Grow, Adapt, and Reinvent Yourself Through Ultralearning

Today's blog post is based on a podcast by The Art of Manliness:

Many of us want to learn a new skill or master a new area of expertise, either to further or change our career or simply for the sake of personal fulfillment. But going deep in a subject seems like it would take a long time, and even require going back to school, something most of us don’t have the time, money, and desire to do. 

My guest today says there’s another way. His name is Scott Young and he’s the author of Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career. We begin our conversation with Scott’s successful experiment of doing all the course work for a computer science degree from MIT in less than a year and for free and how this opened Scott up to the idea of “ultralearning.” We then discuss the economic benefits of learning how to learn, as well as the personal benefits that come from mastering new skills as adults. In the second half of our conversation, we get into the practical techniques of the ultralearning method, including creating a plan for your learning project, choosing active over passive learning, and drilling effectively. Scott and I end our discussion with how to figure out what feedback to listen to and what to ignore as you’re learning a new project.

Scott took his classes through MIT Open Courseware. I took a calculus class this way several years ago, just for my own enlightenment...not as a path to get a degree from MIT. I think this was the class I took (I didn't sign up for it to make sure).

Scott said that he was living in France for a few months while in college and wanted to learn to speak French while he was there. He didn't do so well, but a friend told him about Benny Lewis and his program Fluent in 3 Months, which got Scott thinking about alternate ways of learning.

Another project was "The year of not speaking English". Scott and a friend spent 3 months in each of 4 countries...Spain, Brazil, China and Korea; and they only spoke the native language the whole time they were in that country.

Here are the Show Highlights:

• The MIT challenge Scott set for himself
• The unconventional ways people have taught themselves impressive skills
• Why the ability to learn things is such an important skill 
• What is skill polarization?
• The non-economic benefits of learning how to learn quickly
• How do you take on big learning projects with the constraints of time, family, money, etc.?
• What is meta-learning?
• The expert interview method 
• Why having a specific project in mind helps you along your learning pathway 
• Direct learning vs passive learning 
• How to make drilling more effective and more efficient 
• The value of testing yourself (even before you’ve really learned anything) 
• How an ultralearner handles critical feedback 
• What sort of project should you start with?

Make sure you listen to the podcast (link above) and Scott's website.

Interesting days

Today - Stress Awareness Day, Nachos Day, Saxophone Day and Benjamin Banneker Week

Tomorrow - Men Make Dinner Day, Bittersweet Chocolate With Almonds Day, Hug A Bear Day and Project Management Day

Next Wednesday - World Kindness Day, Symphonic Metal Day, Education Support Professionals Day and Indian Pudding Day

Week long celebrations:

November 11 - 17: Human-Animal Relationship Awareness Week

November 12 - 18: Talk Money Week

December 6 - Miners’ Day, Bartender Appreciation Day, Mitten Tree Day, Faux Fur Friday, St. Nicholas Day, Put On Your Own Shoes Day and Pawnbrokers Day

Month long celebrations:

November 28 - December 31: A Blue Christmas