To be successful, we have to be constantly ready and willing to learn something new. Learning a new skill quickly is in itself a valuable skill to have, but it can be intimidating.

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The good news is we apparently overestimate how long it takes to learn something new. Here’s a great interview by Jonathon Fields with Josh Kaufmann, author of The First 20 Hours on how to learn, fast.

The key moments are:

05:30 – Be clear  and specific in what you want

08:10 – Deconstruct the skill

09:20 – Research to find out key sub-skills

15:50 – Remove barriers to practice to make it easier

17:40 – Commit to practice for at least 20 hours

Some great tips

Practice within 4 hours of going to sleep:  Particularly if you’re learning a new motor skill, like playing an instrument, or cognitive skills, like languages. This is because while you sleep, your brain gets to work on re-wiring your synapses, making you better at that skill.

Imagineering and visualization practice is complementary: They work, but only in addition to the physical practice.

Break it up! Break your practice sessions into two 20-minute sessions a day to make it less intimidating and to avoid shirking your commitment. By the end of the week you will have clocked up over seven hours of solid practice.