As a young boy, and a fan of sports, I often marveled at the ease at which my favorite athletes carried out their duties on the field gracefully. I wanted to know why some people attained mastery in some activities and others are just average or not even up to par. I also wanted to know how to learn faster.
Most people think masters or experts in any field were born that way, but I used to think so too until I read “Mastery” by Robert Greene. According to Greene, mastery is not a question of genetics or luck but following your natural inclinations and deep desires that stare you from within.
Mastery is not a question of genetics or luck but following your natural inclinations and deep desires that stare you from within
Robert greene
How to learn faster- Learn and master any skill 10x faster
Do you wanna be successful in a particular field or do you have a skill that you’ve always been itching to learn but don’t want to spend hours upon hours of excruciating pain sweat and blood trying to master that skill?
The 10,000-hour rule by Malcolm Gladwell says it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become world-class in any field. But who has that kind of time? I don’t! So, here are a few HACKS on how to learn anything fast:
TIP 1- learn in a state of flow
A state of flow in positive psychology also known as the “Zone” is a mental state of operation in which the person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the Activity.
It’s like when you are playing a video game and all your attention and focus is on the game nothing else matters to you, except what’s happing in the game at that moment, your house could be on fire or the kitchen flooding but none of that matters your sole focus is on the game.
In essence, flow is the complete absorption of what one does.
You can also find yourself achieving a state of flow while watching a sports game. have you ever found yourself screaming and yelling at the TV while watching a sports game?
Imagine that your favorite football team is playing on Sunday against your bitter rivals and your rivalry goes way back, last year they beat you guys but this year you are more determined than ever to obliterate them, then the match starts.
And after watching it for some time you’re enjoying the intensity in action and you’re fully immersed in the game it’s like you’re actually there the phone rings but you don’t notice, someone is at the door knocking but you pay no attention.
such a scenario would be described as a state of flow, where you’re completely engaged
How to get in a state of flow
- take 3 slow and conscious breaths,
- Focus all your attention on the present moment.
- Go about your activity deliberately
- Remain alert and keep the mind focused on what you are doing at that present moment if the mind wanders slowly bring it back to the present moment and carry on with the process.
TIP 2- Just start
Richard Brandson a personal role model of mine has the famous quote “screw it let’s do it just for the sake of it you never know you might be successful”
Most of when we are learning a new skill we tend to focus more on learning the theory and less on applying it. This is, unfortunately, a bad habit we picked up from school and because of it we always think about ideas and incredible things to do less on applying them.
We should use the rule of 2/3 which means spending only one-third of your time studying and the other two applying and practicing.
you need to repeatedly test yourself and your abilities Our brains evolved to learn by doing things not by hearing about them, this is one of the reasons that for a lot of skills, it’s much better to spend about two-thirds of your time testing yourself and applying it rather than absorbing it.
Take for example taekwondo or any other martial art, would you imagine learning how to defend yourself in combat simply by reading a book or listening to a lecture and never actually throwing a punch?
This is also true for school if you are memorizing a passage it’s better to spend 30% of your time reading it and the other 70% testing yourself on that knowledge. And if you do this you have discovered the secrets of how to learn faster and should see a tremendous improvement in your work.
TIP 3- Find the sweet spot, that’s how to learn faster
When we are learning we want to be challenging ourselves 60-80% of the time this is known as the sweet spot anymore and it becomes too difficult we quit any less and it becomes too easy and we also quit.
so it’s imperative to always be up for the challenge and avoid anything trivial and easy that would make us quit.
Let me tell you a quick story, I have always been fascinated with the idea of building my own business online, I so badly wanted to know how to build a website and learn how to make money from home.
So I took up classes in website design and digital marketing, initially, it was difficult to grab the whole technical side of building a website, however, I found my sweet spot by successfully breaking down the process into chunks and taking up small less challenging steps like buying a domain name, designing the homepage and so on.
this made the whole process enjoyable and I always looked forward to what else I can achieve in the future.
TIP 4- Commitment
Commit to the long haul, Rome wasn’t built in a day as the timeless cliche goes and its the same with skill you have to commit and put in the time
The difference between an average NBA player and a Great NBA player is commitment. You need to continuously sharpen and prune your skill, the people who combine commitment with practice would always see their skills go off the charts faster because they are continuously applying and mastering their skills.
TIP 5- find a mentor
The best way to learn is through mentorship we were built for this, watching someone archive a certain goal or goals can be powerful inspiring, and motivating that’s how I started this website, I saw someone else archive success as a digital entrepreneur and I was like why can’t I?, now I’m more interested in teaching and sharing my knowledge to you my readers to help you accelerate your growth and maximize your potential
TIP 6 – Embrace the power of procrastination.
That’s right, you heard me. Procrastination is your friend, not your enemy (well sometimes it is!). When you’re feeling unmotivated, take a break and do something completely unrelated to the task at hand. Your brain will thank you for coming up with new and innovative ideas when you finally get back to work. Just don’t procrastinate for too long, or you might end up watching cat videos on YouTube for the rest of the day.
TIP 7 – Make it fun.
Learning should be a joyful experience, not a chore. So, put on your favorite music, grab a snack, and make it a party. Who says you can’t dance your way to mastery? (Just make sure to keep the snacks away from your keyboard, you don’t want to have a crumb party on your keyboard)
TIP 6 – Don’t be afraid to fail.
Failure is a part of the learning process. It’s how we learn what doesn’t work and how to do better next time. Just remember, every time you fail, you’re one step closer to success. And if all else fails, just remember this famous quote: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” -Thomas Edison
Conclusion on How to learn faster
In conclusion, mastery is not a question of genetics or luck but following your natural inclinations and deep desires that stare you from within. Also, to learn faster, try getting into the state of flow, and just start with the activity you want to learn and apply more than you study. Remember the famous quote, “Screw it, let’s do it, just for the sake of it, you never know you might be successful”. Happy Learning!
Thank you so much for reading through. the tips shared above are powerful and scientifically proven ways to learn anything fast, if you have any additional tips or hacks on how to learn anything faster be sure to drop them in the comment section below, thank you, and peace out till the next post.