Brian Johnson walks through a Leonardo da Vinci exercise from Michael Gelb: spend 45 to 60 minutes writing 100 questions about anything, find the recurring themes, pick your top 10, rank them, and use those questions to guide your life and work.
Hi, this is Brian with another mini chapter from A Philosopher's Notes. This one's called da Vinci and 100 questions. Michael Gelb tells us we can learn how to think like Leonardo da Vinci. How? By mastering the seven key aspects of da Vinci's genius. It all starts with the first quality of a master curiosity. Gelb's book is packed with great stuff to help us get our curiosity on, including what may just be the most powerful journal exercise I've ever done. Go something like this. Find yourself a quiet place where you can relax with your journal for a good 45 to 60 minutes of uninterrupted know thyself time. When you're nice and comfy, bust open your journal and write down 100 questions on anything you find interesting. Could be anything from why is the sky blue? And why are my boogers green? To what is my purpose in life? Just write whatever flows. If you're like me, you'll probably find that the first dozen or two come relatively easily. Then you might hit a tough spot and want to give up. Don't keep on writing. Even if you repeat yourself and or don't feel totally inspired, you'll hit another burst of inspiration. Keep at it till you get to 100. Once you've written your 100 questions, look back over them and see if you notice any themes. You talk about your professional or creative pursuits. A lot. Your health. Your family. Spirituality. What themes emerge for you? Notice them. Identify the top 10 questions you find most inspiring. Which questions really fire you up? Write those down in a new place. Then rank order those 10 questions from 1 to 10, with 1 being the most inspiring question out of the whole 100. Now the fun's begun. It's time to make your life an answer to or expression of the those questions. I'm telling you, those 10 questions have really shaped my life since I wrote them over about a decade ago, and I highly, highly encourage you to take the time. Write 100 questions. Notice the themes. Pick out your top 10 questions, then rank order them 1 to 10. I promise you you're going to get some great goodness out of that. So hope you enjoyed this little mini chapter. DaVinci and 100 questions. Have an awesome day. Look forward to sharing more with you soon. See you.
