Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking."
With more and more self-taught professionals (developers, musicians, designers), it's clear learning a new skill can change your life. Here's how to do it.
From the moment we are born, we are always learning new skills. We see it in formal capacities in school or on the job, and informally, like learning from you buddy how to grill a steak.
Be very selective in the skill you're trying to masker to avoid sabotaging your success:
Make sure it's applicable: The perfect skill either solves a problem you have or scratches an itch you have.
Be very specific: Specific goals are easier to pursue than vague counterparts. To set yourself up, narrow your skill down as much as possible. Ask what specific problem are you trying to solve, and find out what aspects you find most fascinating.
Make sure you love the process, not just the outcome: Pick a skill where the road is as exciting as the outcome. Then plan out celebration points along the way.
There's a lot wrong with the internet, but one of the best things about it is how easy it is to learn new skills. It's actually one of the big reasons I have this job: I taught myself photography and photo editing, and I got my break writing about it.
Set some time aside to see what courses are available. Take advantage of any free lessons, watch the introductions to their classes and see if the instructor will be a good fit for your skill level and speed.
If only. For many of us, there are more things we want to learn than we have time for. And as information becomes more readily accessible online, the number of things we want to learn has only increased. That means that the only variable we can actually control is the time we spend learning them.
Mimic and get help from someone who’s already learned it to get tips and save time.
In order to achieve mastery faster, our first step should be to consult the top players in the field and model the path they have already carved out for us.
...into its basic, fundamental components, to find the most important things to practice first. This shows that very few things actually make a difference in any aspect of our lives, including learning.
Use the Pareto Principle: which describes a goal of generating 80 percent of results by putting in 20 percent of the effort.