Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career by Scott Young

Why: I need to get the most out of my language learning challenge.
Goal: optimize the learning process to master hard skills.

Action: Drilling and Singing
“Heigh-ho its off to work we go!”

3 Key Concepts

1. Deconstruct the target skill into fundamental pieces.
2. Learning by doing is “KING”.
3. Overlearn is the key to superior retention.

Summary

Get prepared! Deconstructing your target skill into the following parts.

1. Concepts to understand
2. Facts to memorize
3. Procedures to practice

Only if it is obvious to find out… “what concepts and which facts are important, and …the best way to practice?”
Here is where mentors come in handy. It can be anyone that has achieved your goal. In this phase, ask for advice, interview them. I find online communities useful for this. They share also their struggles, which I will encounter too.

Of course, you can always count on a few good books!

The next question is “How much time to spend on researching?” Let’s admit it. We all are guilty of turning preparation into procrastination. In comparison to the project duration, do not devote more than 5~10% of your time. It is more effective to go with what you have and execute as a trial. Then readjust your strategy along the way, as you are better informed.

No matter how many guidelines and tips you had collected, it will never be enough…

Jump in the cold water brrr… Execute the target skill. You will inevitably fail, but in return, you will trim all the fat. Like it or not, this discomfort is at the heart of learning efficiently. We all must go through it!

Shoot for the moon.
Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.

Norman Vincent Peale

Overkill it! Dominate it! The author suggested that by overlearning it, you will have longer memory retention. Besides, this approach gives you immense power to go through obstacles. We rise to meet our expectations of ourselves. Just like that, go all in.

Failing at an ordinary goal is embarrassing,
But failing greatly? That is rather exciting!

WM

Goal check: I found supporting arguments to abandon my everlasting prep, and just go for it.

Wasu’s Review
( 5.0 / 5.0 )

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Bonus: today’s theme song. “Heigh Ho – Snow White”