“Learning never exhausts the mind.” – Leonardo da Vinci
One of the most well-known figures to represent Renaissance culture is the world’s favorite creative genius, Leonardo DaVinci. A painter, engineer, and scientist, he lived dozens of lifetimes in one.
How did he do it?
And why have so few managed to do it since?
This is a good question, an important one in a world so simultaneously plagued with problems and blessed with beauty.
For many of us, living the life of a Renaissance person seems like a romantic pipe dream.
Indeed, it seemed not so long ago that we were all starry-eyed toddlers who had seven answers whenever an adult hovered over us and asked that expansive-but-terrifying question: “So, what do you want to be when you grow up?”
Fast forward twenty, thirty, or forty-plus years, and those pipe dreams have been flushed away.
But what if there was still time, and a strong need, for more people with DaVinci careers?
I’m not describing an alternate universe; I’m describing our reality.
Now, here are 4 easy lessons that you can apply from DaVinci himself to make it your reality too.
#1: Study Nature Closely
When designing his flight machine, DaVinci sketched an entire folio titled Flight Of Birds. He studied their wings, how air passes over them, and was even the first to document a maneuver called dynamic soaring. According to this research paper, his description pre-date the first “generally accepted explanation of the physics” of this technique by almost 400 years.
What can you take from this?
Observe patterns, systems & behaviors in the natural world.
The original creative genius is natural selection herself.
#2: Embrace Experimentation.
Another branch of Davinci’s legacy concerns his sketches of human anatomy.
At the time, dissection was against the law unless you were a physician- he wasn’t. Nevertheless, he still dissected human remains, drawing what he saw and providing us with breakthroughs about the functions of bones and muscles in the body.
Another example is DaVinci’s water vase experiment, which sought to test the theory that gravity is a form of acceleration. Ultimately, engineers at Caltech have confirmed that his understanding of gravity was centuries ahead of its time, and that he was able to calculate the gravitational constant with 97% accuracy.
But what about the experiments that didn’t quite go to plan?
His Last Supper painting, whose experimental pigment didn’t stick to the wall, leading to quick degradation.
His rejected plans to cast the bronze doors of a cathedral in Piacenza or design the dome for the cathedral of Milan.
In fact, for most of his life, DaVinci’s idea of himself was far from “creative genius”.
He considered himself a failure.
He experimented anyway.
He tested his ideas (especially if they seemed unconventional).
We need to do the same.
#3: Self-Direct Your Education.
Leonardo DaVinci was not what you would call “well-educated” in the traditional sense. He received the usual schooling of reading, writing, and arithmetic, but no “higher education” at university.
In fact, it was only once he was about 30 years old that he started diving deep into the realms of advanced geometry, arithmetic, and Latin.
At the end of the day, DaVinci was self-taught.
He did his own experiments. He led his own research. He came up with questions and sought to answer them on his own terms.
To what end?
The curse of being endlessly curious is that you are endlessly unsatisfied by the curriculums created by others.
However, once you start to direct your education to learn about what truly fascinates you, you realize that the blessing is in gaining your own unique problem-solving vision that single-field, single-culture, single-skillset individuals just don’t have. This turns you into a creative genius.
DaVinci created a curriculum that answered all his questions, and for you to do the same is easier than it’s ever been before.
Harness all the books, podcasts, YouTube videos, blogs, AI agents, and social media platforms that stimulate your curiosity.
Stop trying to make sense of your interests.
Start following them.
#4: Make Creativity A Habit.
Arguably the most important of DaVinci’s creations was the creation of a habit, or perhaps several habits that changed the way he saw and responded to the world, ultimately creating a creative genius.
So, what can you do to replicate DaVinci’s genius (or maybe just his habits) in our fast-paced, hyper-productive, mostly-online world?
Make time daily to create.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Go out for walks in nature. Bring a sketchbook and pencil with you. Spend a few minutes looking closely at one component of your surroundings, and sketch it as you observe it.
- If you’re working on a design, product, or engineering problem, look at how nature solves similar challenges.
- If you’re learning something new (coding, art, engineering), try unconventional methods without worrying about failure.
- When stuck on a project, ask: “What would happen if I did the opposite?” or “What rule can I break?”
- Pick a subject unrelated to your field and explore it (e.g. read a book or article about it, listen to a podcast episode) —Leonardo studied everything from music to anatomy.
- Set up “apprenticeships” for yourself—shadow professionals or take online courses outside of your formal education.
- Schedule daily “idea time” (even 10 minutes) to brainstorm or sketch.
- Use cross-training: If you work in STEM, do something artistic like painting or writing to keep your creativity active. If you work in the arts, try a logic puzzle or engineering concept.
- Take Leonardo-style breaks: He believed stepping away from work helped ideas incubate—try taking walks, changing environments, or switching tasks.
Thought To Action
- Keep a Curiosity Journal: Note down observations about how things work or ideas for inventions, no matter how small.
- Sketch For Your Brain: Draw diagrams and sketches to help process your thoughts and develop your ideas further.
- Study the “How” Of Everything You Find Interesting: Ask more questions and get in the habit of approaching all situations with curiosity and interest.
- Innovate Through Collaboration: Partner up with someone from another discipline to work on a project or to hear how they conceptualize particular challenges or ideas.
- Ask “What If” Questions: Regularly ask questions with a beginner’s mindset, asking the sort of “What if?” questions a child would. Make curiosity fun.
Sources
Heydenreich, Ludwig Heinrich. “Leonardo Da Vinci.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 Oct. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Leonardo-da-Vinci.
Papadopoulos, Loukia. “Experiments in Gravity: How Leonardo Da Vinci Was ahead of His Time.” Interesting Engineering, 14 Feb. 2023, interestingengineering.com/science/leonardo-da-vinci-inner-workings-of-gravity. Accessed 23 Feb. 2025.
Richardson, Philip L. “Leonardo Da Vinci’s Discovery of the Dynamic Soaring by Birds in Wind Shear.” Notes and Records: The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science, vol. 73, no. 3, 3 Oct. 2018, pp. 285–301, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsnr.2018.0024. Accessed 22 Feb. 2021.
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