Describe the tongue of the woodpecker.

There’s a story behind that.

This is your daily message from Chad number 1212 to upgrade your mental game today by telling yourself a better story, because the most important story you hear is the story you tell yourself. This message is dedicated to Laurie Evans on her birthday. Happy birthday Laurie!

Here’s the upgrade:

You may think the greats had something you don’t, but upgraded thinking knows you already have what they had.

Here’s the story:

In 1508, Leonardo da Vinci made a to-do list. Most of it was ordinary for him. Get forceps. Get a scalpel. Get ahold of a skull. And then, in the middle of all that: “Describe the tongue of the woodpecker.”

For centuries, people read that as a quirk. A genius being odd. Walter Isaacson, a biographer, didn’t. He did what Leonardo would have done and went looking. It turns out a woodpecker’s tongue is so long it wraps around the inside of the bird’s skull, which helps stabilize its brain while it hammers a tree. It wasn’t a random note. It was a frontier.

Leonardo wanted to know why people yawn. How they walk on ice. What makes a heart valve close. Why the edges of shadows blur. Nobody assigned him any of it. Isaacson opens the book with a line from Albert Einstein, “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” Curious comes from Latin word cura that we get the word care. It’s special interest or taking trouble.

Leonardo had talent. So did Einstein. But talent wasn’t what set them apart. Curiosity was. It doesn’t take a genius, either. Herb Kelleher founded Southwest Airlines. When his son studied physics, Herb started reading physics so they’d have something to talk about. Before a speech in Richmond, Virginia, he read a 300-page history of the city. At dinner that night he was pointing out where the old battle works had stood. A colleague said, “He didn’t do it to show off. He did it because he loves history.” He put more care into it than was necessary.

You can’t predict what curiosity pays. You just know it pays. Talent gets you a head start. Curiosity keeps you ahead of the pack for a lifetime. Nobody has to make you work on what you’re curious about. You’ll get up early for it. You’ll stay late for it. You’ll read the 300 pages.

The better story to tell yourself is, “I don’t need more talent. I need more curiosity.” You have what the greats have, but don’t always use it. They wondered. They stayed curious. It will take you farther than anyone else’s talent will. Write your own version of a woodpecker tongue on today’s list. One thing you want to know for no reason at all. Then go find out.

Tell me a story of something you got curious about to fromchadsmith@gmail.com. Send someone a text and ask them, “Just out of curiosity, what could you talk about for an hour without getting bored?” You can get a free copy of my book, The Most Powerful Story in the World, by going to fromchad.gumroad.com. The transcript of this message and hundreds of others are always available at http://www.fromchad.com.