7 Principles That Geniuses Follow

20 يناير 2023

What do geniuses do differently? Do they have a special morning routine, or interesting daily habits?

To answer these questions, we will talk about one of the smartest people in history, Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci was an artist, engineer, scientist, musician, mathematician, inventor, anatomist, geologist, astronomer, cartographer, botanist, historian, and writer. Not only did he excel in one field, but he succeeded in various fields, developing concepts that we used for centuries. Da Vinci had a specific approach to life that anyone could learn.

Author Michael J. Gelb researched da Vinci's notebooks, writings, and creations to find out how he thought and lived differently. He collected what he found in his book (Da Vincian Principles 7), which is full of original illustrations and drawings by him. Gelb explores in the book how da Vinci dealt with life. Most importantly, he explains his approach to readers in a practical and applicable way for self-improvement.

Here is a summary of the seven principles:

1. The Curiosita principle:

Curiosita is an approach of curiosity and a relentless pursuit of continuous learning.

Da Vinci was not the only one with a curiosity that knew no bounds. Many great inventors and leaders in history had a strong desire to solve the mysteries of life. There are two basic questions on which curiosity is based:

What if?
Why?

Try to ask yourself these two questions several times each day.

What if: This question prompts you to plan for the future. It helps you see opportunities that you may have missed and put things together. It is a way to increase your focus on the goal. For example, ask yourself: "What if I start a conversation with this person? What if I try this new activity? What if I start to follow a new exercise program?"

Instead of observing the world without initiative or relying on automatic reactions, thinking about causes leads you to question your own actions and the motives of others. It also keeps you honest and alert, and it forces you to live a meaningful life.

The “why” question also helps you invest every second of your life in a mission. This is why da Vinci did not waste a second of his life. He was always inventing, guessing, and experimenting.

Here are some ways you can apply this principle:

A hundred questions:

Write down 100 questions that are important to you. These may be questions that you would like to answer on your own. For example, “What is my purpose?” “What is the meaning of life?” They could be questions you want to know about everyone you meet, such as “What is your passion?” or “What makes you happy?”

Ten essential questions:

After you make a list of 100 questions, select 10 of them that you think have the most impact when asked, and choose those that elicit a feeling of motivation or accomplishment. For example:

When am I being myself completely?
What are my greatest talents?
What are my biggest desires?

Daily topics:

Da Vinci tirelessly wrote and took notes. He kept a notebook everywhere. Also you carry a diary with you, write down your thoughts and notes, and every day choose a topic. You can do this at the beginning of the day to set your intention for the day, or at the end of the day to review everything.

2. The Dimostrazione principle:

The Dimostrazione principle is a commitment to test knowledge through experience, perseverance, and a willingness to learn from mistakes. This principle calls us to:

Test every clue.
Not take anything for granted.
Experience life immediately.

Life must be an experiment, and we have to have a set of hypotheses to test every day. The hypothesis consists of a conditional sentence. For example, “If I take part in this self-development lesson, I hope to be happier” or “If I reorganize my wardrobe, it will be easier to get ready in the morning.” This exercise helps you seize opportunities, so you are always looking for solutions and testing them .

Here are some tips with which you can apply this principle:

Find someone who inspires you:

You may have heard of the most famous artists and authors. But who are your favorites? Look for them. Don't take what others say. Start your own search for artists, classical musicians, or writers who inspire you. For example, go to a museum and look at paintings without looking at the names.

Argue with yourself:

Try to play the role of a lawyer against yourself. Try to make the strongest possible argument against one of your beliefs to exercise your mind. Write at least 3 points against yourself.

3. The Sensazione principle:

The principle of Sensazione is to continually improve and develop the senses, especially sight, to bring the experience to life. Fill in the blanks in this exercise:

This ___ is so beautiful.
I love the smell of ___.
What a wonderful ___!.
I love the feel of ____ on my skin.
My ears resonate with the sound of ___.

We sometimes forget to savor and feel our experiences. We've all heard the "stop and smell the roses" advice. But when was the last time you stopped and smelled the roses? Roses are a metaphor here. When was the last time you stopped to enjoy an experience? Da Vinci was very inspired by the world around him. The more he developed his senses, the more genius he became.

Here are some ways to apply this principle:

Experience one sense each day:

Plan five experiences in the next few months where you will appreciate all of your senses.

