Acquiring New Skills: 8 Ways to Learn Faster (2024)

“Skills have utility.” - Tom Bilyeu

This profoundly simple advice from Tom Bilyeu, the co-founder of billion-dollar brand Quest Nutrition and the host and co-founder of Impact Theory, likely resonates with many professionals and organizations.¹ ² ³

The Necessity for Skill Acquisition

As skills are rapidly becoming obsolete in the dynamic global economy, skill acquisition is increasingly valuable for professionals and organizations alike.

In fact, McKinsey & Company reported in 2017 that as many as “375 million may need to switch occupational categories and learn new skills.”⁴ Meanwhile in 2020, a McKinsey & Company survey observed that 87% of companies were either experiencing skill gaps at the time or that they were expecting to within a few years.⁵

Learning How to Learn

The most successful individuals and organizations in the coming decades will be those that were able to adapt to changing circ*mstances and technologies by rapidly acquiring new skills. Adaptation is essential, and it requires learning. To gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace, the ultimate skill that can be acquired is the ability to learn faster.

“The only way to win is to learn faster than everyone else.” - Eric Ries⁶

Highly-respected brain coach Jim Kwik argues that learning how to learn is the most important skill that anyone can master because knowing how to learn anything gives you the potential to learn everything.⁷

Photo by Dmitry Ratushny on Unsplash

8 Ways to Become a Super Learner

The actual science of learning is complex and multi-faceted, but fortunately, many tools and techniques are simple and actionable. Here are the most powerful techniques for learning faster.

Adopt a Growth Mindset

To learn anything and everything, a person must eradicate the limiting beliefs of their fixed mindset. Fantastic research by Stanford’s Carol Dweck demonstrates the incredible power of believing in the potential to learn new information – at any age and under any circ*mstances.⁸ Focusing on the process of learning, not the outcome of skill acquisition, facilitates learning to occur.

Know Your 'Why'

Everyone must understand and clarify their purpose;whydo they want to learn? Reflecting on this may help to illustrate the important personal values and objectives involved. Recalling that skills have utility, a good question to ask is: What is the value of learning this skill? Personally, that may translate into a promotion or job offer, while for an organization, that may be the difference between market growth or lost revenue.

Perform Cognitively Demanding Tasks

InLimitless, Jim Kwik cites research revealing that instantly obtained information is easily forgotten, likely because information is so readily accessible.⁷ In this age of digital dementia, people are losing the ability to think critically and actively recall information out of a lack of necessity.

Think of your brain like a muscle: If you don’t use it, it will begin to break down. A significant body of research has shown that performing cognitively demanding tasks - such as learning new languages and instruments - drastically improves brain health and performance, increasing the capacity to learn new and challenging skills.⁹¹⁰¹¹ ¹²

Use Spaced Repetition

In 1885, Hermann Ebbinghaus produced the ‘Forgetting curve’ that demonstrated a rapid drop in information retention after a short period of time.¹³ It was estimated that within an hour, humans will forget approximately 50% of what they just learned, with nearly 70% lost within a single day. In 2015, this study was replicated, indicating that the ‘forgetting curve’ is a real phenomenon that stunts human learning.¹⁴

So how do you overcome the ‘Forgetting Curve’? The key is to review material at gradually increasing intervals, a concept referred to as spaced repetition. In both the original and replicated studies, memorization was shown to increase with spaced repetition (reviewing material at gradually increasing intervals).

Employ the Pomodoro Technique

Produced by Francesco Cirillo, The Pomodoro Technique suggests that 25 minutes is the optimal time to perform any learning activity.¹⁵ After 25 minutes, information retention drops significantly, which drastically lowers learning efficiency. Therefore, after 25 minutes, it is recommended that you take a short break to allow the brain to reset.

Interestingly, there is evidence of a period of “down-time” before information retention increases again at the end of a session. This is referred to as the Primacy/Recency Effect.¹⁶ For this reason, it is suggested that shorter learning sessions may minimize down-time and therefore optimize information retention.

Primacy/Recency Effect: Down-time observed in middle of a 40-minute learning episode.¹⁶

Learn by Association

It has long been reported that the brain learns through association, a process referred to as classical conditioning.¹⁷ Essentially, a conditioned stimulus elicits a conditioned response.¹⁸ Stimulus can come in many forms: locations, smells, tastes, sounds, memories, and/or emotions.

An example: if someone learns French while listening to baroque music, the brain will naturally correlate the baroque music (the stimulus) with the learning of French (the response). Therefore, context matters.

Read

A single book may contain decades of research, experience, and wisdom from some of the world’s most revolutionary figures. That same book can often be read in a matter of hours. Absorbing the most pertinent lessons from a lifetime of work in a few hours epitomizes efficiency.

