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Observations from my community of thousands of learners
Years ago, I was leading an online community of learners. It was a group of people who wanted to learn specific skills.
Some people wanted to learn a language, others wanted to learn an instrument, others wanted to learn programming, and more.
Most wanted to learn a couple of skills within the next year. Some aimed higher. I’ve even seen people aim for over 100 skills within the next 5–10 years.
Where do you sit on that spectrum?
Anyway, do you know what most of the people who wanted to learn a couple of skills had in common?
Most of them failed.
And when I say failed, what I really mean is that they haven’t followed through and stopped after less than a month of practice.
Heck, some never even made it to the practice part!
A lot of people think that learning is about studying, but for most skills, learning really happens when it’s being practiced.
In any case, why do you think those who aimed to learn fewer skills failed more than those who aimed for more skills?
Actually, that’s a pretty bad question! 😀
Those who aimed for more skills “failed” way more. What I mean is that they’ve had many more experiments fail. But every time their experiment failed, they tried other ways.
A better question would be: why do you think those who aimed to learn fewer skills didn’t follow through as much?
Let me give you the highlights, in reverse order of importance.
5. They were disorganized
4. They were less deliberate
3. They weren’t accountable
2. They had the wrong ratio of study vs practice
1. They didn’t have a true purpose
Let’s walk through each of them in more detail.
5. They were disorganized
When you set out to learn many skills, you know the only way to achieve that is by planning your learning.
Most people who set out to learn 1–2 skills don’t plan much at all. They buy an online course, watch a couple of videos, practice what’s in the videos for a week, then give up.
They let others plan for them.
That doesn’t work. You have to take ownership of your learning.
I know it’s counter-intuitive because that’s not how schools work, but that’s how real life works, you know?
In a future article, I’ll walk you through some steps to organize your learning. If that interests you, make sure to follow me now! 😀
4. They were less deliberate
Being organized is part of being deliberate, but being deliberate is so much more than that. Being deliberate in your learning — at least to me — means you know:
what you’re going to practice;
why you’re practicing it (more on that later);
how you’re going to practice it;
where you’re going to practice it; and
when you’re going to practice it.
Not only that, but you make it part of your routine. It’s something you practice daily, rain or shine.
Again, I’ll dig deeper into this topic in another article! 😀
3. They weren’t accountable
As adults, we suck at accountability. We say we’ll do something and we just don’t do it. Sometimes it bothers us, yet most of the time we’re too “busy” to even care.
Accountable learners seek “partners” in their learning. That can take many shapes or forms.
Here are some ways successful learners keep themselves accountable:
They help others. For a long time, my friend
had a newsletter for language learners where he was sharing strategies for learning new languages. That kept him accountable for his learning because it forced him to keep practicing to share more practical information with his audience.
They find teachers/tutors. When I learned to Salsa dance, the only way I could keep myself accountable was to practice daily with a teacher. There were no excuses. My teacher was there so I had to be there.
They find a partner. Take a cue from team sports. When you do something with others, you don’t want to let them down. So when you set out to learn a new skill, team up with someone else who wants to learn it.
And you guessed it, I’ll go in more detail in another article! 😀
2. They had the wrong ratio of study vs practice
I don’t know if it’s the same all around the world, but in most developed countries I’ve lived in, people are obsessed with passive learning and studying.
Here’s what I mean:
They watch videos
They read books
They go to lectures
They memorize facts
And then maybe they actually practice 10 percent of their time.
Let me tell you, that is wrong, Wrong, WRONG! 😑
For most skills, for short-term learning (under a month or 15 hours), study should make up for about 30 percent of your learning time.
For mid-term learning (2–6 months), study should make up for about 15 percent of your learning time.
For long-term learning (over 6 months), study should make up for about 10 percent of your learning time.
Now, these percentages are more anecdotal than scientific. They’re based on my own observations from results from my community of learners. I’d definitely be interested to explore this more, but I found the above to work very well.
And again, at the risk of annoying you, I will explore this topic in greater detail in another article! 😀
1. They didn’t have a true purpose
The most important reason people don’t follow through is kind of “dumb” when you think about it.
Most people just “want” to learn something. They don’t “need” to.
As adults, we brush off “wants” all the time. We got other fires to fight, you know!
Toddlers and kids learn great because they learn for the sake of learning. They don’t need a purpose. They do it because they are genuinely curious about how things work.
With all life priorities, adults can’t afford to do something they want…
Wait, what?
Doesn’t that make you want to vomit?
What kind of life is it that we must only do things that need doing?
Seriously, how many times in life do you say “I must do…”?
Now that I’m asking you the question, you’ll start to notice how much you do it.
The good news for you is that there aren’t many true personal purposes to life (and many will debate me on that). You can mostly narrow it down to power and status.
In our day and age, power mostly means money and status mostly means peer recognition.
So if you’re unsure where to start, think about those two. What skills will make you money (and how) and what skills will get you recognized (and how)?
And for the last time in this article: I will expand on this topic in a future article! 😀
So, if you want to learn better than most people, you should:
Find a purpose for learning the skill you set out to learn;
Practice more than you study;
Keep yourself accountable;
Be deliberate; and
Plan your learning.
You can do this!
— Danny