Habits of Geniuses

Geniuses are often not born as such: they become one. They do so by adopting specific strategies and habits.

• Understand the power of habits

• Learn the habits of geniuses

• Integrate their habits into your life

• Become a student of life

• Grow your life and your business

In 2015, my colleague and friend Raffaele Ferrara and I (Alessandro Maturo) got the news that a doctor in a region in southern Italy, Apulia, was able to take as many as 13 university degrees. As trainers and researchers in the subjects of leadership and personal success, we decided to ask him for an interview to learn his strategies. We found a man in his 80s, super sharp, mentally very strong and decisive. And we discovered that he had not only completed 13 degree courses and obtained the relevant diplomas, but that there was much more. Dr Leonardo Altobelli had degrees in Medicine, Law, Biotechnology, Tourism Sciences, Nutrition, Social Sciences, Education, Agriculture, Archaeology, and Education Sciences. He had then obtained post-graduate masters degrees in: Sports Medicine, Social Medicine, Counselling in Medicine, Clinical Sexology, Health Law, Orthodontics, General Medicine. He was a member of three professional associations: Doctors, Lawyers and Journalists. He had written 20 books. He had been the mayor of his town and a family doctor.

What we discovered is that Dr Leonardo Altobelli shared the strategies, mentality and habits of many other geniuses in history: Cicero, Giordano Bruno, Leonardo Da Vinci, Galileo Galilei, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos. All great geniuses, who often think of themselves as ‘continuous learners’. They have in common the belief that in life we need to learn continuously and that yesterday’s knowledge, even if it created today’s success, will not bring tomorrow’s success.