Among a few other things, I want my children to be curious about the world.

And it’s funny because I literally talked to my wife about this yesterday.

I want to instill a love for books, travel, new experiences, and (micro) failures. And I want to teach my kids to end more sentences in question marks.

Sure, there should be a handful of unshakable core beliefs. But the rest of our opinions need to be held with a curiosity to know more – or at the very least – stated with less of a chip on our shoulder.

What a beautiful mindset to pass on to those we love.

How to you foster an insatiable appetite for learning?

The only way I know is to teach it by doing it. And I hope my kids are ready for the ride.

One of the things I admire most about my mother is her adventurousness—she’s always eager to go new places and have new experiences; she’s not intimidated by new situations; she’s constantly developing new areas of mini-expertise just because she’s interested in something. I wanted to be more like that, and my resolution to “Go off the path” was meant to push me to encounter the unexpected thoughts, unfamiliar scenes, new people, and unconventional juxtapositions that are key sources of creative energy—and happiness. Instead of always worrying about being efficient, I wanted to spend time on exploration, experimentation, digression, and failed attempts that didn’t always look productive.

-Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project