1. Deconstruct the skill, and make it less overwhelming.
When you start to learn something new, it can become extremely overwhelming, which can cause you to give up on it before you even start. A lot of skills are usually a bunch of skills put together. Take baseball as an example. Yo have to know how to bat, throw, and catch. Rather than going out and just trying to play baseball, try playing catch with a friend one day, and go to the batting cages the next. By breaking it down into two separate sessions, you don’t overwhelm yourself with trying to do it all at once.
2. Commit yourself to 20 hours of practice.
This is the whole focus in Josh Kaufmans “The First 20 Hours: How To Learn Anything…Fast”. Before you start to learn something new, set a goal point that you would like to reach, and write down a schedule and stick to it! It will certainly be hard in the first few hours of practicing, but if you can get past that you will be more likely to succeed.
3. Define what it means to you to “master” the skill.
Everybody interprets things differently. One person’s definition of mastering a skill may be way different than yours. Think of baking as an example. Somebody who wants to master baking may think they need to learn how to make a perfect souffle, but you might interpret this as that you want to bake a batch of cupcakes for your daughter’s bake sale. If you set an unreasonable goal for yourself, and try to learn more than you can in your 20-hour practice time, you are likely to give up sooner. On the other hand, if you set a reasonable goal for yourself, and you stick to it, you can either practice until you reach the goal, or continue practicing up to your 20-hour mark.
4. Imagine yourself doing the skill.
Make it a habit to visualize yourself performing the skill you are trying to learn. I have learned that by doing this, by visualizing yourself doing the task, it boosts your morale, and you feel more confident within yourself that you can master the skill exactly how you want to.
5. Be cocky, but be humble.
Once you are past the first few hours of practice, and you are starting to pick up the skill a little better, free to act like you are already have been doing it for a while. This is another way to boost your confidence, and make learning even more go a lot better. On the other hand, don’t let it get to your head. The worst thing you can do to your progress is be too cocky, because then you will feel like you know everything about it, when the truth is that you probably have a lot more to learn. Its okay to feel proud of how far you came, but don’t for get to keep moving forward. Don’t keep telling yourself that you do not have any time to learn a new skill. These 5 tips are a good way to help you learn something new, and learn it quickly. Why deprive yourself from new experiences? Get out there and learn! Featured photo credit: Rocky Balboa/Sylvester Stallone via imdb.com
