Reading books. We do it because we want to do it either for entertainment or to learn more about something. When you read books, you have to realize that your objective is to learn and not to read. In order to learn, you can employ many techniques, but it is essential that you keep in mind on your objective.
We learn in different ways, but some of the most beneficial techniques are by action or association.
When you read a book to learn about something, you will usually start with the back cover to read the recommendations, book summary, and author’s background.
Usually, people do it without realizing it.
Then, you go to the table of contents to get an overview of the book. Perhaps, you decide that it is worth starting from the beginning.
Alternatively, you may already know which chapters will interest you the most. Perhaps, you may start with those chapters, mark passages that really resonate with you and make a few notes on paper about those chapters. Tai Lopez advocates a very similar technique and calls it smart reading.
Now, your next task is to either think or write about something concerning yourself, someone, or something. This task will accelerate your learning process, because you are now creating a story that belongs to you.
Now, if you want to strive for mastery, you need to practice it deliberately, but only for as long as you are focused.
Take a break for as much time as needed before continuing. It is important to realize that it is far more efficient and important to focus on the few to master one skill at a time.
When you hear about several professional athletes, you often hear that they have worked on adding one or two skills during the off-season. It is extremely unrealistic to get better at many skills at once, because the body and brain need time to adjust everything.
In verse 63 of Stephen Mitchell’s translation of the Tao Te Ching, it is said perfectly:
Accomplish the great task by a series of small steps.
The Master never reaches for the great,
Thus he achieves greatness.
When he runs into a difficulty,
He stops and gives himself to it.
He doesn’t cling to his own comfort,
Thus, problems are no problem for him.
Some base rules to keep in mind are the following:
- Keep it simple
- Always a single task
- Focus on the few and master them
In the book, The Art of Learning, the author talks about this concept of mastering a few things rather than learning a mirage of things to a mediocre level. He gives the example of martial artists that learn many different good looking forms in their schools, but none of them are not proficient. Everything is superficial. In most competitions, the martial artist that has mastered just a few techniques, usually wins the match.
Bruce Lee (the master himself) said:
I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.
One misconception that many people have is that such advice is difficult and time intensive, but it is quite the contrary.
It is harder in the beginning because your brain is not used to this type of exposure yet. However, over time, the snowball gets rolling and picks up speed without you having to exert any more force. Jim Collins explains this concept in his book, Good to Great.
It starts with going inch by inch, which will gradually create a compounding effect.
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