Hope all of you are staying healthy and doing well :)
Today I talk about the most effective way to learn and improve on any skill you want to develop. In crisp terms, you "learn by doing". What does that mean?
From my personal experience, I have found that the 4 step process shown above provided me with the steepest learning curve. The two phases in red are the critical parts to the process and they are the key drivers to the gradient of your learning curve.
1) Input (listen/watch/read)
This is where we get really excited and input a lot of information from various resources. It could be from textbooks, online courses, podcasts, Youtube channels, and many more. This step is important but a lot of people stop here and think they "get it". I say this because I was one of them. I would read, watch, and learn about a particular topic and tell myself
I am a beast at this, I understand the concept and I know everything. Easy peasy.
But when the time comes for me to apply the theory, I would stumble and forget most of the concepts or approach I thought I had internalized. Coding is a great example for this. You can spend the whole day learning about cleaning datasets in python but until you start writing code in your script and bump into errors, you will never be able to internalize and understand the process.
2) Output (Apply in real life)
Once you have inputted some information and theory, move on to the application phase. For example, if you were reading about a book on improving productivity and you learn that timing yourself for every task is crucial, do that in your next task. Set a timer on and focus hard. Reflect on the difference before and after you made the change.
3) Make mistakes
When you implement your learnings in real life, things won't go perfectly as planned and you will make mistakes along the way. But that is totally fine! In fact it is good you made those mistakes because now you know what NOT to do and next time you encounter a similar situation, you won't make the same mistake. I talk about this here as well so go check that out too.
4) Reflect on your mistakes
When you make mistakes, be aware that something went wrong and quickly move on to understanding why you made that mistake. Find out the root cause and brainstorm what you could have done to mitigate the risk.
Once you're done, go back to the learning phase and start the cycle again. Over time, you will improve and you will be surprised how quickly you pick up things with this method. Would love to hear your thoughts on this.
Taka's Tip Top Tips
If you're reading this, go ahead and implement the cycle we talked about TODAY and reflect on your experience :)
Thanks for sticking around! Remember, take baby steps and good things will happen eventually. Be yourself and let's get moving!
Yours sincerely,
Taka
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