In discussions about learning new skills, tackling things we’ve never done before, and exploring the extremes of our ability, I often hear similar excuses made.
One of the first is always regarding time. “I just don’t have the time!” I’ve already covered that elsewhere, so I would like to dig into the next 5 myths that keep people from their learning goals:
- Learning is dependent on talent
- Simply acquiring knowledge is enough
- Mistakes are a bad thing
- All criticism matters
- Learning a new subject or skill means I have to learn EVERYTHING about it
Learning a skill or a new body of knowledge is dependent upon “talent”
These days, the word “talent” is thrown about to mean all kinds of things…but, mostly, I hear it used as a way to make excuses.
“Of course he can learn that skill, he has natural talent! I could never do that, it doesn’t come naturally to me.”
While I fully admit that talent exists – some people are more naturally inclined towards certain subjects or skills – it isn’t the only thing that matters. Far from it.
What matters far more is your mindset. In accelerated learning (a field that explores ways in which we humans can learn better and faster), we often discuss the concept of the Fixed mindset and the Growth mindset.
Fixed mindset looks something like this: “Well, he’s just good at math and I’m not, so I can’t learn math”. We identify ourselves based on our current skills, our present state, and don’t give ourselves enough credit for our ability to pick up new skills.
A few years ago, computer networking for me was a mess of terms I didn’t understand, funny numbers with too many periods in them, and acronyms like ARP, STP, DNS, DHCP, NTP, and others.
Had I accepted the idea that what I know is all I can know, that my current limitations define my future potential, I never would have been able to learn it. I achieved my Network+ certification a few years ago, and I’ve learned more now than I ever thought possible – and I did it through diligent study using effective techniques.
It wasn’t because I have “natural talent” – I didn’t have a clue what I was looking at when I started, and had to fight my way through limiting beliefs to even get myself to try. But I got there through study, application, and consistent practice.
Growth mindset means that everything is a skill. You can learn anything if you approach it the right way, if you practice it consistently, and you take an active role in the process. I would have never learned without “getting my hands dirty”, working with the material and experimenting with what I was learning.
Tim Grover
“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”
Simply acquiring knowledge is enough
Look, not to get too nerdy here, but there’s a reason that Wisdom and Intelligence are different stats in D&D.
The way I see it, intelligence is knowing information. This is fine, and certainly not a bad thing…but knowing is only half the battle.
Wisdom, on the other hand, I define as “the application of knowledge”. One might also use the word “intuition” for this.
To use a common analogy:
intelligence is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, while wisdom is knowing that you probably shouldn’t use tomatoes in your fruit salad.
So how do we go from simply knowing to applying knowledge?
In a word: action. We must take action on what we are learning through experimentation, active reflection, writing, and teaching.
Don’t just accept the knowledge. Prove it. Work with it. Use it in the real world. Write about it.
Teach others, whether that’s through lecture, writing articles, creating videos, or simply talking about what you have learned to others. Work your way up Bloom’s Taxonomy from simply remembering information to being able to extrapolate from it. Break it down into simple terms, condense it into first principles, and analyze it.
Knowledge is not power unless it inspires action and creates results.
I can research how to build a computer for days. I can learn about how the parts interact, what each piece is responsible for, and what the standards are. However, unless I actually build the computer, all I have is my knowledge. If I want the result, I need to actually take the necessary actions.
Learning without action is just mental masturbation. Period.
Herbert Spencer
“The great aim of education is not knowledge, but action.”
Mistakes are a bad thing
This ties back to the Fixed vs. Growth mindset we discussed earlier.
Whenever we start to learn about something new or pick up a new skill, we will have failures. We will make mistakes. We need to accept that as a fact and figure out what it is we can take away from it.
Mistakes are learning opportunities. We can dissect them to figure out how to improve our process or to show us where we might not have as strong of an understanding as we would like.
To make it very simple, learning a new skill looks something like this (a simple feedback loop):
- We do a little research to figure out how to begin the skill. How do I start?
- We make an attempt.
- We receive feedback on that attempt. Did it work? Was I successful?
- We make adjustments based on that feedback. If my attempt was unsuccessful, why? At what point did I make a mistake?
- We repeat the process until we reach out desired goal.
Based on this model, mistakes and failures only serve to move us towards our target. They are a necessary part of the process.
Going back to the analogy of building a computer, there is a potential to make a lot of mistakes. Parts don’t fit correctly, drivers are missing or obsolete, we forget an important piece – it hardly ever goes right on the first try (even for those of us with some experience).
