LEARNING HOW TO LEARN IS THE NEW SUPERPOWER
3 AMAZING TIPS FROM THOSE THAT HAVE THIS SKILL
Forget being indestructible like Superman or having the ability to read people's minds like Professor X, in the 21st century, there is a superpower everyone must be able to have.
Do you know what's good about this superpower?
You can learn this skill.
The good thing about our current time in history, there is a lot of information available at your fingertips. The bad news about this is that every information you obtain has an expiry date.
There are chances that attendance to traditional higher institutions will have reduced due to the democratization of knowledge through the internet, unreasonable high tuition costs, and the current needs of the modern workforce. (Forbes) With the looks of things, the current CoronaVirus pandemic is already fast-tracking that process.
What we all need to do is learn how to learn new skills faster and independently.
1. The Most Essential Portion of Any Skillset is just 20 %
In his book “The First 20 hours: How To Learn Anything Fast” Josh Kaufman says every skillset has a few crucial principles that you will need to
For instance, Kaufman finds a shortcut to learning how to play the ukulele by memorizing the three chords needed for the majority of songs, which happen to be C, F, and G. (You can see his Ted Talk Here of him playing the instrument on stage)
2. To Learn Quickly, Learn From a Community of Experts
A classic example is James Alculther that has made millions over and learned numerous skills in the process.
He says the best way he has learned is to be among a community of experts that have spent years honing their craft.
E.g if you want to learn how to swim perfectly, be in the company of expert swimmers and they can give you tips within minutes which will have taken you months to learn on your own or with just one trainer.
Or.
Learning how to take a perfect freekick when you are with a squad that consists of David Beckham, Roberto Carlos, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Maradona will shorten your learning curve dramatically.
James explains that although it is might be difficult to get into the team of the best because most experts do not like to hang around a newbie, there is something that you can use as leverage to build and remain relevant in the relationship instead of being ‘needy’
Giving his personal example: He has taken an interest in stand-up comedy (at age 50!) and then decided to find out how long it took for a comedian to become really good at his craft and the world average is 20 years! He then devised a method to reduce his learning curve by increasing his number of performances and also to video and review as many performances as possible. So he will be able to gain access to all the ace performers in a comedy club, he bought some part of the business of the comedy club and also tells the comedians that he wants to use the material for his podcast (which is not true) and because they want to help, they give their sincere feedback. He has learned so fast with the few months he is with the community at the comedy club than if he learned on his own.
3. Invest the Time, Money and Attention That is Necessary to Learn the Skill
You will only get better at the skill that you are pursuing if you take the time to physically practice the skillset over and over.
Malcolm Gladwell in his book “The Outliers: The Story of Success” proposed that all experts had to spend 10,000 hours in the process of standing out of the crowd and be world-class.
Well, since you are not out to be an expert in every skill you are learning, you do not need to spend that much time learning.
However, to be above average, you will need to put in some time and focus on the learning process.
Let’s take writing, for example, many people do not see themselves as writers but have not taken the time to sit down, process their thoughts, and put these thoughts together coherently in words that will convey these thoughts to the reader.
All skills require time to PRACTISE before one can actually become good at it.
Take time out daily to practice the new skill that you want to learn and you’ll see yourself become better at it very quickly.
When Michael Jordan retired for basketball and began playing baseball, he started learning how to swing the bat and went at it with such intensity that his hands bled. He was in the batting cages before breakfast, during training, and after the game. If he spent a few more years in baseball, he will have broken numerous records according to the batting coach of Barons, Mike Barnett. (ESPN)
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Highlight the important subskills of the skillset you want to learn and master those first.
- Be among the best and you’ll learn very rapidly because they will shorten your learning curve.
- Focus and investment in the skill are important to become good at the skillset.
BOOKS YOU SHOULD READ
- The First 20 hours: How To Learn Anything Fast by Josh Kaufman
- Learning How to Learn by Barbara Oakley, Terrance Sejnowski
FOOTNOTE
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Facebook: Mobolaji Atolagbe
Twitter: @Mbolajiatolagbe
