The Da Vinci Approach to Personal Development

Oh, the joy of early Saturday morning coffee and working on side projects, our little labors of passion and love. Many have written about the importance of having a side project from both a personal and professional perspective. I call them little experiments, a little of this, and a little of that in a never-ending pursuit of personal growth and development.

The Da Vinci Approach to Personal Development
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Feb 25, 2023
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I love Saturday morning coffee and working on side projects, our little labors of passion and love. Many have written about the importance of having a side project from both a personal and professional perspective. I call them little experiments, a little of this, and a little of that in a never-ending pursuit of personal growth and development.
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As humans, we are naturally curious and creative beings. However, our busy schedules and daily routines often leave us feeling unfulfilled and uninspired. This is where side projects/experiments come in.
Side projects are personal passion projects allowing us to explore and express our creativity outside our regular work or duties. Whether painting, coding, writing, or photography, side projects allow us to pursue our interests, learn new skills, and challenge ourselves in ways we may not be able to in our daily lives.
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My experiments are often fleeting, sometimes time-consuming, but always worth the effort. The hardest part for me is forcing myself to document what I learned. This step is important because we will forget little things, or at least I do, so having reference material is essential. These little nuggets of information are the diamonds in the rough, the lessons or insights that can become part of other ideas and projects later.
We can blog, journal, or write on post-it notes, it doesn't matter; we have something that will document our work. The information is a valuable reference and a reminder of what we have accomplished and learned.
It may also be valuable to others one day, your family or even the world.
Bill Gates paid $30 million dollars for a collection of Leonardo da Vinci's journals. Da Vinci produced thousands of journals on many topics, which are now part of his legacy.
"Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you." - Oprah Winfrey
Bill Gates paid $30 million dollars for a collection of Leonardo da Vinci's journals. Da Vinci produced thousands of journals over his lifetime on many topics, and these journals are part of his legacy.
 
 
Here's another example of various artists' journals.
 
I'm no Da Vinci, but I can model his journaling behavior. So, with that in mind, I'm trying to write more and use my blog and Twitter account @tasmilie to document my experiments. Some posts will be short and simple; for others, I'll go on more than needed, but the point is to document and share.
I could add an AI chatbot to query the content of what I document; alas, another experiment for another day.
 
Thanks for reading!
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Thomas Alan

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Thomas Alan

Coffee & Curiosity | Creative Technologist | Photographer | Mixing decades of business insight and tacit knowledge with philosophy and the latest in tech. Ever an early adopter, forever a student.