"Thought leaders" aren't always the most intelligent, most gifted or most creative people.

But they tend to be the most genuinely curious, they adopt a beginners mindset to learning and they constantly challenge their own beliefs.

This is way harder to do than it sounds.

It's uncomfortable to constantly challenge what we think we know. The easy route is to believe that you've figured it out once you achieve a certain degree of results.

Beginner's mindset:

"Having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level, just as a beginner in that subject would."

You have to be willing to go down rabbit holes, and to leave no stone unturned in search for answers...even if you already have an "effective" approach and if the chance of finding a golden nugget down that rabbit hole is slim.