Post: #1

Let's talk in generic terms, so we don't get too bogged down in specifics. What would be your ultimate plan to master a skill set? I am thinking in terms of the college hacking guide for 18 year olds..

Basically, life be damned, what is the best way to learn something? Language, Guitar, Cooking, etc? I know there is no substitute for learning or hard work or even skill.. but there has to be a most efficient way to tackle something brand new.

Post: #2

Usually full immersion works best (For me atleast)

In the culinary industry everything is very much trial by fire, even in school we were basically tossed in ass first and expected to swim. If you didnt, you were gone. My starting class of 50 graduated a class of about 20.

Im a fan of it, I think you have to do something and fuck it up a few times to truly understand it.

Chef In Jeans
A culinary website for men

Post: #3

It's always good to have a tangible skill set, for example mechanics, electronics, welding, ect. Piece together a tool box from pawn shops and buy and old car for $500. Wrench on it till it runs. Out of date text books are cheap and a dime a dozen. Pick up a few and study the theory while you're working.

If you're in college pick up a part time job in a shop of some sort. It'll give you good experience and something positive on your resume. Another option is to join an Air Guard unit. They have great training that will fast track you in whatever your wanting to get into.

Post: #4

To actually do the damn thing.

I gotta open up my Kanji dictionary more often...

Post: #5

Kind of overrated but: Practice Practice Practice.


I learned to play guitar to a great skill level just by myself, and I'm doing the same with Mandarin Chinese. You gotta have that spark that just keeps you motivated.

Post: #6

FretDancer has it right. But it's not just practice as in "do it over and over"--it's intentional practice right at the edge of your ability. It is NOT easy.

Highly suggest you read "Mastery" by George Leonard, and also "The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle and possibly "Talent is Overrated" (Geoff Colvin). All address the subject of elite performers and mastery of a subject, in slightly different ways.

Post: #7

(08-19-2011 01:58 AM)Stitch Wrote:  "The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle

That book is amazing. I loved it.

Post: #8

My 2 cents

Travel the world and your conversation skills and pretty much everything else will improve massively.

Post: #9

(08-19-2011 01:58 AM)Stitch Wrote:  FretDancer has it right. But it's not just practice as in "do it over and over"--it's intentional practice right at the edge of your ability. It is NOT easy.

Highly suggest you read "Mastery" by George Leonard, and also "The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle and possibly "Talent is Overrated" (Geoff Colvin). All address the subject of elite performers and mastery of a subject, in slightly different ways.

Indeed, and when you realize that investing alot of time into it doesn't feel like a burden, you know its for you!

Post: #10

As wikipedia says "A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both". People pay for skills, not degrees. Degrees are pretty much lazy filters for people who are hiring or buy services. If you can show have the skills and have them good (by a portfolio, testimonials, whatever) you'll be over %90 of the people by actually giving enough of a shit to develop a skill really really well. A skill that is in demand and has low supply will give you lots of cash. Learn a practical skill, be it programming (especially in areas that are in higher demand, like mobile development, or security) , medicine (like anesthesiology), engineering, sales (getting people to pay you money) or go directly to the market and fulfill a need that people are willing to pay for (like roosh for example), be it a product or service and be fucking good at it that not many can compete.

In college educations, there are a few top brand names(Stanford,Berkley,Harvard), a few notorious shit holes (DeVry,Phoenix) and the %99.99 vast middle gulf of unknowns. The value of the top brand names are dubious at most and are fairly expensive (although if you can get it for cheap, go for it!). As a recent grad, the best way to get a degree is to get your first 2-3 years at the most reasonable community college you can get and then transfer to a decent university to finish it off for a minimum of cash and time. If school is so expensive that getting it somewhere in europe would be cheaper (do your research) then do it! If your school has an internship/co-op program, fucking take of advantage of it. Don't waste your time on a degree that doesn't translate to a skill which people will pay for. If a skill market is cyclical and your in a downturn right now for it, starting your degree in it now could be a good thing, since by the time you finish the degree it could be on it's upswing again and there aren't many grads available since they were all shooed away from the previous downturn.

Post: #11

Internet Marketing is a pretty decent skill to learn for one of your first skills.
Even if you don't make a huge amount of money it does get you familiar with how SEO works which can be huge when you have to start a business and need an online storefront but can't afford to hire someone for seo.
Web Design, Sales, customer psychology are all side skills that increase the effectiveness of Internet Marketing and learning those skills is also worth a lot.

