How many times have you tried to learn something new but ended up quitting before you made any real progress? If you have, don’t feel too bad about it, as struggling to master a new skill is certainly no walk in the park. Most people find it hard to remember what they’ve learned, which inevitably makes their learning slow and painful.
However, if you’d love to learn but find it difficult, then you’ve come to the right place. In this guide, you’ll find dozens of proven techniques for learning anything fast.
So read on and discover how to become a super learner.
Why Aren’t You Learning Fast?
Years of observing people at college and at work have led us to discover three specific reasons why many people are unable to learn quickly and efficiently. See if you can spot yourself in any or all of these learning blockers:
1. Struggle to Kickstart Learning Something From Scratch
As you’ve probably experienced yourself, sometimes when wanting to learn something new you find yourself not knowing where to start.
For example, you might have wanted to learn how to play chess, but didn’t know the best way to do this. And because you didn’t know the best way, you either didn’t bother trying to learn the classic, 2-player strategy game, or you tried learning from multiple sources at the same time: books, videos, friends and family members.
The problem with this scattered approach is that you will find it hard to focus and you’ll inevitably be given conflicting advice — which is unhelpful when you’re starting out.
The other problem is that by consulting books and asking friends for help, you might find that you’re not getting the latest information. For instance, your friends might not be aware of some of the amazing computer chess learning programs that are available online.
2. Struggle to Recall What You’ve Learned
Think back for a moment to when you were at school. I’m sure there were endless times when you were taught things by teachers only for you to forget the information within weeks, days or even minutes!
And of course, this problem continues from education into the workplace. How many times have you been in meetings where important things have been said, only for half the attendees to forget the details soon after the meeting concluded.
With these types of negative life experiences, it’s no wonder that as people get older they are less willing to try learning new things.
3. Struggle to Put What You’ve Learned Into Practice
This is certainly one of the most common reasons for people failing to learn new things. They spend all their time learning theory; but never put anything into practice.
For example, consider for a moment how people learn to ride a bicycle.
In most cases, a parent or elder sibling would tell you the steps you need to take to successfully get on and begin riding a bike. However, it’s only when you attempt to ride a bike for the first time that the real learning begins!
It’s the same with most things. However many tutorial videos you watch on a certain subject, until you start to do the thing you want to learn, you’ll struggle to make any real progress.
4. Get Overwhelmed When Learning A Lot Of Difficult Things
The wrong teacher or course can quickly dampen your enthusiasm for learning something new. This is especially the case if they make something overly complex at the start.
Take learning a new language, for instance.
If all a teacher did was force you to learn grammar rules for weeks on end, you would no doubt call a halt to your learning. However, if they made learning the new language fun and immersive, you would not only want to keep learning, but you’d grow your confidence too. And of course, you could still gradually learn the required grammar and vocabulary.
5. Can’t Seem To Learn It No Matter How Hard You Work
From time to time you may have thought to yourself: “No matter how hard I practice or revise, I still don’t learn well.”
This is a very common problem.
Unfortunately, many people make the problem worse by putting more and more effort and practice into what they’re trying to learn. This is actually counterproductive, as — without an effective approach to learning — time and effort alone will not be enough for you to succeed.
The good news is there are tried-and-tested ways to learn quickly and effectively. I call this approach ‘smart learning’. Let’s look now at what it’s all about and how you can start using it in your life right now.
