Here you go, the secret to relevance throughout your career: "I’ve spent a lifetime being curious about people and things, which, I guess, means I’m well-read and well connected."
In my own experience being naturally curious has led me down interesting paths to meet interesting people and learn amazing things. As a parent I tried (and apparently succeeded) in nurturing the natural curiosity in my children, never shutting down a legitimate[1] 'why' question with a curt answer.
If you have forgotten how to be curious it can be hard to rekindle but I think it is more a habit than a permanent change to one's brain. If you practice I like to believe it is possible to rehabilitate curiosity (even if I don't have any research to back that up.)
[1] It helps to distinguish the difference between when your child doesn't understand the answer and when they simply don't like the answer. And the best way to do that is to toss it back to them as "What part of the answer didn't make sense to you?"
In my own experience being naturally curious has led me down interesting paths to meet interesting people and learn amazing things. As a parent I tried (and apparently succeeded) in nurturing the natural curiosity in my children, never shutting down a legitimate[1] 'why' question with a curt answer.
If you have forgotten how to be curious it can be hard to rekindle but I think it is more a habit than a permanent change to one's brain. If you practice I like to believe it is possible to rehabilitate curiosity (even if I don't have any research to back that up.)
[1] It helps to distinguish the difference between when your child doesn't understand the answer and when they simply don't like the answer. And the best way to do that is to toss it back to them as "What part of the answer didn't make sense to you?"