da Vinci's career advice

There’s a passage from Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks where he describes finding the entrance to a great cave while wandering through the hills. Standing there, he writes that two opposite emotions took hold of him:

Fear... and curiosity.

Fear of the darkness inside.

Curiosity to discover whether something extraordinary was waiting ahead.

Five hundred years later, we're still talking about Leonardo. Not because he never felt fear, but because his curiosity won.

Looking back, most of the moments that shaped my career felt a little like standing at the entrance of a cave.

Changing countries.

Taking on projects I wasn't sure I was ready for.

(And yes, occasionally clicking "Publish" while wondering if anyone would read what I wrote...)

None of those decisions felt obvious at the time. But each one opened a door to the next opportunity.

In marketing, my job is often to help brands tell better stories and inspire people to see possibilities they hadn't considered. The funny thing is, I have to remind myself of that lesson too.

The cave isn't always a drastic life decision.

Sometimes it's a project you've been postponing.

Or simply believing you're capable of more than you've given yourself credit for.

Fear usually shows up first.

But maybe curiosity is also waiting for us to take the challenge.

What's one cave you've been glad you decided to enter?