How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day

Seven Renaissance habits that shatter IQ myths and unlock everyday genius

Michael J. Gelb

1998

8 Key Insights

About This Book

Discover a practical path to everyday genius by training your curiosity, testing assumptions, sharpening your senses, balancing logic with imagination, and caring for the body that carries your mind. You’ll learn how to ask better questions, redesign unhelpful beliefs through direct experience, deepen focus with sensory awareness, and stay calm inside uncertainty. With clear tools like mind mapping, 100-question sprints, journaling, and simple posture and breathing resets, you’ll turn daily moments—commutes, meetings, meals—into a laboratory for creativity. Expect lively exercises, real-world stories, and step‑by‑step guidance that makes Renaissance thinking simple, modern, and actionable.

About the Author

Michael J. Gelb is a pioneering educator in creative thinking, accelerated learning, and leadership development. Known for bringing Renaissance principles to modern life, he has coached executives at global companies and taught thousands of learners to think more clearly, learn faster, and live with greater poise. Gelb blends practical tools with engaging stories, drawing on neuroscience, psychology, the arts, and movement disciplines. His workshops are renowned for turning abstract ideas into everyday habits that improve focus, creativity, and well‑being. He writes and teaches with an accessible, playful rigor that invites people to bring their best self to real‑world challenges.

Biggest Takeaway

- Build the habit of relentless curiosity and problem framing that speeds learning and innovation. - Replace brittle opinions with experience-tested understanding, improving judgment and resilience. - Heighten attention and memory through sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch training. - Stay steady in ambiguity using practical tools for incubation, intuition, and anxiety management. - Think with your whole brain by linking analysis with imagery using mind maps. - Increase energy, posture, and coordination for clearer thinking through simple movement skills. - See systems and connections at home and work to make smarter, longer-term decisions. - Create a personal life map that aligns values, goals, and daily actions.

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