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7 Proven Ways to Improve Your Ability to Learn New Skills
Based on my experience becoming an expert in many skills
No matter what you may set your sights on doing or becoming, if you want to be a contender, it’s mastering the ability to learn that will get you in the game and keep you there. -H.L. Roediger in Make It Stick
Knowing how to actively grow and develop a skill is a skill in itself, and if you understand how the principles of learning work, it will be easier to learn any new skill in the future.
It is therefore worth putting some effort into understanding this process, as it can save you many hours of practice and frustration.
The metaskill of learning how to learn is in my view one of the most important skills you can have, as it can be applied to anything you want to learn. Here are seven ways to improve your skill learning:
1. Take action — Start learning a skill
The greatest failure of all is the failure to act when action is needed. -John Wooden
Learning a skill requires that you actively practice it. So, if you only read about how to get better at learning skills, you are gaining knowledge. It’s when you apply it that you improve the skill of learning skills.
The best way to improve this skill is therefore to have an ongoing skill learning project. Working on a skill can help you understand the principles of skill development and get a deeper understanding of the process of learning.
If you need inspiration to start learning a new skill, I can recommend starting your own 100 hour challenge, which involves trying to improve a skill as much as possible with 100 hours of practice.