However, if reading is too time-consuming, an even more efficient strategy may be to listen to audiobooks and/or podcasts during mundane tasks throughout the day, such as commuting, exercising, or cooking. Further, there are terrific apps, such as Blinkist and Readwise, that condense books into easily digestible content.¹⁹ ²⁰

Photo by Seven Shooter on Unsplash

Seek Novelty and Deep Embodiment

Novelty and unpredictability stimulate the release of dopamine and norepinephrine, two important neurotransmitters for learning. Dopamine cells support learning through pattern recognition by responding “to unexpected stimuli associated with future reward.”²¹ As for norepinephrine, research indicates that it “plays a central role in the emotional regulation of memory.”²²

Deep embodiment, or a heightened awareness of sensory inputs, may also promote neuroplasticity and learning. Stanford professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology Dr. Andrew Huberman points to research showing that an activation of the vestibular system – used for balance and spatial orientation – creates a perfect environment to rewire neural networks.²³ Maximizing sensory inputs by being off-balance and disoriented may significantly increase learning.

Accelerated Learning

Unfortunately, instantly downloading new skills may only be feasible in The Matrix... for now.²⁴ In the meantime, science is continuing to revolutionize learning capabilities. By taking these techniques and applying them with discipline, effort, and patience, the time required for skill acquisition may be significantly reduced.

And of course, while it may not be easy, everything is possible.

Additional Resources

For a more comprehensive exploration of learning how to optimize your health, happiness, and performance, check out the Learn II Perform podcast, available on Apple and Spotify.

Together, we can all learn to perform.

About the Author

Braeden Ostepchuk is a former professional athlete, NCAA national champion, university valedictorian, and engineer with a passion for learning, teaching, and human optimization. With a fundamental objective of making life-changing information accessible to everyone, Braeden created Learn II Perform, a podcast and platform designed to empower people to optimize their health, happiness, and performance.

Image Credits

Photo by Branko Stancevic on Unsplash

Photo by Dmitry Ratushny on Unsplash

[13] Sonnad, N. (2018, February 28). “A mathematical model of the ‘Forgetting Curve’ proves learning is hard. Quartz. https://qz.com/1213768/the-forgetting-curve-explains-why-humans-struggle-to-memorize/

[16] Sousa, D. A. (n.d.). Primacy/Recency Effect [PDF File]. Retrieved from https://www.lancsngfl.ac.uk/secondary/math/download/file/How%20the%20Brain%20Learns%20by%20David%20Sousa.pdf

Photo by Seven Shooter on Unsplash

References

[1] Bilyeu, T. (2020, October 27). 8 keys to overcoming your procrastination. Impact Theory [Podcast]. Retrieved from https://impacttheory.com/episode/tom-bilyeu-qa/

[2] Quest Nutrition. (2021). QuestNutrition. Retrieved from https://www.questnutrition.com/

[3] Impact Theory. (2021). Impact Theory. Retrieved from https://impacttheory.com/

[4] Manyika, J., Lund, S., Chui, M., Bughin, J., Woetzel, J., Batra, P., Ko, R., & Sanghvi, S. (2017, November 28). Jobs lost, jobs gained: What the future of work will mean for jobs, skills, and wages. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/jobs-lost-jobs-gained-what-the-future-of-work-will-mean-for-jobs-skills-and-wages

[5] Agrawal, S., De Smet, A., Poplawski, P., & Reich, A. (2020, February 12). Beyond hiring: How companies are reskilling to address talent gaps. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/beyond-hiring-how-companies-are-reskilling-to-address-talent-gaps

[6] Ries, E. (2011).The lean startup: How today's entrepreneurs use continuous innovation to create radically successful businesses. New York: Crown Business.

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[10] Shoghi Javan, S., & Ghonsooly, B. (2018). Learning a Foreign Language: A New Path to Enhancement of Cognitive Functions. Journal of psycholinguistic research, 47(1), 125–138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-017-9518-7

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[12] Seinfeld, S., Figueroa, H., Ortiz-Gil, J., & Sanchez-Vives, M. V. (2013). Effects of music learning and piano practice on cognitive function, mood and quality of life in older adults. Frontiers in psychology, 4, 810. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00810

[14] Murre, J. M., & Dros, J. (2015). Replication and Analysis of Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve. PloS one, 10(7), e0120644. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0120644

[15] The Pomodoro Technique. (2020). Francesco Cirillo. Retrieved November 20, 2020, from https://francescocirillo.com/pages/pomodoro-technique

[16] Sousa, D. A. (n.d.). Primacy/Recency Effect [PDF File]. Retrieved from https://www.lancsngfl.ac.uk/secondary/math/download/file/How%20the%20Brain%20Learns%20by%20David%20Sousa.pdf

[17] Rehman I, Mahabadi N, Sanvictores T, et al. Classical Conditioning. [Updated 2020 Aug 27]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2020 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470326/

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[19] Blinkist. (2020). Blinkist. Retrieved November 20, 2020, from https://www.blinkist.com/

[20] Readwise. (n.d.) Readwise. Retrieved November 20, 2020, from https://readwise.io/

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[23]Huberman, A. (2021, February 15).Using Failures, Movement & Balance to Learn Faster | Huberman Lab Podcast #7[Video]. YouTube. Retrieved fromhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx3U64IXFOY

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