Learning is the act of incorporating new facts, concepts, and abilities into our brains
The greatest enemy of learning is what you think you know. Being willing to admit when you’re wrong and adjust your thinking is the thing that will help you learn the most.
Why we're bad at learning
We bring baggage to learning - baggage we often pick up early in life and then struggle to let go of later
The modern world erodes our attention spans by training us to be in a constant state of distraction
Learning requires deep focus
Focusing is an art-through experimentation and creativity, you can build systems that let you give your full attention to whatever you're learning
There are two main sources of learning we can learn from:
Our own experience and history
The experiences of others
Learning from history - studying history and applying its lessons to the present
Direct experience - learning from experience and reflection
Reflection allows you to distill experience into learning
High performers make adjustments based on both their successes and failures
Two proven techniques for improving your learning
The Feynman Technique
Pretend you are teaching a concept to a child.
Try to rephrase it in your own language without using its actual name
Spaced repetition
In order to learn something, you need to retrieve it from memory again and again
A Guide to Accelerated Learning
Effective learning requires building your own understanding, with the guidance of an expert teacher.
Charles Darwin may not have had an unusually high IQ, but he was able to outpace other thinkers by learning how to balance out his deficiencies
Ken Iverson, the former CEO of Nucor Steel, believed MBAs should focus on teaching students how to understand and lead people above all else
The Best Books on Learning
The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance, Joshua Waitzkin
Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniel
Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential, Barbara Oakley
Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career, Scott H. Young
Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School, John Medina
Deep Work: Rules for Focuses Success in a Distracted World, Cal Newport
A Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol S. Dweck The Talent Code, Daniel Coyle
Conclusions
Learning isn’t something you do at the behest of someone else. You’re responsible for it. Take charge of it.