Good morning and happy Sunday!
If you could get up and have anything in the world for breakfast, what would it be? What’s the point of spending a few hours cheering for a football team on the TV today? What do you hope to gain from going to church? Why didn’t you sleep very well last night?
School and often society has taught us to emphasize the answers, but forming and asking questions is more important to creativity and advancement.
In light of that, ask yourself: what would it be like to abstain from coffee for a week, starting now?
Just kidding! You can do that some other day. Grab your coffee and get ready to learn about being inquisitive from history’s greatest thinker!
We often learn best through finding someone to copy. If you’re going to emulate someone, you can’t do much better than Leonardo da Vinci. Here’s why:
Leonardo da Vinci is the definition of a Renaissance Man, or someone with many talents in different areas. You probably know of Leonardo da Vinci as the artist behind the Mona Lisa. He is one of the great artists of history, but he is also regarded as one of the greatest geniuses ever to walk the earth.
In addition to painting, Leonardo is recognized as a world-class expert in the following other fields: drawing, sculpting, music, anatomy, astronomy, botany, geology, cartography, mathematics, architecture, science, and military engineering.
As an inventor, he made plans for a flying machine (the helicopter), a parachute, the extendable ladder (still used by fire departments today), a bicycle, a folding chair, and even a water-powered alarm clock.
As a military engineer, he made plans for weapons of the future. These included the machine gun, armored tank, mortar, and guided missile. He also invented a method for a ship to remain submerged under the water for an extended period, but refused to reveal the discovery because he feared “the evil nature of men who practice assassination at the bottom of the sea.”
The paragraphs above barely scratch the surface of Leonardo’s achievements, but I’ve got to get on to the next point.
Curiosity: One Key to Being Leonardo da Vinci
“He was undoubtedly the most curious man who ever lived. He wouldn’t take yes for an answer.” Kenneth Clark
Now that we’ve established that this guy is pretty impressive and far ahead of his time, how can we learn to be more like him?
One of the things that made Leonardo special was his insatiable sense of curiosity.
As a boy, Leonardo da Vinci is said to have constantly asked about anything and everything. He questioned his mathematics teacher with such originality that “he raised continuous doubts and difficulties for the master who taught him and often confounded him.”
He refused to stop asking questions. He saw a bird and asked: Why does it have two wings? Why does it have feathers? How does it “take off”? How does it slow down? How does it accelerate? How high can it fly? When does it sleep? How good is its eyesight? What does it eat?
Leonardo never lost his child-like sense of curiosity. He questioned everything and was relentless in the pursuit of truth and advancement. He studied everything with vigor and did not accept assumptions that everyone else took for granted.
Do you remember when you questioned everything?
There’s something special about our natural inclination to explore and learn, and you can see it in kids. As soon as they are born, babies naturally begin experimenting with everything in their environment.
In the wonder of curiosity and new possibilities, kids will come up with questions like: How does Santa get in when we don’t have a chimney? Why can’t I eat only cake for dinner? Where do thoughts come from? Why do spiders run away when I fart? What did it feel like on your last day of being a child?
Unfortunately, kids today who stay persistent question-askers often meet their match in our education system. Schools prioritize getting through the given curriculum, emphasizing learning facts, and following specific formulas to solve problems, but often lacking analysis and creative thinking.
Incessant curiosity and exploration are more likely to be shut down than they are to be nurtured and stimulated in our classrooms today. Kids who struggle to sit still for hours on end and “disrupt” classroom programming with many questions are likely to get medicated after a diagnosis of ADHD.
In real life, the failure to solve a problem is often the result of not asking the right questions. School teaches us that what is essential is finding the correct answers, or the answer held by the person in authority.
As a result of the way we have learned, you may not naturally think in a manner conducive to creative problem-solving.
How to solve the problems in front of you
Fear not, dear reader. You can hone your problem-solving skills by improving your question-asking ability. But this requires a shift in thinking.
When faced with an enigma, do not first focus on solving the question presented. Shift your initial emphasis away from is this the right answer and toward is this the right question?
Analyze whether there are some different ways of looking at the problem in front of you.
Now, ask who, what, when, where, why questions. A few examples are below:
When did it start? does it happen? doesn’t it happen? will the consequences be felt? must it be solved?
Who cares about it? is affected by it? created it? perpetuates it? can help solve it? has solved this problem before?
How does it happen? can I get more objective information? can I look at it from unfamiliar perspectives? can it be changed? will I know that it has been solved?
Where does it happen? did it begin? haven’t I looked? else has this happened?
Why is it important? did it start? does it continue? If you ask “why” enough times, you will get to the bottom of your issue.
Asking the right questions can re-frame issues, and contemplating the right questions will yield creative solutions that you would not have otherwise thought of.
This is all great to learn about in theory, but now it’s time to practice!
Question Exercise
In the spirit of self-improvement, I have a challenge for you.
I want you to set aside three separate times this week (one can be right after you finish this email). This exercise will only require a pen, paper, and, most importantly, a few minutes of your focus. If possible, I highly recommend going outside and leaving your phone, child, the Halloween candy you’ve already bought, and any other potential distraction somewhere else.
For the first exercise: On your paper, write out 100 questions that are important to you. A few examples for you might write out include: how do I make more money? Do I want to have kids? What is the purpose of my existence? How can I be a better husband? Why don’t I like going to work? What do I enjoy doing?
Don’t answer the questions. This isn’t the exercise of sitting still and contemplation. That’s for session #3. Try to sit down and do it all efficiently in one sitting, and don’t worry about little things like grammar or repeating the same question in different words. Just relax and let the questions flow.
The first 20 or so that you write will be “off the top of your head.” In the following 30-40, themes will start to emerge, and you will likely discover profound material in the rest.
After finishing, read through them and, without judging them, consider any emerging themes. Are your questions about relationships? Business? Fun? Money? The meaning of life?
For the second exercise (preferably the next day):
Review your list of questions.
Choose the ten that seem to be the most significant.
Rank them 1-10.
If you want to tweak the questions or even add new ones feel free to do so.
Still, don’t worry about answering the questions. Choosing and ranking the questions is enough work, and deliberating over them comes in the third exercise.
For the third exercise:
Choose one of your top ten questions.
Write it out on a blank piece of paper, and then silence your phones and any other distractions.
Go outside or to a quiet, private place, and relax.
Now is the time to contemplate your question. Try to hold your question in your mind for at least ten minutes and ponder it.
If your mind starts to wander, read the question from the paper out loud and refocus. Do this as long as you’d like.
You can repeat this exercise with any other question you feel is worth pondering.
Sitting still and thinking may or may not be a skill that you are good at, but I assure you that it will be therapeutic and come more naturally than you expect.
TL;DR
Do you want to be creative? If so, remember that answers are overrated and that questions are underrated.
Be curious and ask questions without worrying whether they seem stupid or not.
If you want to learn more about yourself, your current outlook, desires, circumstances, and priorities, go up one section and find a way to do those exercises.
What would your life look like if you adopted a mentality like that of Leonardo da Vinci? How much more could you accomplish? Where would you see personal growth? Who else would feel the effects of your improvements? When would you see the fruits of your efforts toward self-enhancement?
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
Cooper