Developing a new skill is easy but most of us think otherwise. Whenever we think of learning a skill our default mindset says things like “it is unpleasant!”, “I have no talent for this” or “It will take an enormous amount of time, better do something else!”.


We live in a society which promotes speciality over diversity. Which is a good thing, I would like my doctor to be a master of his practice. The problem comes when this mindset starts becoming a barrier to learning something new.



In our childhood, we recognize somethings which we are good at and others at which we suck. As we are growing up we stick to the things we are skilled at. Again it is smart to double down on your strengths but ignoring other aspects of life has a particularly high opportunity cost.



So what can we do to remove this barrier of learning and what is the optimal way to learn a skill? Let us find out!



Disintegrating Learning Barriers



Best way to stop these pessimistic thoughts is to just start learning the skill and giving your best shot. 

  1. This will focus your mind on learning a new skill
  2. Also, you save time and mental effort (Which you can invest in learning ;) )

Okay so now you are ready to learn but where to start from??



4 Steps To Learn a New Skill

In the book “The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything ... Fast”, author Josh Kaufman talks about a system to learn a new skill. The system consists of 4 parts and applies to any skill.


Learning any skill has a similar process. First, we learn about how to do it (Cognitive Stage), then we practice it (Associative Stage) and finally, we master it (Autonomous Stage).



The 4 Steps

 


 

1. Deconstruct a Skill


Before starting to learn a skill be clear what you want to learn. A clearer goal will help you create a clearer path. 


Let's say you want to learn to code. Instead of straight jumping into Udemy or Coursera, first, gain some basic knowledge about what are the domains in this skill. Decide on for what purpose you want to learn it. Is it for Android development, Web development or just for fun? Each domain will have its path to follow. Take a couple of hours to explore that and make a list of what you have to learn.


In the end, you will have a list of subskills required. For coding, it would be learning how to use a code editor, learning the syntax of a language, some computer science concepts and other technologies.



2. Education Stage


In this step, you will acquire the knowledge just enough to start practising it. It will be tempting to know all the optimal methods right away but before you learn them you must make some mistakes. 


Learning from mistakes will allow you to better judge the content out there and you will value the lessons you learn.



3. Eliminating Barriers To Success


Yes, one more barrier to eliminate! While learning a new skill you will face many barriers. The biggest one is the lack of motivation. When you start out you will be very motivated but with time the excitement may fade away. A simple way to overcome this is to have an accountability partner (To learn more about it check this post).


Practising is the biggest factor while acquiring a new skill (coming to that in a bit) so you must design your environment such that practising your skill is as easy as possible. For a detailed explanation you can check this post but to summarize quickly with an example, let’s say you want to learn how to play the guitar. Having it where you rest during your breaks is the best. So you can just pick it up and start playing. If it was in some other room then you will have to exert effort to get it and start playing.



4. Practice Deliberately


This is the most important step. You must give your 100% to this step. 


Divide practice sessions into achieving subskills.


Once you achieve a subskill you can move on to the next one.


At any point, if you are not able to make progress then find out optimal methods to practice your skills. It is just a google search away!


This is how you can learn a new skill. Not hard at all, right?


Following the first piece of advice, start destructuring a skill you are procrastinating to learn right away before those pessimistic thoughts get you!


Thank you for reading and if you want to learn about improving yourself in the breaks you can check out Improveistic’s Instagram and Facebook pages!