Author David Kadavy made a fantastic podcast a while back about the contrast between Leonardo and Raphael: Leonardo mind, Raphael world.

As a sought-after artist Raphael was reliable and prolific, if a little conventional. Leonardo, on the other hand, was a wildly inventive polymath, a genius far ahead of his time. Unfortunately, he had a poor track record at finishing what he started. I was intrigued by this, and it inspired me to write a little about learning to make notes like Leonardo.

Two ancient philosophers engage in a thoughtful discussion, with one pointing upwards and the other gesturing outward. The figure on the left is Plato, which is also a portrait of Leonardo.

Leonardo depicted as Plato (or is it the other way around?) in Raphael’s fresco, The School of Athens (1509-1511)

Well, now I’m delighted that David has expanded his insights into these rival figures of the Italian Renaissance in his latest book. I read an early version of Finish What Matters, prior to its release on 14 September 2026. And I have to say, already the introduction spoke to me personally as though the author was looking me in the eyes and examining my soul. Having late-diagnosed ADHD I’m acutely aware of how much I still don’t know about harnessing my innate creative abilities to deliver something tangible. And it feels like the author really gets this.

“You’d like to be a Raphael who gets things done. But many of us are Leonardos, who start project after project and never finish anything. The ideas that ignite our curiosity matter to us deeply, yet we can never seem to make them count.”

It was a little uncomfortable to be seen in this way but it boded well for the rest of the book. It’s gripping, absorbing and exactly what I need a self-help book to be: directly useful in a potentially life-altering way. I don’t say that about every book I read, but for this I’m making an exception.

Finish What Matters has dramatically increased my confidence that with the right mind-set and the right process, finishing a creative project is not only quite achievable but can also be a lot of fun. It’s also a reminder that I don’t somehow need to become a different person. There’s more than one path to finishing your work and more than one way of being productively creative. The world is better because Raphael and Leonardo were irreducibly themselves. More modestly, my range is me, and that’s OK.

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Because I was determined to share my book Shu Ha Ri: The Japanese Way of Learning, for Artists and Fighters, I finished what matters and it’s available right now.