Many of us aspire to do something meaningful with our lives, and in order to aspire to something we must first suspect that we have the potential to do something more, or different, than whatever it is we are presently doing. We believe every woman is capable of creating a meaningful life for herself; otherwise we would not be wasting our time leading one of the biggest women empowerment movement in North America, or writing this women empowerment blog. YOU must also think you are capable of evolving your life, or you would not be wasting your time being a part of our community, or reading this blog. So if humans have the capacity and drive towards something more, how can we explore that potential and focus our efforts optimally?

For this we’ll take a look at one of the greats who ever walked this earth – Leonardo Da Vinci. He is such a striking example of human potential, that we shouldn’t move to fill his shoes, but rather learn from him to bring out the genius that lies in all of us. As William Manchester writes in his book “A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age” regarding Da Vinci’s life:

“So mighty was his intellect and so broad the spectrum of his gifts—he was, among other things, a master of engineering, biology, sculpture, linguistics, botany, music, philosophy, architecture, and science—that presenting an adequate summary of his feats is impossible.”

And somewhere along the way Da Vinci was able to find time to paint The Adoration of Magi, the Mona Lisa, and The Last Supper.

So how did he do all of that in one lifetime? Was he also a genius at time management or tackling his to-do list? Many others have asked these questions, and some have taken the time to study Da Vinci’s notebooks in an effort to figure out what made him so unique. (He kindly left humanity 7000 pages of hand-written mirror script that can be read when held to a mirror ☺

One of the qualities that emerge from an analysis of his work is that he had an insatiable curiosity about everything. He questioned everything! So how can we apply this to evolving and achieving more in our own life?

It may be as simple as embarking on a self-inquiry journey – connecting with our inner intelligence or higher self, documenting our findings, setting a plan in motion by implementing SMART goals, and moving consistently with discipline in the direction of our vision.

Michael Gelb, in his book “How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day” talks about self-inquiry. He explores how we can exercise our minds on many different levels, and carve out our own life design. Here is his exercise for self inquiry:

1 Grab a notebook that has a lot of blank pages in it.

2 In one sitting, write down 100 questions that are meaningful to you. Don’t worry about grammar, some overlap of questions, or details such as spelling. Gelb says “Any kind of question as long as it’s something you deem significant.” Do not attempt to answer any of them as yet.

3 Read your list and note what themes emerged.

4 Do your best to choose the ten that are most important to you, and rank them according to importance. Refrain from answering any of them as yet.

After completing this exercise, take a break and let it marinade. In about three days, when you have at least 30 minutes to spare, choose one question from your list that seems interesting at the moment. Contemplate the question by writing it again on a blank page, and do your best to keep your mind on the one question and note what thoughts it conjures. Engage in a stream of consciousness writing session on this particular question, and then read over what came out and highlight parts that strike you as insightful. Work through your questions over time, and feel free to add more and also change ranking as your understanding evolves.

We are all unique! Our circumstances, our perceptions, our stories, our paths, the gifts we are each capable of offering the world – all of these are different for everyone. Thus, we cannot strive to be Da Vinci, but what we can each do, is strive to be our best self.

With love, gratitude, and empowered attitude,