%% ID: 13344574 Updated: 2022-02-07 %% ![](https://readwise-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/static/images/article0.00998d930354.png) # About Title: [[Other/Obsidian Starter Vault(Second Brain)/Readwise/Articles/Learn New Skills in 15 Hours- The Essential Guide]] Author: [[Danny Forest]] Category: #articles Number of Highlights: ==57== Last Highlighted: *2022-02-01* Readwise URL: https://readwise.io/bookreview/13344574 Source URL: https://thriveglobal.com/stories/learn-new-skills-in-15-hours-the-essential-guide/ # Highlights I uncovered varied ways to make learning new skills enjoyable, useful, and most importantly, life changing. ^281009421 --- It’s not as scary or as hard as it seems. ^281009422 --- a skill really is is a series of connections in your brain ^281009423 --- you practice a set of actions, your brain creates these connections for you. ^281009424 --- we don’t make the right connections in our brains. We don’t do the right actions that make the learning of a new skill easier. ^281009425 --- When you deliberately focus your efforts on doing the right actions to learn something new, you direct your brain to create the connections you want it to make. ^281009426 --- It’s the ultimate guide to help you on your journey to skill development. ^281009427 --- The ability to do something well ^281009428 --- skills really are just a set of sub-skills. What is the skill of writing then? It is the combination of the following skills, and then some: ^281009429 --- thinking of a skill and breaking it down into its smallest components ^281009430 --- thinking smaller for your bigger thoughts, ultimately motivating you to achieve your ambitious goals. ^281009431 --- reasons for learning new skills ^281009432 --- there are many more benefits I hadn’t originally thought about ^281009433 --- 3. You will become more interesting ^281009434 --- Because they’re useful; and Because they’re fun. ^281009435 --- I used to be a shy & introverted guy who had a hard time fitting in when I was not around engineers or game developers. ^281009436 --- 4. You will learn faster ^281009437 --- 5. You will be more motivated ^281009438 --- The more wins you get, the more dopamine your brain produces. Without going into details, dopamine is a key factor to life satisfaction. The more satisfied you are, the more motivated you are. ^281009439 --- By practicing three skills every morning, on average, I get three wins right at the start of my day. Imagine how pumped I am to keep going! ^281009440 --- 6. You will have more energy ^281009441 --- Knowing that I have a class every morning gives me so much energy. ^281009442 --- you can’t find fun in the progress, think about what it can bring afterwards ^281009443 --- 7. You will thrive more ^281009444 --- You’ll reach what people call “plateaus” on a regular basis during your skill development process. ^281009445 --- 1. Think things through ^281009446 --- The best way to learn any skill is never the best way for everyone ^281009447 --- figure out how the skill can be learned from your previous set of skills. ^281009448 --- take time to craft a learning plan. Think about the following: What would it mean to master the skill? Can I break it down in small sub-skills? What resources can I use to learn it (notice the plurality)? How can I track my progress? How can I be deliberate and consistent in my practice? ^281009449 --- 2. Build SkillUp Trees ^281009450 --- It’s a powerful method to be more aware of what your current skillset is and how to move forward from there. ^281009451 --- unrealistic to think that you can learn portrait photography in 15 hours if you’ve never picked up a camera before. ^281009452 --- 3. Follow through ^281009453 --- Once you’re aware of what is required to learn a new skill and have a clear vision of how to learn it, it’s time to put everything into practice ^281009454 --- To learn a new skill, you can’t avoid deliberate consistent practice. ^281009455 --- Share your progress with your entourage or online. ^281009456 --- Remember, the first time you’re going to do anything in life, you’ll be bad at it, and that’s normal. ^281009457 --- Whatever you do, don’t stop when it hurts. That’s when the learning truly happens. ^281009458 --- 1. Creating long term memories ^281009459 --- The more you expose your brain to a piece of information, the more complete the information will start to form in the hippocampus, where long term memories are stored. ^281009460 --- 2. Remembering Techniques ^281009461 --- 3. Note Taking ^281009462 --- An easy technique, that everyone knows about, but not enough people apply is note taking when reading or watching videos ^281009463 --- 5. Forgetting ^281009464 --- Forgetting, it turns out, is one of the most important aspects to learning ^281009465 --- You accumulate information without knowing how to make sense of it. This knowledge then becomes useless once you make the right connections. If you don’t unlearn it, your brain will refer to it again and confuse what is “true” and what isn’t. ^281009466 --- 6. Sleep ^281009467 --- Connections made in your brain happen subconsciously, that is, when you’re not actively practicing what you learn ^281009468 --- our body rejects bad toxins accumulated and subconsciously “work on” the material we have fed it before going to bed ^281009469 --- a well-rested body and mind is more receptive to the different stimuli around, making easier to make sense of the information coming through your brain. ^281009470 --- 7. Neuroplasticity ^281009471 --- The jack of all trades myth ^281009472 --- While it’s true that with 15 hours of deliberate practice, you won’t master anything (unless you’re the greatest genius to ever live — and who will ever live). ^281009473 --- mental chunks we create in our brains that allow us to make connections faster thanks to our growing collection of chunks. ^281009474 --- If it’s for a profession, then I’d argue you should never stop learning and aim to go from good to great. ^281009475 --- When setting out to learn a new skill, be specific. Learn subsets of skills. Or subsets of subsets. Let’s say mini-skills or bite-sized skills. ^281009476 --- With a good system in place, learning new skills is not as hard as it seems.Learning varied skills will, in the near future, be the only way to thrive. People who start now will not only future-proof themselves, but also have the upper hand ^281009477