I’ve been putting a lot of thought in the last few months into “learning how to learn.”
Given enough time, is it not true that anyone could learn practically anything? Also, to what extent should learning be “painful” versus purely enjoyable? When do we learn the quickest? When the slowest?
I realized that one of the best ways to answer these questions was to try my hand at something I don’t think I’m particularly gifted at naturally. Enter salsa dancing! I’ll be honest. I’m very thankful for the genes I inherited from my parents, but I’m pretty sure virtually none of my ancestors was seen anywhere near a Latin dance floor. I just noticed also that some people just have a natural knack for learning how to dance whereas for me, it was just…hard.
At least that’s how it started. Eventually, I discovered that one of the keys to learning to dance is “Body Awareness” — being aware of what your body is physically doing, and how it “feels” to do different physical movements. I also realized that there are certain things you can do that create that cool, smooth, confident look versus the “I have no idea what the hell I’m doing” look. So far, I’ve discovered this (incomplete) list:
- Staying on rhythm
- Fully extending your movements versus timid half-extensions
- Keeping your entire torso level (versus bopping up and down) while letting your hips and lower body rise
Anyways, it turns out that salsa dancing, once you get to know it well enough to be able to lead someone is actually pretty fun! I’m not about to win any competitions, but I’m good enough to have fun with it, and to allow my dancing partner to have fun with it, so I feel like I’m at a good place with it.
The intellectually interesting thing I find about it is that I had to figure out how to go from “I know absolutely nothing” to “I can get through a song”, and in so doing kind of started to discover a way to learn. I started applying the same method in my English teaching above, and even in trying to improve my general people skills. As far as I can tell, it all comes down to a few key tenets:
- Learn in Small Chunks
It’s impossible to learn 50 salsa moves overnight, but if milestone #1 is just to get the rhythm down, that’s pretty achievable. Once you’ve got milestone #1 down, set up the next one. - Create Milestones
Rather than just “going and going”, identity milestones that you want to reach. Make them small, achievable, and barely a stretch. When you do reach a milestone you feel a definitive sense of progress, which is highly motivating. - Get a Mentor
You also need someone to learn from, and someone you can interact with while learning (versus just reading out of a textbook). A mentor can challenge you, guide you, inspire you, and help you gauge your progress. - Expect Pain
This one may sound weird, but I started realizing that if you plan on making great strides in something you’ve historically been just mediocre at, somewhere along the way, get ready to be in mental pain. You’ll be pushed to your limits, desiring to quit, or in my case when trying to learn how to spin properly, ready to throw up from dizziness. But this kind of pain is a good pain, because it tells you “You don’t know anything about what you’re trying to do, but you’re learning and you’re getting better.”
This kind of learning basically applies to anything. Interested in learning to become an entrepreneur? Set up a first milestone for yourself, find a mentor, and keep small-chunking knowledge. Interested in becoming the greatest basketball player? Pick a milestone like learning how to shoot free throws really well, go out and practice until you can do it, find a mentor to give you tips, and keep at it.
There are no shortcuts in life, and some of us have an easier road ahead in certain endeavors than others. But there are definitely proven ways of doing things. I hope to keep tweaking these ideas over time.
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