A Letter to Nash: Curiosity Over Certainty

As I sit here waiting for the day I get to meet you, I keep circling back to if I could give one piece of advice what would it be?

Here's my answer: follow your genuine curiosity, even when the world tells you to choose certainty.

The Seduction of Certainty

Certainty is seductive. It's what you gets implicitly rewarded in life. Follow the script: work hard at school, get into university, pick a career, get a job.

When I got into law school, I had the kind of path people approve of. But sitting in a lecture hall one day, Commercial law - I thought, this isn't it. Not for the rest of my life anyway.

Leaving was nowhere near logical. It wasn't safe. But I knew. And when I stepped off the safe path, gradually, my life opened up.

Sometimes we lose ourselves in shoulds, in trying to be someone.

Don’t try to be someone, rather find the thing that is so engaging that it makes you forget yourself.

Curiosity as a Compass

Curiosity is not a roadmap. It doesn't give you the steps, it just gives you a direction nudging you to right where you should be.

It took me from law school gradually into coaching, full time. Which I didn't even know was possible.

It guided me to move states with no guarantees.

It fuels why I write and read so much.

It told me our time in Tasmania was done, to come home.

With some luck, it took me to an U19 Women's World Cup - one of the most rewarding coaching experiences of my life.

And now, it's guiding me into Fatherhood, the biggest unknown of all.

Tracking Instead of Mapping

Boyd Varty, author and a man who grew up tracking animals in Londolozi Game Park in South Africa says life is more like tracking animals than following a map. You don't know exactly where the path will lead, but you learn to follow first tracks. You follow the signs one at a time, and eventually a trail starts to emerge.

The mindset of the tracker, is that 'the path of not here' is part of the path.

"Prepare to hear the call, invite the unknown, look for the first track, tune in to the instrument of the body, and learnt to see the track amidst many that brings you life."

When we decided to leave Tasmania, it wasn't so much a thought it was a visceral, feeling deep in my gut.

I spent day after day asking and trying to listen to that feeling in my body. Eventually I knew what to do. 'Do you have a job lined up when you get back?' - was the most obvious and frequently asked question.

No was the answer. Is that courage or stupidity? But I tried to listen to Boyd Varty.

"Step off the superhighway of modern life and go quietly onto your own track. Go to a new trail where you can hear the whisper of your wild self i the echoes of the forest."

Live deeply in your own inner guidance.

Lessons to Carry

• Follow your own track, not the map. Even if nobody can see it.

• Stay attuned. The signs are there if you're aware enough to notice.

• Become so unique that luck becomes your destiny. When you are truly unique, you don’t have to chase opportunities — they chase you.

One day, you’ll stand at a crossroads. One path will be mapped and safe. The other will feel unclear, but alive.

Every good thing in my life came from choosing curiosity over certainty, from tracking rather than mapping.

So if you ever feel lost, remember: you don’t need the whole plan. You just need the next track. That’s enough.

See you soon, Nash.

Love Dad