Millions of apple trees around the world and billions of apples fall off of them. On one ordinary day, an apple fell on the right head. And voila we had the concept of gravity.

History is filled with narratives of how great people made accidental discoveries and changed the course of the world. We term them accidental because we fail to acknowledge the underlying traits.

An apple falling from a tree was disregarded as unimportant until Newton gave it a second thought. He questioned what seemed to be normal.

Great things are discovered by people who question the ordinary.

We’ve always been told that there is no stupid question and that our questions help teach the entire room. And yet many questions go unasked.

While working to create a strong adhesive, a scientist accidentally created a light one. He persistently tried to find a use case for his failed product and that is why we have the wonderful post-it notes on our desks.

As adults, we work to achieve something. We usually have the success outcome already drafted. If the results stray off, we mark them as failed attempts, change our methods, and move on.

Great things are discovered by people who are persistent.

In this era, with the world rapidly increasing its pace, we need to be on our toes too. We cannot discredit our ideas based on simplicity or even the absurdity of it.

A million-dollar idea is not around the corner. As we get new ideas we need to evaluate their worth and let go of the ones that do not make the cut. Thus, clearing space in our heads for better ones. Once we fall into that habit the winning one shouldn’t be far away.

My 5-year old thought that it would be a good idea to glue paper to the floor. She was having trouble keeping her paper still while painting. It was absurd and it turned out to be very painful for me. And as her finished masterpiece was torn away, she learned a memorable lesson. She tried a few more ways until stumbling upon the concept of paperweights. And that’s how she got there.

Until you are convinced that it will be a failure there will always be a part of your mind stuck on it, trying to make it work. Hurrying on to the next one won’t always turn out to be effective.

How do you wire your mind to spit out ideas? You need to become curious. You need to be in awe of that which goes on around you.

This new year let us gift ourselves curiosity. After all, it’s the thought that counts!