Stop Overthinking! Learn 10x Faster with this Simple Method

You’re probably fed up with watching dozens of online courses!

How many of them are still sitting unfinished at 25%?

You might be overthinking your approach to learning a new skill to get a new job or maybe you want to move up quickly in your current job or business.

You could be like me, obsessed with learning.

You have multiple interests and want to absorb more information in LESS TIME.

The Method

Fortunately, I’ve always been a quick study.

I was an AB student back in grade school.

The one people snarked at because I didn’t study much but still got good grades.

I don’t think I’m necessarily smarter than anyone else.

I’ve been told I lack common sense at times,

But subconsciously I was following a method that some call Accelerated Learning or as we will call it in this article: SMART Learning.

SMART learning is my method of study that led me to a career in tech as a machine learning engineer where I get to learn constantly, get paid more than double my old salary, and create a lifestyle that I can thrive in daily.

Today I’m going to show you how I’ve been able to leverage highly valuable skills like problem-solving, coding, and many soft skills that gave me a leg up in my career and business.

So what is SMART Learning?

Study | Make an Experiment | Attain the MVP | Review | Transform or Terminate

Study

In this step, we’re going to research the topic and plan our method of execution.

But before diving in, you’re going to want to first study your current mindset.

Belief is an insanely powerful indicator of success!

If you don’t believe you are capable you will embody that.

The same is true for truly being able to envision yourself already accomplishing your goal.

Jim Kwik said that learning is “state-dependent”.

If you’ve read a book page over and over again and still didn’t comprehend what you’ve read, you were in a state of boredom.

Learning is influenced not only by information but by Emotion!

Yes, you’ve probably noticed you were more inclined to read when you're excited about the topic at hand.

Assess your learning state and then proceed to study your topic.

This is the part where most people fail though.

The key is to timebox your research!

All the research in the world will only get you so far.

You can spend hours and even days in research but the movement is made when you apply it as soon as you have a working knowledge.

For example, if I want to learn how to code, I will watch a few walkthroughs of how to write python for 30 minutes then spend the next 30 minutes figuring out how I can use that knowledge in a more practical setting.

Then, you will want to put that knowledge to the test.

Teach someone what you just learned.

This is called the Feynman technique which is only the first step to solidifying this knowledge in your long-term memory.

Be sure you can breakdown this concept as if you were explaining to a child.

This next step is the biggest driver of your success in your interested skill.

Make an Experiment

Dive in and get hands-on experience with it.

What is a real-world application that you can use your skill in?

This is often called active learning or project-based learning

If you have a basic working knowledge you now need to apply it!

Your overthinking stops with taking action on your large head full of information.

Look at your current situation and find out how this skill can directly impact your life.

Choose something at or slightly above your current skill level.

Let's go back to the coding example: if I know some basic python, I can start a project in GitHub and build a simple app that will help me automate a daily task like handling you're emails or something.

If you’re learning public speaking, you’ve probably learned about eye contact and vocal projection in the Study step.

Now, you can practice this by giving presentations to your friends and implementing the tips you learned at school or work.

This is 10x more effective than just studying because you’re directly working on something relatable to you.

It might be tempting to go all out and add tons of functionality to your project but wait on the extra stuff as I’ll explain in the next step.

Attain the MVP

You want to attain a minimum level of effort or MVP project so you don’t get overwhelmed and quit.

The minimum viable product is a project or outcome (applicable knowledge) that is the simplest form of your understanding or a deliverable that you should attain as quickly as possible that addresses the most important aspects of the topic.

I learned about this technique in the data science coding boot camp I went to.

This is super helpful because you can spend forever just like in the study step and end up quitting because of burnout or lack of direction for your next step.

For coding, learning basic python and being able to use code to email a “hello world” message would be a good example of an MVP.

In terms of public speaking, having a good grasp of 2-3 techniques to practice would suffice for this step.

Review

Evaluate your MVP and see how you can improve upon it.

Do you need to practice more to fully understand it?

Are you adept enough to teach it to a child and break it down into simple terms?

Can you use this skill to get a job or market yourself?

Find out what your weak links are in your project or performance and write those down as action items.

In your coding project, you might find that you need some advanced tools to get your project to do what you need it to.

You might find that your speech is lacking engagement from your audience.

Here's your opportunity to get feedback or find resources that will improve your experience and realization of your new skill.

Transform or Terminate

The last step is to repeat the process with your new insights or decide that you’ve completed your mission by having the skills necessary to apply it in the real world.

If you’re improving your process, use your findings from the Review step to learn from your newfound resources and implement them into your current project.

Your coding app might require you to learn another language like SQL to access a database so check out stack overflow or google how to integrate python with SQL queries.

If you discover your speech lacks engagement, look up 1-2 techniques to add to your tool belt like asking your audience more questions or learning how to get them to participate while you talk.

Learn SMARTer!

With this simple framework, you’re going to be cutting your learning time in half!

Imagine finally getting that job you want because you implemented SMART Learning into your life or getting more clients from being more persuasive about your stellar service.

I used to start a ton of courses on YouTube, Udemy, and LinkedIn that I never finished because I did not understand the psychology of high-performance learning.

Now that I do, I am learning several new skills like online business, writing, marketing, and more!

Keep Getting SMARTer...

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What skill will you use this system to learn next?

Let me know with a reply!

Until next time, learn SMART!