I really want to read "Mastery", I need to get my hands on that soon.

Post: #12

(08-24-2011 01:21 AM)ersatz Wrote:  The value of the top brand names are dubious at most and are fairly expensive (although if you can get it for cheap, go for it!). As a recent grad, the best way to get a degree is to get your first 2-3 years at the most reasonable community college you can get and then transfer to a decent university to finish it off for a minimum of cash and time.

That's what I did and I'll recommend this option until the day I die. I graduated and went to work in an industry with plenty of Yale, Princeton, Columbia, etc grads and passed them right up. Making bank now.
1) Get a degree from a medium-tiered university (save money). The degree will get your foot into the door.
2) Study something relevant that employers will pay for.
3) Learn skills, to supplement (or complement, depending on your degree) your degree.

I make/save bank now because I did those two things.

Post: #13

The value of the top brand names has nothing to do with the actual education. It's two things: networking and mindset. When I was funding my soon-to-be-ex's MBA, we compared her program to a friend who went to Stanford. They covered very similar material, but the attitude and focus was different; hers was "if you wind up in Accounting, you'll need to know this," where Stanford was "when you run the company, you should know that your accounting department does this". The networking, obviously, can be quite huge. But yeah, don't think you're getting a massively better education in any way.

Post: #14

Don't spend hundreds of thousands of dollars just for networking. Get a skill that is rare and in demand and you'll be working with those grads anyway and you'll be networking with far more relevant and important people.

Post: #15

Reading 'Mastery' now. Awesome book. Interesting that he calls out 'hackers'..

Do you guys feel like you can put more stock in 'self help' books that were written before the blog craze? Stuff like 'think and grow rich' or 'mastery'.. I can't help but feel like they are more real than Tim Ferriss wave modern lifestyle design based around buying their products/affiliates.

The Ferriss idea of MED combined with understanding how plateaus work thanks to Mastery, really has me thinking..

Post: #16

Amistod--

"Mastery" is a good high-level book (I reread it periodically) but I do again recommend "The Talent Code" for a slightly more in-depth look at what serious practice looks like. Also interesting from a slightly different point of view is "Choke" by Sian Beilock; aside from a couple of strident chapters on gender differences, it's an interesting look at why people fail under pressure--particularly more "intelligent" people (with a higher working memory). If you find yourself "overthinking" things (I do this A LOT) and locking up under pressure, it's an interesting read.

There's definitely an art to serious practice, making things hard enough that it's just at the edge of your ability. Some things seem to work better than others (for example, learning a physical movement like a new dance step, martial arts kata, or musical piece, I've had some luck practicing it faster than it should be so that I aaaalmost make mistakes, etc). Things like that.

What this winds up meaning is that some things are easier than others to practice. Applying this idea to game is tricky, because practicing that interaction pretty much requires a participant, and generally the only way to find one is to do it in the wild...

Post: #17

The best way to learn anything is to keep close to someone who you know does it well.

Watch carefully, listen closely, and don't be afraid to ask questions.

Post: #18

Great advice in this thread. I think we can all agree that there's no such thing as "lifehack" a skill.

Post: #19

Mastery is one of my favorite books of all time. Talent is Overrated was good as well. Another I'd recommend is The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin. All go to show that learning is something you can get better at.

I improved a lot at basketball this summer, and it was through identifying weakness, intentional practice to improve them, and just inherently enjoying practicing despite the results (I would focus completely on my shot form, if it was good I didn't care if it went in or not). Would seriously just shoot in the gym by myself for hours.

Post: #20

I think it goes without saying that you should first pick something that enjoy or would like to learn, or that you unavoidably spend a lot of time doing already. From there, practice makes perfect. For me, I believe the most important trait you can ever acquire is strong self-discipline. It was something my dad taught me at a very young age... something that he picked up while in the military.

Don't ever underestimate the power of self-discipline, will power, and perseverance. Whether it's learning a new skill set, dropping a bad habit, or maintaining a regimented diet & work out schedule, those with strong will power will always trump the lazy and the procrastinators. If you want to learn to do anything in life, teach yourself to be disciplined and you can accomplish almost anything you put your mind to. Usually, all it takes it forcing yourself to do the things you know you need to while ignoring the bad impulses. Like with all things, it always sounds easier than it is.