Smell: Go to local parks. Make your own perfume. Also, learn to identify herbs by their scent at your local grocery store.
Taste: Eat a range of your favorite foods. Try new dishes, and discover your favorite spices.
Sight: Go to the local museum, then walk to a nice location. Learn some new photography techniques.
Touch: Go to your local animal shelter and volunteer to pet the puppies and kittens. Rearrange your clothes by fabric. You can go shopping and try to buy a new fabric you've never owned.
Hearing: Attend a concert. Stop by your local music store and try an instrument you've never heard before. Learn to imitate bird sounds.

4. The Sfumato principle:

The sfumato principle is the acceptance of ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty. Da Vinci has a unique ability to understand the extreme contradictions of opinions and phenomena. He was also able to explore the unknown and enjoy uncertainty. Most of us feel uncomfortable with ignorance and the questions we don't know the answers to. So, we avoid anything out of our control, stick to what we know, and immediately search the Internet for what we don't know.

We're used to knowing things or being able to figure out the answers almost instantly. So, the lack of knowledge can be pretty annoying. If you think about all the different reasons and possible answers to your question, you'll find that it's a really fun and interesting exercise. That's what the sfumato principle states. It tells us that ignorance is actually the best mental activity because it encourages you to research, think, and conclude.

Here are some ways to apply this principle:

Stop searching on the Internet: When you need to search for a word or a question, try to guess the answer instead. You can also contact a friend for help.
Accept ambiguity: List some situations from your life where you feel confused or ambiguous about an outcome, and explore the feelings associated with them.
Understanding Paradoxes: Take advantage of paradoxes by asking questions such as: “What is the relationship between my strengths and my weaknesses?” or “What is the connection between my most sad and joyful moments?”

5. The Arte/Scienza principle:

Arte/Scienza means balancing science and art, logic, and imagination.

Although da Vinci did not witness the discoveries that show the difference between the right and left hemispheres of the brain, this principle is directly related to the concept of the two parts of the brain. Put a tick next to the statements that describe you:

Right-brained people:

___ I love details.
___ I am punctual.
___ I rely on logic.
___ I'm good at math.
___ I am organized and disciplined.
___ I love lists.

Left-brained people:

___ I'm imaginative.
___ I'm good at brainstorming.
___ I love scribbling on papers.
___ I often say or do the unexpected.
___ I rely on intuition.
___ Time often passes without me noticing.

In which part did you put more ticks to the statements you agree with? Da Vinci was a firm believer in using both parts of the brain. He applied this in his notebooks by linking ideas with drawings. He was the first to draw mental maps.

Do the following to apply this principle: Draw a mental map of your life and your most important moments of it. Think about how the different parts of your life relate to each other.

6. The Corporalitá principle:

Corporalitá means agility, balance, fitness, and the ability to use both hands.

In addition to his insight, da Vinci was also an athlete. He realized early that a healthy mind resides in a healthy body, and that's absolutely true. If you don't get enough sleep at night, you won't be able to function well. If you don't eat, you'll run out of energy. Also, if you don't move enough, your back will hurt.

Here are some ways you can apply this principle:

Eat healthy food: Follow a proper diet.
Create a sleep schedule: Everyone has different sleep needs and different sleep times. Next week, track your sleep times and hours, and know the days when you notice you have the most energy. Find out when you are most active – at night or during the day – and set your sleep schedule according to that.
Use both hands: Da Vinci used both his right and left hands while working. You can also learn to do this by trying to brush your teeth or play billiards or tennis with your hand that you don't normally use.

7. The Connessione Principle:

The principle of Connessione is the realization and appreciation of the connection of things and phenomena.

This is one of da Vinci's most complex and interesting principles. It relates to a concept called "structured thinking", which is when you are able to receive huge amounts of information and organize them into lists to take action on. Also, it relates to noticing patterns. When you can create systems and recognize patterns in your life, you achieve true genius.

Here are some ways you can apply this principle:

The Book of Your Life: If you had to make an index of a book about your life, how would you arrange the events if you did not choose to arrange them chronologically?
3 Things: Pick 3 random things in your house, and try to find connections between them. For example, a blender, a garage door device, a bottle of nail polish. The faster these things work, the better. The faster the blender, the better the juice. The faster the garage door opens, the faster you get home. The faster your nail polish dries, the less likely you are to contaminate what you touch with your hands.