Inquisitive.me

Having stuff isn’t fun, getting stuff is fun.

Jimmy Carr

We think winning feels good.

The first squat after an injury feels good.

Launching your first project feels good.

Completing your first successful training session feels good.

Finally having that difficult conversation with your boss feels good.

But what happens when you do it for the tenth time?

Or the fiftieth?

Or the hundredth?

You are still succeeding. You are still doing something that once felt difficult.

But now it feels… normal.

Because perhaps it isn’t winning itself that feels so good.

Perhaps it’s growth.

At certain points, winning and growth look exactly the same. When you achieve something for the first time, you are not only succeeding. You are also proving to yourself that you can do something you couldn’t do before.

But eventually, yesterday’s achievement becomes today’s baseline.

The squat is no longer a milestone. It’s just part of your training.

The project is no longer new. It’s simply your work.

The difficult conversation becomes one of many conversations you know how to handle.

You are still winning. It just doesn’t feel as exciting anymore because what was once growth has become familiar.

That is what I take from Jimmy Carr’s quote.

Having the thing is rarely as exciting as getting there.

Winning becomes normal.

Growth keeps us interested.

The slightly inconvenient part is that growth requires us to spend time in the space between not knowing and knowing.

That space can be frustrating.

You feel clumsy. You make mistakes. You don’t know whether you’re doing it correctly. Sometimes you wonder why you started in the first place.

But learning to tolerate that frustration builds resilience. And eventually, something that once felt impossible becomes normal too.

So, whenever you feel stuck, perhaps you don’t need another win.

Perhaps you need something new to learn.

If your training feels dull, try a new exercise, variation, or challenge that still fits your goal. It may not revolutionize your progress, but learning a new movement can make training interesting again.

If your job feels grey and repetitive, take one small step into an unfamiliar area. Learn something about marketing. Try a new tool. Start learning a language that might become useful later.

If every book on your shelf feels the same, choose a genre you would normally ignore.

Not every new thing has to be productive.

Not everything you learn has to improve your performance, advance your career, or become another project.

Sometimes curiosity is reason enough.

Winning isn’t always fun.

Growth often is.

And learning something new can make life just a little more spicy.

🧪 Let’s Experiment

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If everything feels predictable, do something you don’t already know how to do.

We often enjoy being competent. Unfortunately, competence can become rather repetitive.

Learning brings back uncertainty, mistakes, and the occasional moment of wondering whether your limbs have ever received instructions from your brain.

🎯 Try This:

This week, try one thing you might be bad at.

Not something dangerous. Not a dramatic life change. Just something unfamiliar enough that you have to pay attention again.

Try the exercise.

Read the strange book.

Attempt the recipe.

Learn the first sentence in a new language.

Then notice whether being a beginner feels only frustrating—or also a little more alive.

🧠 Final Thought:

You don’t have to be good at everything you do.

Sometimes curiosity returns the moment you stop expecting yourself to be.

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