Curiosity and love of learning are character strengths both part of the Wisdom virtue according to VIA Classification of character strengths (www.viacharacter.org).

They help us build our intelligence. Curiosity is more associated with novelty seeking, exploration and discovery for its own sake, while love of learning is more into deepening the knowledge. So shortly: if reading a blog or google searching is enough for you to find information that answers your queries, you are more into curiosity, but if you are not satisfied until your read couple of books if not all published on the topic that interests you – in that case you are more probably having love of learning as your signature strength.

Here are 3 good reasons to work upon igniting curiosity and love of learning in us and building it as a habit in our everyday life:

1. Your mind is kept active

Researchers from the University of Sussex in Brighton, U.K. have found evidence that links experiencing mental health problems throughout adulthood to memory problems at the age of 50 years.
Here comes the question: how to boost brain power at any age? And the answer is: LEARN NEW THINGS, as long as they keep you challenged and engaged. Memory, like muscular strength, requires you to “use it or lose it.”  The more you work out your brain, the better you’ll be able to process and remember information. But not all activities are equal. The best brain exercises break your routine and challenge you to use and develop new brain pathways.
2. You are more prone to create new ideas and open to possibilities.

When you are gathering new information, your mind expands it capacity to come up with new ideas. It also allows you see new worlds and possibilities which are normally not visible without certain set of information. Learning something new in one area of our lives can trigger ideas in another. So curiosity and creative thinking go hand-in-hand

3. Learning new skills boost self-confidence and connections with others

Every new skill you learn makes you a more well-rounded person. Research has proven that lifelong learning, whether acquiring a skill like coding or signing up an activity classes painting or pottery, can adds meaning to life as well as it fuels self-confidence.

The increased knowledge can become handy in different situations thus making us feel confident facing different situations in life. The more we know the more we are eager to share our knowledge with other people which enhances interpersonal connections. Our knowledge can serve us a common ground to connect with larger number of people.

This July, in our mobile application Happiness Accelerator we will offer you 31 nice and easy tasks that will help you build the habit of using curiosity and love for learning in your everyday life. Join us in this journey and we will be happy to get your feedback.
Stay healthy and be more and more curious,
Happiness Academy Team