Accelerate your learning curve with these 5 practical tips

Accelerate your learning curve with these 5 practical tipsAccelerate your learning curve with these 5 practical tipsHave you seen those articles with headlines that promise the impossible?1000X your personal growthChange your life in 10 secondsLearn EVERYTHING in 1 hourYou and I both know that these types of claims are BS - its leidhing more than cheap clickbait. But why are we still baited by these headlines?Were optimists And theres nothing wrong with that.Look, we all know that theres no such thing as 1,000% growth in a short period of time. We also know that we cant finish a 300-page book in 30 minutes. Mastery doesnt work that way. There are no shortcuts.However, getting good at something is also not totally unattainable. Because like these above extreme claims, there is a counterculture that says it takes 10,000 hours (or more) to master a skill. As you might expect, Im more on the side of that it takes longer to get good at something.But I firmly believe theres a difference i n the way we learn. You can spend 10,000 hours doing something and learn nothing.Thats why Im sharing 5 things that have worked for me in the past to accelerate my learning curve and learn skills faster.1. Use best practicesDont reinvent the wheel. Its a platitude you often hear. And yet, we all think were majestic wheel-inventors.When you start learning a skill, it must come from a place of humility and admiration for the practice.Whether its writing, value investing, or playing the pan flute start with the basics. I get that people want to be different and try to do new things. But no one ever started as an original.We start by doing what everybody else did. Once you master the basics, you can go out and do your own thing. When I started writing, I copied my favorite authors. And I followed advice from books like On Writing by Stephen King and Ernest Hemingway.Its the saatkorn with investing. I didnt try to create my own strategy from the beginning. I learned about investing from my mentors and from books. I didnt make decisions on my own. That only came later.By listening to best practices, you can avoid making mistakes in the beginning. And thats exactly why most people never get good at something. They quit too early.Dont be like most people. Instead, learn from the greats. And have respect for the skill youre learning.2. Measure and evaluate your progress weeklyYour goal is to get better at a skill, right? How do you know that youre getting better without measuring it?Measuring your progress is the only way you can evaluate it. You dont need hardcore data to evaluate. I use my journal as an evaluation tool.Every day, I write about what Ive learned. What mistakes I made. What I need to avoid. What I want to focus on.And every week, I review my journal and look at how it went. Did I spend enough time practicing? Did I make enough notes? What should I do differently?Looking for tips to get started with journaling? Read this.3. Get feedbackIts important to g et input from mentors, coaches, or experts whove done what were trying to do.I cant stress this enough. Show your progress to an experienced person.Play the guitar in front of a teacherSend your articles to an established writerDiscuss your business model with a successful entrepreneurIf you dont have access to an expert, consider paying someone. Getting feedback from a more experienced person is scary. Ive been there many times.We dont like to be told that were doing things wrong. We also dont like to look stupid. Thats normal. But whats more important. Your feelings or your career?Also, good mentors and coaches never make you feel bad. Remember If make you feel bad, youve asked the wrong person for advice.Seek out people who are already established and have nothing to prove. They will help you better.4. Dont quitThis is so obvious that it often gets left out. You cant master a skill if you quit early. Theres no point in talking about that.However, understanding WHY we quit can hel p us to prevent quitting early. So when youre learning a skill, your progress does not grow linearly over time. But we all expect that learning is linear.The more time I invest in something, the better I should get, right? Unfortunately, learning skills dont work that way. Our progress looks more like thisWe hit learning plateaus - and all of a sudden, we dont get better. But the harte nuss is that time does not stop, only our progress does - and thats very frustrating. And what does frustration cause?Thats right An urge to quit. So when you stop growing, know why you want to quit. The trick is to acknowledge the urge but not giving into it.Remember When you accelerate your learning curve, you will still hit plateaus (see drawing). The difference is that you expect them. That alone will help you to push through plateaus.5. Work harderYeah, but I work smart, dude There are always Einsteins who try to tell us that they work smart. Good for them. But thats not what Im talking about ( listen to my podcast episode about working hard if you want to hear more on this).Even if you work 2 hours a day. Im saying Work hard during those two hours. Every day, work hard. Dont hold anything back.I always thought I worked hard. But I wasnt working nearly as hard as I am today. And I can still improve a lot.As you and I both know, hard work is not about appearing busy or doing useless tasks. It has everything to do with focus.I know this sounds cheesy. When youre working work.Dont go for coffee 10 times a day, stop looking at your social media apps, and dont lounge in your chair. Dont wander around, thinking, what should I do now?If you want to learn faster, achieve more, and make a contribution, you must take your personal development seriously. You cant slack off. This is not high school.Im not always a fan of black/white thinking. But when it comes to getting good at what you do, it is indeed a binary choice Are you learning or NOT?Theres no middle ground. You either move forward, or you go backward.Its up to you.Thisarticlefirst appeared onDarius Foroux.