Background

How I tripled my income by learning how to code (with zero experience) in 6 months.

Use this method to learn your desired skill in less time. But first, some quick context.

3 years ago, I was broke, miserable, and down on my luck.

I was a new father who had just been fired from a personal training sales job. 9 months in, I burned out. A warehouse job was my only option at the time to support my family of 3.

We lived in the lowest of places. A small apartment that had been shot up just 100 feet outside my window in the parking lot. Not to mention, losing 20 lbs (mostly muscle) from the strain and stress from the labor.

I wouldn’t wish this struggle on anyone. It was a low point that triggered me to change and move fast toward a better life.

Now, I’m sitting in my remote home office on a 1-acre property, earning 3 times more income than before with completely better habits.

It was the most challenging time for me and it wouldn’t be possible without this method.

Today I’ll show you the CRAFT ART Learning System so you can learn from my mistakes in half the time.

Feel free to use it to do the same with your skill of choice.

Let’s jump in.

Core Concept

CRAFT is the method I’ve subconsciously used all of my life.

As a quick, “lazy” learner in grade school, I recall using specific techniques to ace my exams even when I ended up skipping my college courses.

The supplemental ART method is something I’ve recently added with the advancements of AI.

Here’s the sauce:

Focus Formula (The CRAFT ART Learning System)

CRAFT

Cultivate curiosity

Brainwash yourself about the topic or skill.

Create strong emotions around the thing you want. Emotions engage your brain’s ability to learn much more than forcing it.

I watched dozens of YouTube videos on coding to understand the benefits and possibilities.

Then I made the big commitment to join a data science boot camp after a referral from a fraternity friend.

Recreate a project

Hands-on learning is the best way to integrate your 5 senses, a must for better retention.

Find a mentor, project, or experiment that directly involves immediate feedback. You only need enough study to get started and then take massive action.

Learning happens through trial and error.

Don’t get caught up in learning procrastination.

Attain an MVP

Don’t worry about perfect.

At first, you need to be able to get minimal results so you know what needs improvement.

Get your first draft published or reviewed as soon as possible. You don’t want the excitement you created in step one to die down.

Friction is the enemy. Ship fast and often.

Find patterns

A teacher, a community, and even building in public (on social media) can help with feedback.

When you’ve gotten feedback, write down what’s missing.

Now you have data to use when you go for another round of projects or improvements to this one.

Teach it

The Feynman Technique is a classic method to test your learning.

Teach it to a child.

This shows true competence. If you can explain something complex in simple terms, you’ve taken one step closer to true mastery.

You can learn 80% of a topic using the CRAFT framework alone.

But these days you have a massive advantage that people 20 years ago didn’t have, advanced AI technology.

Use these bonus tips to solidify your knowledge.

Think of it as a mental power buff – 10x Intelligence Boost!

ART

AI Assistance

How to use AI to increase your learning speed.

Three tools:

1. ChatGPT - Quick tasks at lightning speed. Ask and you shall receive. Use this for summarizing text or making sense of a brain dump.

2. Perplexity AI - Imagine Google Search as Tony Stark. Well, Perplexity is the Iron Man suit and Jarvis. It will compile articles, videos, and research on the internet to deliver comprehensive responses.

3. Speechify (TTS) - Remember how integrating your senses increases learning? Try using a text-to-speech tool like Speechify that reads text aloud while you read. This also works on Kindle with Audible.

Review and Refine

AI is an awesome sidekick but like any new tool, it’s still a janky robot.

It doesn’t always give accurate answers.

AI should be a tool to give you perspective with speed, not do what humans do best: connect relevant ideas through real experience and creative nuance.

Review your findings and make any changes with deeper research.

Transform or Terminate

Lastly, you need to decide how to move forward. With all of your findings, you have two options:

1. Transform - use your new knowledge to deepen your expertise in the same topic or skill.

2. Terminate - stop here and repeat the entire process with a new topic or skill.

Why it Works

Effective learning involves engaging with material that captures your interest but also ensures the knowledge is retained and applicable to real-world scenarios.

Now you have a framework for deeply learning any skill or topic of your choice.

Leave me a reply with questions. Otherwise, go out there and explore!

TL;DR

The CRAFT ART Learning System for acquiring a new skill in 6 months or less

• Cultivate curiosity

• Recreate a project

• Attain an MVP

• Find patterns

• Teach it

• AI Assistance

• Review and Refine

• Transform or Terminate

P.S. If you’re struggling with building skills or health-related goals like fitness or nutrition, I’m here to help!

Check out my Week of Clarity to get 100% confidence for YOUR unique path to getting in shape or building better habits.

Talk soon!