What one mindset can help ease your anxiety, improve your brain health, and lead to greater financial wealth? Curiosity. That’s according to Wendy Suzuki, professor of neural science and psychology and dean of the College of Arts and Science at New York University. She’s also a TED speaker and bestselling author, famous for exploring the brain benefits of exercise.

Surprisingly, one of the world’s top bankers, Annabel Spring, CEO of HSBC Global private banking and wealth completely agrees. This summer they had an in-depth conversation on a TED stage about anxiety, happiness, and financial well-being. The event was sponsored by HSBC. Of all the advice they offered from their two very different both considered this most important: Stay curious. Curiosity is the key to combating anxiety, learning what you need to know, and having a good life, they agreed.

The topic of curiosity came up when Suzuki asked Spring what financial advice she would give to young people. Spring’s said they should just get started. The earlier you invest, she explained, the more you can benefit from compounding interest. And the more time you spend in the market, the better you’ll do overall.

“The most important thing is starting and staying curious,” she said. “Because your needs will change. And whether you learn digitally or you learn talking to people, it doesn’t matter. Stay curious, stay engaged, and start.”

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“That’s so funny, because that’s exactly the recommendation I give about brain health,” Suzuki answered. “Stay curious about your brain health. Stay curious about what is the effect of sleep on my brain? What is the effect of alcohol on my sleep and then on my brain? If I do the movement that Wendy says to do, do I feel a difference?” She added, “That kind of self-experimentation is equally true for your brain and body health as it is for your financial health, it seems.”

They’re both absolutely right. Curiosity can help you solve almost any problem, whether it’s a challenge in your company, your personal financial health, or how to keep your brain functioning at its best, when you’re faced with stress and long hours that go into starting or running a business.

Curiosity can really help with the anxiety that plagues many people, especially when it comes to their finances, both agreed. In her book Good Anxiety (Atria Books, 2022), Suzuki argues that anxiety has a purpose. It can point you in the right direction.

“Most people just want to get rid of all their anxiety. They don’t want to think about it, they want to kick it out the door,” she told Spring. But, she said, anxiety evolved for a reason, to make us pay attention to the things that are most important. “Think about, do you lie awake at night thinking, ‘Oh my God, I didn’t get to watch that last series on Netflix. I’m so worried about that.’ No, you don’t worry about that. You worry about your work, your finances, your relationships. These are things that matter to you. And so what your anxiety is doing is really showing you what matters most.” Curiosity can help you use your time wisely.

Think about your anxiety with the same curiosity you bring to everything else. Then your anxiety can become a valuable guide. “Flip it that way and start to use your anxiety as a signpost,” Suzuki said. “Then it becomes a tool that you can use to order what you’re going to do in your day, and in your week, and in the next year.”

Curiosity can also help you manage that anxiety, Spring said. “The more curious you are, the more you know, the less you feel that uncertainty. And the less anxiety you feel.”