
and with the further push he was fully
horizontal and ready for his nap despite
my mom’s best endeavours to get rid of
that chair dad hung onto it for years it
was battered and frayed screws were
loose and bits were fallin off but it
was comfortable and familiar ten years
ago I found myself stuck in my armchair
I’d fallen into one of those comfortable
ruts at work doing the same thing day in
day out
operating on autopilot really not
enjoying it
not disliking it enough to do anything
about it stagnating hanging on telling
myself I was staying for the money the
benefits the security all good reasons I
thought and then something happened I
had a moment of realization a wake up
call someone at work who I respected
told me I’d lost my spark they said my
energy used to light up a room now it
didn’t my first reaction was shock shock
that someone had even noticed this for
in my mind I was just getting on with
things being normal I thought was it
that evident that I’d lost my spark
I felt crushed that I’d allowed it to
happen and sad that wasn’t me anymore
but after the hurt had worn off of it I
picked myself up and in my mum’s words
got on with it I began to get curious
about what exactly my spot was I’ve
never thought about it before I wondered
where it had gone and how I was going to
get it back
instinctively I began to write a list a
list of everything I was good at enjoyed
or had ever been interested in I got it
all down in the back of my notebook it
was a really random list I had no idea
where I was heading with it but I
allowed myself to be okay with not
knowing and instead I got curious about
what could happen it felt so good to be
making small steps out of that rot again
and it was the start of a fantastic
adventure Marcel Proust said the real
voyage of discovery consists not in
seeking new landscapes but in seeing
with new eyes so I chose to sit in a new
armchair and I viewed the world
differently
I stalked her one rule and one rule only
I followed what interested me it was
great I enrolled on courses I read books
watch videos join groups and connected
with a whole new world of people who
were curious about learning just like me
I immerse myself in the process and
flexing my curiosity motivated me to
learn in all areas of life that were
meaningful to me
so I delve deeper into human behavior
beliefs and attitudes to change
I was curious about potential how little
of it we actually use and how we often
find ourselves settling for situations
that make us unhappy because we think we
have no choice in truth there is always
a choice
a choice to choose how to look at a
situation a choice to view it a
different way
a choice to move armchairs here’s
something that will make you smile did
you know that on average a child can ask
up to a hundred questions every hour a
hundred questions is that all some of
your thinking I bet many of you as
parents me included get impatient by the
endless stream of questions some days it
feels like it will never stop but what’s
surprising is that by the time children
start school that natural sense of
wonder is already starting to escape
them answers are often more valued than
inquisitive thoughts and curiosity
simply trained out of us can you imagine
if adults asked questions at the same
pace as children it would ping
exhausting and completely unrealistic
but we must beware the opposite end of
the spectrum for when we don’t ask
enough questions when we lose interest
when we settle back we risk losing our
spark
and we find ourselves saying things like
I’m too old for that it’s not really me
or I can’t be bothered William Roth said
every man dies but not every man really
lives so how would you feel reaching the
end of your life sat in your armchair
looking back at how it all went did you
do that stuff you were curious about did
you find and follow what really
interested you no matter how big or
small or did you settle back and think
I’ve got plenty of time
I get round to it next week I want to
challenge you to get out of your
armchair – literally and figuratively
see the world with new eyes go and find
your spark it’s what makes you you
life is a great adventure and there is
no better time than now do you want to
stay safe or do you want to explore
thank you
[Applause]
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