Have you ever thought why some people seem to learn something very quickly? Now, that doesn’t mean they’re experts, that’s a different story. What is meant here is picking things up with ease. Of course, different people can learn different things at different rates. Someone may be better at sensory motor skills, but others are better at languages. But is there a formula to learn something quickly?
In order to learn anything quickly, there are several things you need to understand. One, you need to be confident. Two, you need to understand the basics and three, work on it.
Confidence
One of the most important elements in learning anything is confidence. First, you must be confident in what you are going to learn and tell yourself that it will be easy. Don’t give up before you even start. It can be a simple positive self-talk of “I can do this.” Once your confidence increases, learning anything is easy. You may have had different learning experiences, but tell yourself that each experience is different and each offers a new opportunity to build trust.
Overview
Whatever you’re learning, get an overview of the material. Research, read and get an idea of it. This is a process of introducing the new material to your brain, hands and legs. You are preparing the ground before sowing the seeds. When your brain becomes familiar with the material, anything you introduce later will be easily absorbed. It doesn’t matter if you are learning a new language or karate. Have fun searching the internet, read some books, and get a bird’s-eye view of what you’ll learn later. This is a phase where you just want to feel it.
Understand the basics
Every field has its basics, be it cooking, languages, martial arts, driving a car, golf, you name it. Understand what the basic concepts are involved because when you understand them correctly, you will speed up the learning process. It’s like learning your “A, B, Cs”, when you know them well you start to spell and read. Then you progress to having a larger vocabulary. You read sentences, then paragraphs, then essays, and finally you read books. It is the same for other fields. Focus on the basics and you’ll learn faster.
Break them into smaller pieces
Don’t try to learn everything at once and expect to be an expert in a short period of time. Being an expert takes time. To learn something quickly and have the foundation to be an expert later, you need to break what you learn into bite-sized chunks. That way you can digest the materials better and faster.
Check
The final step in learning something quickly is reviewing the material you have learned. This is because you are new to what you have just learned. Review and practice, and you’ll be ready for the next lesson and learn new material even better.
To learn anything quickly, you need to be confident and ready to put in the effort. The effort involves getting a bird’s eye view of what you’ll learn, understanding the basic concepts involved, breaking what you’ll learn into smaller parts, and finally practicing what you’ve learned so you can remember. More importantly, be prepared to learn newer material.