How to learn anything

1. Key trick

I suppose you already understood that key tricks open the way to new knowledge and give a head start in mastering it. They help overcome the barriers inevitable in any learning. Some of the tricks relate to familiarity with the subject and the degree of self-confidence, while others help to give due attention to some part of the process.

Knowing the key tricks allows you to take control of the situation.

Someday, you may start to cope without them, but at first they will be your best friends.

A key trick might be to change the approach - for example, grab the pencil higher or separate the whites from the yolks while making an omelet. Or hide in concentration on any of the stages: for example, to learn how to ride a surfboard, you first need to practice jumping on it on the floor of the room. And to make a full turn on a skateboard, first of all, you need to turn your eyes and head in the right direction - and the whole body will follow them. The trick may lie in important details: if you want to extract fire by friction, all materials must be dry and as far away from the ground as possible - you have no idea how much moisture is at the surface of the soil.

The key trick at first creates a deceptive impression: it seems to you that, since you know it, you will be able to do everything right. But then, getting carried away, you understand: it will not replace hours of practice, but it will help to overcome them faster and more pleasantly - and in the end you will get the desired result.

In some skills, there are several tricks at once - as, for example, in drawing Zen circles: you can hold the brush higher, or you can put one hand on the fist with the other. Sometimes the key tweaks are very small and seemingly insignificant. In street photography, the trick is simply to get close to your subject - and that alone will make your shots so much better.

Over time, you will likely reach the point where the key tricks are no longer important to you. But by this time they will have done their job - they will involve you in the process so much that you will continue to improve your skill.

2. Pat / Stroke Barrier (Skill Opposition)

Many of the tricks that give an initial advantage in mastering a skill involve breaking the “pat / stroke barrier” (also known as the skill counter barrier). You run into it when you find that you need to perform some actions that contradict each other. The name comes from the well-known task: at the same time stroking oneself on the stomach with one hand, and patting the top of the head with the other. It would seem that there is nothing difficult here, but try it - and you will see that it is almost impossible. However, this task can still be solved if you focus first on one half of it, and then gradually connect the other.

We usually imagine mastering skills too simplistic: it seems to us that we are just learning them, first one, then another. But in fact, the skills we already have can both help to master new ones, and, conversely, slow down the process. We think that in order to learn something difficult, like driving a car, you need to coordinate a number of different skills. But it is no less useful to look at them separately: do they interfere with each other? For example, gear shifting interferes with turning the steering wheel - it certainly does not help. It is better to first bring each skill to perfection and automatism independently of the others, and not suffer, trying to apply them all at once.

You run into a barrier of counteraction to skills whenever you try to learn something worthwhile: the brain decides the question of coordinating neural pathways. And changing focus is not always easy: often, when a task overwhelms us, we panic and abandon everything. "I just can't handle it!" - we say. Those who are naturally capable of rapid learning, when faced with difficulties, unconsciously concentrate on one element. Perhaps this makes them a little pedantic, but after all, real understanding cannot be achieved in a hurry. It is important to be "out of time" here. (For myself, I discovered that if, while learning something new, I allocate two hours for a "lesson", then very quickly I forget about the deadlines and the process turns into a flow. But if I give myself less time, then I start to rush.) Here too a key trick helps - it weakens the conflict of skills and helps to harmonize them.

Once you are aware of the barrier, mastering the skill becomes easier. You are concentrating your efforts.

Let's go back to Zen circles. Here the barrier is not too high - although it stops people who have been convinced that they are "unable to draw" (or they themselves have convinced themselves of this). The contradiction here is this: precise and accurate lines require a slow pace, and correct curves require speed and skill. If you slow down too much, the circle will look like an amoeba. Speed up too much - get a jagged egg - a bit like a cartoon character hairstyle.

Some skills have a low pat / stroke barrier and are easy to get started. For example, if you build towers from stones, knowing the key trick, the barrier becomes obvious only at the moment of realizing: the crazier the balance, the harder it is to continue building. You have to find the tiny bumps and balance points at the same time and think about the finished tower. A successful balance point for three stones can destroy an already built tower of five. Moving a group of stones back and forth in search of balance, and then creating it for the next tier is almost the same as stroking your stomach and patting your head at the same time.