Those “failures” only serve to point out where we need to look to move forward.
There’s the famous Edison misquote about how he did not fail to create the light bulb 10,000 times, but merely found 10,000 ways to create a light bulb that didn’t work. The quote itself is fake, Edison never actually said it, but he certainly overcome some failures of his own throughout his life.
Einstein
“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” –
All Criticism Matters
Look, this time I’m just going to come right out and say it – not all criticism is created equal.
If it isn’t meant to help you, by design and intention of the person giving the criticism, it can probably be ignored.
If the criticizer doesn’t have a personal investment in your success, if there’s no “skin in the game”, their criticism is probably suspect.
If they have never attempted to do what you are doing, or anything similar, then their criticism is useless.
Often, useless criticism comes from others who are too fearful to do what you are trying to do. While your actions can inspire some to make changes to their own life, others will react by trying to put you down. They don’t want to see others grow and change, because it means that they are capable of the same. They don’t want to face that truth or the risks involved. If they are too stuck in their current state, if their mindset is too Fixed, they will instead try to convince you to share their fear, to stay stagnant with them.
Unfortunately, this can even come from those closest to you. It’s a sad truth, but a truth nonetheless.
The first step to dealing with criticism is to ask “Is there anything I can learn from this? Can I take away any information that will help me improve?” If the answer is “no”, then ignore it – it will serve no purpose other than to create fear and doubt where it doesn’t need to be.
The next step, after determining that there is something to learn from it, is to apply the feedback loop listed above. “What can I learn from this, and how can I apply it on my next attempt so I can get better?”
Don’t over-complicate it. Do not ever allow strangers (especially online strangers) to determine how you feel about what you are doing.
Had I listened to the critics, I wouldn’t be sitting here writing this for you right now.
“If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.” –
Epictetus
Learning a New Subject or Skill Means I Have to Learn EVERYTHING About It!
Nobody but you gets to decide how much you want to know about your subject.
If you want to become world-class, great! Learn what that takes, focus on improving a little bit at a time, and show up. Work consistently, accept the process for what it is, and stay focused.
If you’re only interested in “dabbling”, then that’s OK too! You’re not signing a life-long commitment to get married to the subject.
Decide what level of proficiency you desire (“I want to be able to perform X skill.” “I want to be able to achieve a score of Y.”). Break the skill down into manageable pieces.
What are the building blocks of the skill? How to they fit together? Are any of them dependent on learning others first? Which are the most powerful, so I can focus my time on those?
Who knows – once you get started, maybe you’ll decide you want to keep learning. Maybe you will make the transition from curious to passionate. Or maybe not, and that’s perfectly fine too!
I would like to leave you with excerpts of this letter from Christopher Sommer (former Men’s National Gymnastic Team coach) to Tim Ferriss (excerpt from Tim Ferriss book, Tools of Titans):
“Dealing with the temporary frustration of not making progress is an integral part of the path towards excellence. In fact, it is essential and something that every single elite athlete has had to learn to deal with. If the pursuit of excellence was easy, everyone would do it. In fact, this impatience in dealing with frustration is the primary reason that most people fail to achieve their goals. Unreasonable expectations timewise, resulting in unnecessary frustration, due to a perceived feeling of failure. Achieving the extraordinary is not a linear process.
The secret is to show up, do the work, and go home.
A blue collar work ethic married to indomitable will. It is literally that simple. Nothing interferes. Nothing can sway you from your purpose. Once the decision is made, simply refuse to budge. Refuse to compromise.
And accept that quality long-term results require quality long-term focus. No emotion. No drama. No beating yourself up over small bumps in the road. Learn to enjoy and appreciate the process. This is especially important because you are going to spend far more time on the actual journey than with those all too brief moments of triumph at the end.
Certainly celebrate the moments of triumph when they occur. More importantly, learn from defeats when they happen. In fact, if you are not encountering defeat on a fairly regular basis, you are not trying hard enough. And absolutely refuse to accept less than your best.
Throw out a timeline. It will take what it takes.
If the commitment is to a long-term goal and not to a series of smaller intermediate goals, then only one decision needs to be made and adhered to. Clear, simple, straightforward. Much easier to maintain than having to make small decision after small decision to stay the course when dealing with each step along the way. This provides far too many opportunities to inadvertently drift from your chosen goal. The single decision is one of the most powerful tools in the toolbox.”
-Coach Christopher Sommer
So…with those out of the way…
What’s stopping you now? Put in the work, make mistakes, accept criticism for what it is, take action, and crush your learning goals.
Start today.
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