If there is something you want to become good at, there is a method you can use to efficiently master that skill. I want you, for the moment, to forget there ever was such a thing as talent. Most of the things that people perceive as talent were just uniquely developed skills early in childhood.
Read on to learn the two very powerful methods for you to be able to acquire a skill FAST.
Creating Grooves In The Brain.
The thing about habits (whether it’s a behavioral habit or a habit of thinking) is that, as it is constantly repeated, it actually creates grooves in the brain. These neuro-connections become physical manifestations on the brain.
It’s important that you begin to control your habits by becoming the driver of your own bus. Are you driving your bus or is someone else driving it?
The more that you are happy, the more you are training your mind to be positive and happy. If you always look for the negative in things, your mind will become very efficient at it. To create a specific habit, consistently do it and think it and eventually it will become automatic.
You know when you’re mastering this habit when you no longer have to pay it any attention, you do it automatically and rather than getting yourself to do it, you are now compelled to do it.
It takes a rocket headed to the moon 80 percent of its fuel to leave the earth’s gravitational pull and it only uses 20 percent of its fuel to take it to the moon and back! When you’re creating a new habit (whether it’s eating differently, getting yourself to work out, stop smoking, etc), it will take a lot of energy in the beginning, but soon enough it will become automatic and compelling.
This concept of habit creation through consistency is a critical understanding when learning a skill.
Technique 1: Plan, Do, Review.
Plan, do, review, is the same notion as “Ready, Fire, Aim.” Most people are “getting ready to get ready.” They’re essentially saying, “Ready, Aim, Aim, Aim, Aim, Aim….” and they never fire. They never take action.
The critical part of mastering any skill is by mastering through adjusting. Back to the rocket metaphor, a rocket headed to the moon is off course 90 percent of the time! It’s those little jets that keeps it on course. Those little jets are the valuable corrections needed on your road to mastery. It cannot be done if the rocket hasn’t left the earth’s gravitational pull.
- Step 1: Make a plan. Okay, now I know what I have to do.
- Step 2: I do it. All I’ve got to worry about is the next step. Once I get there, then I’ll worry about the next step after that.
- Step 3: What did I learn?
- Step 4: Repeat. Adjust your plans accordingly from the data you’ve gotten from Step 2.
Technique 2: The 8th Wonder Of The World.
Albert Einstein called “Compound Interest” the 8th wonder of the world. Once you’ve taken action on the road to mastering a specific skill, compound interest makes it so your learning from those actions do not add up, they compound each other.
In other words, your competency does not grow by addition, rather they grow exponentially. If you ate a donut everyday for a week, you won’t tell the difference. If you read 10 pages of a good book a day, you won’t tell the difference. Compound interest makes it so the results on your sixth month of consistently doing something will dwarf the results you’ve had for the past 5 months combined!
How exciting is that?
