The Da Vinci Code

From “The Greats” to you,

Happy Friday.

I believe that everyone has a purpose. Their Ikigai. I call it their “thing”.

Your thing may be tech, or writing, or entrepreneurship. Maybe it’s none of those… but it’s the thing that you can’t stop talking about.

What @ZachPogrob describes as “Obsession”.

It’s yours. You decide if the dream lives or dies. You are responsible.

Personally, I’ve found that most people have yet to find their “thing”.

They either bounced around from idea to idea, failing to go deep enough into anything to prove themselves right or wrong, or they never questioned what it was at all.

If this is you, searching the world, or those a bit deeper, searching within themselves, to find your “thing”… you are not alone.

Rare is the individual who finds this as a child.

If you’re lucky to believe you’ve found it, welcome. This community has much to learn from you.

This is your weekly masterclass from history’s greatest humans and a short series of lessons that you can apply to your daily life.

This is “The Greats”.

If you were forwarded this week’s edition, please subscribe!

One Tale:

Leonardo Da Vinci was born the illegitimate son of a 25-year-old notary, just outside of Florence, Italy in a small town named “Vinci”. 1453.

His illegitimacy meant that while other youths of higher rank were studying Latin literature, young Leo was minimally educated in math and science.

Pity the fool that gives another’s mind the freedom to focus.

Without the conjecture of older intellectuals, Leo could think freely and creatively. When he was 15, he began painting through the workshop of Verrocchio.

For the next 15 years he mastered his craft under Verrocchio. It’s during these years that he’s credited for “The Baptism of Christ”.

In 1483, he would leave his work behind to serve under the Duke of Milan.

Da Vinci would then go on to conceive some of the earliest depictions of the helicopter, solar power, and human anatomy.

He was 43 when he painted “The Last Supper”.

51 when he painted “The Mona Lisa”

Da Vinci’s greatness did not occur overnight.

It was only after decades of service and dedication to his craft, his personal ambitions so high he often left works unfinished, that he returned to Florence as a “great master come home”.

Two Quotes:

"I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do." - Da Vinci

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things." - Da Vinci

Three Lessons:

Knowledge is power. Da Vinci’s relentless desire for understanding the world around him made him a formidable power in the high-classes of society.

His curiosity led to the first inventions of the parachute, scuba gear, and the earliest prototypes of modern tanks.

His wisdom led him to befriend the Duke of Milan, Niccolò Machiavelli, and even to die in the arms of King Francis I.

Be obsessed in your craft. While Da Vinci’s obsession with creating great art resulted in numerous pieces unfinished, his strive for perfection led him to create some of the greatest masterpieces the world has ever known.

Perfection is often ridiculed as the enemy of progress, but tell that to the 10,000,000 people who visit the Mona Lisa each year - over 500 years since its completion.

Do the work. Da Vinci never shied from hard work.

It’s estimated that he continued painting the Mona Lisa for nearly 16 years, making small adjustments as he traveled.

The legacy of his work as we know it today, took place over the course of 50 years. Can you dedicate yourself to a craft, for 50 years?