In other cases, this barrier turns out to be the main obstacle to mastering the skill in general. As you can probably guess, the pat / stroke barrier is very high in juggling. Here you need to be able to almost simultaneously toss and catch objects with both hands separately. The trick is to focus first on the toss and then on the catch. By sharing and developing skills, you develop neural connections, gradually improving your "autopilot".

If you want, you can give your level of competence or degree of focus a numerical rating. For example, you might have a nine for a toss and only a two for a catch. This assessment of the building blocks of a skill (detailed in Timothy Golvey's excellent book series on the "inner game") is great for reducing the pressure of trying to improve both skills at the same time. If it takes too much energy to overcome the barrier, the result is usually only disappointment. It is best to periodically return to skill and review the scores for each of the opposing skills.

In aikido there is a technique called hajime, which involves going to a higher level than desired. "Hajime" in Japanese means "to begin" and is about performing each action as quickly as possible. It doesn't matter how badly you do it, the main thing is to maintain maximum speed. This helps to get into a state of flow and turn off conscious thinking. Then the same movements should be performed as slowly as possible. This alternation increases awareness, and the brain deeply learns the basics of countering skills.

Opposing skills means we need to engage two parts of the brain at the same time. Our brain prefers to perform actions in turn, but if we turn off conscious perception, it turns out that we can improve very complex skills that require the simultaneous work of different parts of the brain. Conscious thinking (by which I mean verbalizing everything in your head and following these instructions) ensures that you look like a puppet. The sooner you feel a certain action and start performing it without thinking, the better.

Of course, guidelines can be helpful. When you are learning to drive, your instructor can mark the rear window to help you park. But after a while you will have a flair, and you will always know exactly where you are. For those who first get acquainted with some business, it always seems amazing, but in fact, we all perfectly know how to do some things by sight. In the 19th century, craftsmen could make absolutely round wheels, relying not so much on accurate measurements as on their instincts. Doing something by eye means trusting your ability to use a counteracting skill.

3. General security

Before you can master any skill, you need to ensure yourself the best chance of success. You need the right equipment or tools, time, and a willingness to learn. And don't be in a hurry. You might even think about how to use unproductive time (comedian and actor Steve Martin, deciding to learn how to play the banjo, put an instrument in every room of the house, even in the toilet). You must remove all obstacles from the path.

Sometimes it’s the right tools to break the pat / stroke barrier. In street photography, the contradiction between the speed of shooting and the unstable position of the camera, which leads to blurry images, becomes a barrier. You can overcome the barrier using a small camera that focuses very quickly.

In any case, “the right equipment” means the right one for you. The tools should inspire you to keep training.

In photographing on film, some are attracted by the unexpected method of its manifestation with the help of instant coffee and vitamin C - do not believe it, this composition really works. It may be a little more difficult than using a ready-made developer, but it is fun and unexpected.

When drawing Zen circles, it is very helpful to find a pen that you really like. Artists and illustrators usually have favorite tools. Shu Reiner typically uses a Rotring pen, while writer and illustrator Dan Price uses Japanese Sakura markers. I fell in love with the Pentel brushes that manga artists work with - I find it even more interesting to draw Zen circles with them.

But general provision means not only tools - it is also the setting and the surrounding. My daughter almost quit playing guitar, but when we changed teachers, she not only began to learn faster, but also really got carried away. The right teacher is very important. He doesn't have to be a brilliant specialist - but let him make you want to improve yourself in what you like. Just as doctors help the human body to heal on its own, teachers redirect our attention to help us learn for ourselves.

4. Result

Any skill provides for a certain successful result - without it, we would not want to continue practicing. The very fact that a skill, be it juggling or proving the Pythagorean theorem with origami, seems difficult, gives you an incentive, and regardless of your motivation (you want to look good in other people's eyes, prove something to yourself - or both other) he must have a clear, unambiguous and achievable successful result. Therefore, cooking as a whole cannot be considered a skill, but cooking an omelet is possible; driving a car - no, but turning with the hand brake - yes; sailing in a kayak or kayak - in no case, and the execution of an Eskimo coup - undoubtedly.

