Success Advice

The Secret To Learning A New Skill Faster Even If You’re Busy

Published

8 years ago

May 5, 2016

Sean Kim

Too often in life, time gets in the way. How many times have we told ourselves, “I’m too busy to learn X…” or “I don’t have enough time to do X…”

We get it, it’s easier said than done. But if we want to upgrade our life and advance our career, continuous learning is a vital ingredient in the process. Luckily, there are science-backed strategies and tactics we can use to fit learning a new skill into our busy lifestyles.

Here are the top 3 proven ways to get started:

1. Figure out why you quit learning in the past

If there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that history tends to repeat itself, unless we do something about it. If you’ve ever quit learning or doing something in the past (which most of us have), try to recall the core reason(s) why you stopped.

For example, when it comes to learning a new language, the two biggest reasons why most people never reach fluency is:

Lack of time (i.e. commuting, length of language classes, busy schedule)
Lack of accountability/motivation (i.e. learning alone, wrong method, no feedback)

By understanding why you quit in the past, you can take actionable measures to ensure you’re setting yourself up for success. If commuting was the problem, you can explore learning a new skill online instead of going to classes. If lack of accountability was the issue, you can find an accountability partner or hire a coach/mentor to help you out.

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” –Albert Einstein

2. Learn everyday by doing

There’s two strategies here: breaking down your practice into daily actions and learning through immersion.

According to bestselling author, Malcolm Gladwell, “it takes a minimum of 10,000 hours to master a skill.” While you may not be looking to become world-class at the skill you’re learning, the point of this rule is that it’s a marathon.

It’s easy to burn yourself out if you force yourself to learn more than what your brain has capacity to handle. The more sustainable approach that has been proven is to break down your learning activity into a daily routine, where you can spend as little as 15-30 minutes practicing.

More importantly, we should focus on learning through immersion. A study from the National Training Laboratories Institute shows that:

5% of what they learn when they’ve learned from a lecture (i.e. university/college lectures)
10% of what they learn when they’ve learned from reading (i.e. books, articles)
20% of what they learn from audio-visual (i.e. apps, videos)
30% of what they learn when they see a demonstration
50% of what they learn when engaged in a group discussion.
75% of what they learn when they practice what they learned.
90% of what they learn when they use immediately (or teach others)

Image Credit |National Training Laboratories Institute

This means that if you want to learn a foreign language, you should focus on practicing with native speakers. If you want to improve your public speaking skills, offer to speak for free at as many local events as possible.

3. Seek professional feedback

When it comes to learning a new skill, there’s rarely a need to reinvent the wheel. No matter what skill you want to acquire, someone else has already learnt it.

All you have to do is model the people who have come before you, and you can avoid the dangerous mistakes that could have cost you years of time to learn the hard way.

In life & business, most of us are comfortable with sticking with “what we know” and “what we know, we don’t know.” But there’s an entire spectrum of the pie that we miss.

It’s the most impactful knowledge we have yet to learn, but it could also be the most dangerous if we choose to ignore it. That’s “what we don’t know, we don’t know.” And this is where mentors or coaches come in, who are there to identify our blind spots and provide us with immediate feedback that is invaluable.

Image Credit |Introhive

The world’s top performers have gotten to where they are by having a coach or mentor to guide them along the way, and your approach to learning a skill should be no different.

How will you get started to learn a new skill? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below!

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Sean Kim

Sean Kim is the CEO of Rype, a language learning platform providing daily one-on-one Spanish lessons and more online. Join Rype today and get 7 days of free language lessons with our professional language teachers.

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Success Advice

How to Ignite the Spark Within for Future Success

All of us come to this world with our own reserve of magic unfortunately, not everyone can unleash it

Published

3 days ago

Dec 4, 2023

M.S. Rao

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How Your Beliefs Can Supercharge or Sabotage Your Success

Your life is dictated by beliefs and biases that drive your thinking, behaviors, and decisions

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2 weeks ago

Nov 20, 2023

Jane Frankel

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Success Advice

How to Break the Cycles of Mediocrity and Manifest Your Greatness

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity

Published

3 weeks ago

Nov 16, 2023

Jamelle Sanders

Image Credit: Midjourney

In just a few weeks, we will be wrapping up 2023. Can you believe it? This year has been absolutely incredible for me.

