How to learn any new skill

From the desire to pro

3 min readJan 14, 2021

It’s been 8 days since I started a new community. A community of people looking to be better, a community of like minds and people who have decided to take one step every day to learn something, to do some work, and most importantly to ship the work that matters.

Let’s talk about Learning. It seems to always start with a struggle. This should help

Ask…what does it matter?

Choose your future. Before you deploy time, energy, and funds to learning a skill or acquiring some knowledge, ask if it matters to the future you chose.

I’ve met a lot of skill enthusiasts and knowledge savvy people who want to learn a lot of things and it always falls in the “I want to develop myself” bucket, but, every time I ask, what does it matter? It appears they never thought of it.

If you want to be the guy that wins the international design award, you don’t want to be learning Spanish (or a new language) because it wouldn’t lead you to the future you chose.

You may admire a skill but you don’t always have to learn it.

Before you start, ask yourself what it will contribute to the future you want and how significant that contribution is.

You should choose the skill that contributes more significantly.

Am I ready?

You have to decide.

If it’s a new skill, chances are it’ll be mentally challenging at first and that’s normal.

You don’t want to be the guy that gives up or stops half-way. So, it’s important you consider what you might need and decide if you are ready but even more importantly, you need to decide to stop at nothing until you reach your learning goal.

Would that be easy? No. That’s why you need a decision.

Understand yourself

Knowing how you learn can be a major advantage if you are learning anything. Some learn better with videos, some with text, some learn better in the morning, some at night. I figured that I learn in many ways but it sticks more when I have conversations, so, when I don’t find someone to have that conversation with, I talk to my sofa, my bed, my picture frames, or anything I can find.

Reflect on your past learning experience and make a list of the good and bad ones, then, find what they have in common.

Get support

Join a community. Everyone needs a hand, including you.

Find a community where you can get and give help. Both make you better.

You also want to seek mentorship and draw inspiration, support, and feedback at every opportunity you get.

Put it to work

If you have decided to learn the skill that matters, then putting it to work wouldn’t be so difficult, I like to refer to it as doing the work that matters. Seth Godin calls it “The Practice”

Solve real problems along the way. Create your own work experience. Do some personal projects

The knowledge is only as good as the work you are willing to do with it.
George D. Welch says, the lesson is only as good as the practice you are willing to put in.

My personal project is the reason I wrote this article.

As you learn, do!

When you approach a skill like this, you’ll not just be better, you’ll also be closer to the future you desire.