Follow your curiosity. Break out of your bubble. Talk to someone different. Connect to a stranger. Take the long way home. However you say it in your language, go on, get out there and do it!

If hearing it from me isn’t enough take it from Questlove:

If you’re feeling like things aren’t going anywhere (you know the feeling — stalled, lost, paralyzed, a little desperate, can’t keep food down, long walks at night), make a point of hanging out with people from different disciplines.

Questlove in Creative Quest

Who among you chases curiosity like a moth drawn to the light? At the half century mark, the impulse to meet people from different walks, have new experiences, and learn new skills hasn’t left me. I continue to find astonishment and wonder in the breadth of what other earthlings are doing as they explore and connect with one another.

The impulse to follow my curiosity got me through medical school despite the need for prolonged study time. I simply scaled my curiosity to the subject matter and to the task. If I was bored, I jumped ahead or read until I found a spark of curiosity in the subject matter and then let myself go off leash for long enough to satisfy what caught my attention. By doing this over and over I learned enough of what I needed without its feeling like pure drudgery. I trusted that if I followed those sparks I’d learn enough to pass the tests.

Following my curiosity now means something different from what it did during that period. Now, I apply this principle of following my curiosity to enliven my whole life. I give myself permission to explore new areas of interest within and at the boundaries of my professional life because it make me feel alive. To feel alive I need the joy of combining new and old ideas. I like to bring ideas from different disciplines together. Nothing makes me happier than bringing people into a room to have a conversation.

A year ago I received the gift of an hour of mentoring from Dr. Ruth Carlos. I learned a lot from that hour, including the truth that one conversation with a person with an abundance of social connections they are willing to share can change your life. In the lively conversation that followed, her genuine questions included “What are you interested in?” and “Where do you want to end up?” I shared openly that I was interested in quality improvement (“Stop, thief! Not one more unnecessary exam!”) and in health equity (“Everyone should have access to radiology services!”) and that I loved working in communities (“The most joy I have ever experienced is as an advocate out in the streets talking to people”).

The list of five people she provided me — along with permission to reach out to them and say she had recommended I talk to them — changed the trajectory of my career. First, it made me aware that these interesting people who were also radiologists existed. Second, it gave me courage to reach out to them and learn more about what they are doing in the field. This led to further connections and reinforced the habit of reaching out and connecting.

The short list that started me off included Dr. Pam Johnson, Dr. David Larson, Dr. Lucy Spalluto, Dr. Matt Davenport, and Dr. Efren Flores. Learning about their work and the conversations that followed sparked a chain reaction that continues to the present day. I’ve now connected to dozens of physicians, educators, community activists, and artists who are working on projects at every scale from personal transformation to changing clinical practice to creating equitable departmental and national policies.

Enough from me. It’s your turn now.

Go on, get out there for a while. When the time is right, circle back and let me know if it works the magic in your life that it did in mine.