Be the Next Leonardo da Vinci

When we were young, we might have thought of becoming a scientist in one instance, than a singer in another? Or we dreamt of going into outer space as an astronaut when we watched on televisions rockets launching into the sky, but in the next moment, we thought it would be better to stay grounded on earth and become a doctor?

Could it be possible that in our lifetime, we could take on many of these roles that we used to dream of ?

Timeline of your life

Timeline of your life

One of the pros of being a freelancer is that I have a flexible work schedule and also more free time on my hands. To broader my mind and grow as a person is one of my goals during my stint as a freelancer. So, in the past year, I actually spent more time attending seminars and workshops than I have ever done in the last decade. The best part is that many of those seminars and workshops were free.

Guess I’m a typical Singaporean who likes free stuff. Of course, there were paid seminars and courses that I went to as well if the cost was reasonable and within my budget. If there is a free preview, I’ll definitely go for it to get more ideas and knowledge and also to check out the speaker, before signing up for any paid courses. Basically, I just like to make my money worth it.

I’ll like to share some enlightening takeaways that I have gotten from one of the seminars I went to. In future posts, I’ll share more of such valuable insights from seminars and workshops that I have gone to.

Nurturing Leonardos Conference

One of my idols is Leonardo da Vinci. Why am I fascinated with him? I have deep admiration for Leonardo da Vinci as he was a polymath. Leonardo da Vinci was a painter, a scientist, an inventor, a mathematician, an anatomist, a musician, an architect and many more. His talents spanned many disciplines. He was a person who made use of his whole brain, instead of being a logical left-brain person, or a creative right-brain person. I am captivated by this man who lived centuries ago because my own talents and interests span the left as well as the right brains. In school, I did well for subjects such as mathematics. I also enjoy going to artistic events.

In one of the educational conference I went to this year, it focused on how we could nurture future Leonardos in Singapore’s education system. There were several insightful  talks about how we could learn from Leonardo da Vinci and one of the speakers shared a brilliant idea that in our lifetime, we have many opportunities to be great at something if we devote 7 years of our lives to each of the endeavour. So, if you live to age 88, which is a realistic lifespan in Singapore, you have 11 opportunities to be great at something after the age of 11.

Your lifetime

Your lifetime

So, don’t be afraid if you ever thought of becoming a scientist, a lawyer, a writer, a musician or an entrepreneur at different stages of your life. Of course, some professionals might require you to devote more time to becoming great. For example, if you want to become a lawyer or doctor, you need to spent several years studying for your qualifications before practising.

Learn from Leonardo da Vinci

Keep learning and exploring like Leonardo da Vinci. The idea is that you shouldn’t let your limited belief stop you from pursuing what you really want to do in life.  So, take heart, keep the faith and you might even be the next Leonardo da Vinci in the making.