I have seen amazing doors opened, new relationships formed and I am seeing dreams realized in my life. While this seems like the hallmarks of a great year, this has also been the most challenging year of my life. With all of the change happening in my life, I have been forced out of my comfort zone and challenged to grow in every area of my life.

I can truly say that I have made the most of my moments this year and I have used everything as a catalyst for maximizing my greatest potential.

As a revolutionary leader, I have the pleasure of consulting and advising leaders around the world to fulfill purpose, realize their greatest potential and make an impact.

I want to share some insights with you that will help you to break cycles of mediocrity and manifest your greatness.

Everything legal must come through the matrix

I am sure that some of you are wondering why I am using the term matrix. However, what you have to understand is that I am trying to make a highly complex spiritual principle practical to understand.

Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, every life has an origin and I believe that origin is divine and begins with eternity. You are birthed from eternity and into time to fulfill a unique purpose and assignment in your lifetime and generation.

The matrix is simply the portal or vehicle that brings something out of the invisible realm and into tangible form. The problem with much of the teaching today is that it excludes the matrix. We are told to believe that success is instantaneous and overnight.

Nobody talks about how a dream progresses through stages beginning with visualization and ultimately culminating in manifestation. Without a matrix or portal then everything that you attempt to birth and build will be illegal.

The matrix not only makes you legal but it gives you the authority and power to function as the greatest expression of who you were created to be.

Every matrix has an incubation process

While many people admire and respect me today, I remember a time when nobody knew who I was or the significance of my message. How did I get to where I am today? I got here through an incubation process.

In other words, everything that has been destined for your life is incubating and awaiting a set time of manifestation. The problem is that most people live their entire lives idle and never initiate the incubation process.

What do I meany by that? Most people are living reckless and very few people are living intentionally. I am amazed at the number of people I have conversations with that have no vision, goals or strategies for their lives. They show great promise and they have undeniable potential.

However, without development they will die with their dreams still in them.

Everything that has been destined for your life must be incubated and converted to become realities born to time.

“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint and begin to build.” – Robert Collier

You must give expression to that which is not yet born to time

When you think about a matrix or a prophetic incubation process, you have to understand that potential is often unrealized and untapped. In other words, your potential is in raw form and your potential cannot serve you as long as it is untapped.

The thing that makes me valuable is that I have the ability to convert potential into power. I have done it in my own life and I have empowered leaders around the world to do the same. How do you convert potential into power?

First, it is important to note that you have to perceive potential. If you cannot perceive your potential then you can never cultivate your potential. In addition, you must take the time to cultivate your potential. We often get excited about our capabilities; however, we never expand our capacity in order to realize our greatest potential.

In other words, the strength of your potential is only discovered through your willingness to stretch. The more we are challenged the more we are empowered to expand our capacity for greatness. Most of all, you must begin to express your potential. The expression of potential is different for every person.

For example, the expression of my potential is best demonstrated through the thoughts, ideas, products, services, books, etc.

For another person the expression of potential may look like a screenplay, artwork, sports, scientific discoveries, medical breakthroughs, etc.

Regardless of the form of expression, I know that you will live empty and unfulfilled until you make the decision to express your potential. The expression of your potential gives voice to your dreams, life to your vision, significance to your moments and activates your true power.

You must manifest your greatness

As a revolutionary thinker and leader, my work has impacted people around the world. I am grateful that my life is a source of empowerment to so many people. However, before anyone could ever benefit from my life, I had to make a non-negotiable decision to become who I was born to be.

I wish I could tell you that this journey is easy and that you will get there overnight. However, in a world that celebrates us for doing we are often criticized for being. As a result, I wasted a lot of time trying to be who other people wanted me to be instead of being who I was born to be.

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity. It is through our bravery to be vulnerable that we ultimately manifest our greatness. We do not bless the world by being a duplicate. We bless the world when we honor our difference. When you honor your difference you honor your potential.

Ultimately, your difference is how you manifest your greatness.

When you present anything but your authentic self to the world, you are playing small and you are robbing the world of your significance. Manifesting your greatness requires you to master your gifts.