The more obvious and visual the result, the more praise you usually get. We all crave attention - this is a vital resource. From an evolutionary perspective, humans need the help of others to survive - always, not just in early childhood. In the wild, surviving in a group is much easier than alone, and the attention of others speaks of belonging to a "tribe." Of course, the need for attention can go beyond the norm, but some of it is really needed. Even our own attention to ourselves is already a result, a pleasant warm feeling that we have achieved something, even if no one else knows about it.

For some people, public recognition can be a serious motivating factor. Trainer and educator Steve Chapman announces his promotions publicly and uses fear of humiliation as motivation. This fear overcomes laziness and absent-mindedness - here's a good example of using one negative factor to fight others.

A significant stimulus and, at the same time, the result can be a sense of usefulness.

If you can cook a tasty meal, entertain someone, arrange a party, fix something, then you can perceive these actions as a reward in itself.

Skill necessarily brings the feeling of achieving a result, even a small one. While drawing Zen circles, I find myself often filling the entire page with them, but try not to overlap. The bubble effect is an added treat.

5. Repeatability

You need a skill that can be repeated endlessly, which means it shouldn't be too boring, stubborn, or unchanging.

Most importantly, it should allow you to continually improve. By repeating it over and over again, you will see your own progress. And this is truly amazing.

I came up with such an activity for myself - every time I come to a coffee shop, draw a cup, spoon and saucer. Sometimes I carefully sketch out all the details and create a real still life. And sometimes I am in a hurry and make a schematic sketch in just a minute. It does not matter; the main thing is that I continue to do this, repeating the same simple exercise over and over again. I can feel my self-confidence increase and I see that the drawings are getting better - I begin to notice things that I have not noticed before. But even when I’m in a hurry, I don’t fall into a panic that seizes us when we are afraid to do something wrong or, for one reason or another, not to finish the job. These small inner fears can interfere with any attempt to create or try something new, even if you are doing it only for yourself and without any coercion. Pre-set timing and repetition help drive out these self-doubt demons.

For marketers, the holy grail is to bring a game element: repeatable, but always engaging, because the result is different every time. Too much predictability is boring. No new omelet is exactly the same as the last one, like a juggling number or a Zen circle - and there is always a chance that the next time will turn out better. This is the nature of play. For it to arise, the lesson must be able to repeat itself: writing a novel is not a skill, but a short story a hundred words long - yes. Climbing Everest is not, but climbing the wall of the local climbing wall is unambiguous.

6. Experimental possibilities

Mastering any skill is a mini-laboratory, a place for countless experiments, expanding and deepening knowledge about the subject. Experiments are not the property of science, it simply appropriated this form of curiosity, which is naturally characteristic of man.

Through experimentation, you can add flavor to repeatability. You can improve exponentially, reaching things that “just in practice” would take too long. A long time ago I decided to master the J-stroke skill, which is used when you are the last or only rower in the canoe. This technique is called so because the oar, when viewed from above, should describe a figure in the water that looks like the letter J. I read everything I needed and began to try every time I found myself in a boat on the river. But nothing worked for me. Then I spoke to a specialist, my cousin Simon, who was formerly a member of the Olympic Canoeing Team. He modestly reported that he used to do C-strokes himself. I considered this an invitation to experiment and decided: instead of following the instructions exactly, I can entertain myself with C-, L-, J- and maybe even Z-strokes. And I got better right away - I found my own way to row harder.

Each skill can be flipped upside down and backwards for joy. This is how they master the variables - they learn how much they can change values and how they affect each other.

One of the biggest pitfalls of results-based learning is that the process goes too fast and you don't have time to experiment and fool around.

Keep drawing circles, sculpting clay skulls and doing tricks on the bike, but forget about the end result and just learn for real.

Robert Twigger is a British writer, poet, philosopher and traveler. By his own admission, from early childhood he was interested in everything around him. Therefore, Twigger studied a lot and achieved success in various fields. The book Evil White Pajamas, in which Robert described his experience of teaching aikido in Tokyo, won the author the Somerset Maugham Award. Twigger participated in the capture of the longest snake in the world and in the creation of a documentary about this adventure. In 2009–2010, Robert led a walking expedition aimed at crossing the Great Sandy Sea in the Sahara (about 700 kilometers long).

Twigger proves by his own example that you can learn any skill and improve it. In the book "Micro-master classes" he shares with the readers his many years of experience - detailed instructions on how to master any knowledge and skill.