Intense curiosity:
1) Curiosity, combined with my analytical skills and intelligence, made it possible for me to finish at the top of my country's #1 law school, power through the "slogging career years" of a newly minted law school graduate with a good attitude and strong performance reviews, and continue performing in various organizations throughout my career. I've NEVER encountered a task or project in my career that I didn't find interesting, and my curiosity has given me the resilience as well as the motivation to find answers, and produce work product, that people found helpful.
2) Curiosity enabled me to get off the standard "up and out" career track of a lawyer and led me to pursue interesting career alternatives that made it possible for me to travel the world while building up knowledge and skills that future employers valued.
3) Later in my career, curiosity led me to become involved in non-profit work and to pursue an education in photography, which ultimately led me to shift my attitude about the life I want to lead, which led me to explore FIRE.
4) Curiosity has led me to develop a personal financial plan (and stay on top of our investments), so that we can retire earlier than I once expected. (Also, curiosity led me to study for and pass Level 1 of the CFA exam, which has been helpful in my career and also relevant to the evaluation of our investments.)
5) Curiosity will continue leading me to learn more about subjects that I can either leverage for my current work gig or turn into a part-time side gig when I decide to retire from full-time work.