Edition: February 18th, 2022
Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
- Excerpts from article by Younes Henni, published on Medium.com
Jim Kwik, who survived a life-threatening brain injury as a child, suffered a learning disability for fifteen years. Yet, he completely flipped his life and became one of America’s most acclaimed performance coaches.
Movie stars and billionaire entrepreneurs regularly hire him for all sort of needs, ranging from speed reading and memory enhancement to learning skills faster than their competitors.
Speed learning became his brand, which Kwik often refers to as “the greatest skill of the twenty-first century.”
From someone who struggled at school to someone who teaches others how to learn, Kwik’s success shows how you can turn your problems into growth opportunities.
“Anyone can learn to learn better, faster, and enhance their memory and comprehension.”
Jim Kwik.
Our brains are extraordinary tools; sadly, they don’t come with a user manual.
Here are 6 rules that Jim Kwik recommends to learn efficiently and master new skills faster:
1. Know Your “Why-How-When” Extremely Well.
- Before you jump into learning anything new, you must answer three critical questions:
- Why must I learn this?
- How can I use this?
- When can I use this?
- When you have a clear end in mind, you can navigate courses and curricula strategically.
- You’ll be able to focus on the right sections and concepts and skip everything else.
- Have a clear why, how, and when before diving into any topic.
- This will help you build a strategic learning map to learn more efficiently.
2. Identify Your Learning Style and Intelligence.
- According to creativity experts, people learn best once they identify their dominant intelligence and learning style.
- According to the multiple intelligence theory, there are many forms of intelligence – spatial, bodily, musical, linguistic, logical, interpersonal, introspective, naturalistic.
- People usually tend to favour one of three learning styles: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic (or bodily).
- Make sure to identify your dominant learning style and intelligence. You can easily find tests online, such as VAK learning tests.
- Once you know your affinities, use the right techniques and tools to maximise your understanding in record time.
3. Turn Dry Information into Vivid Imagery.
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Maya Angelou.
- The brain is not good at holding raw information but extremely good at learning through vivid imagery and emotions.
- To remember what you learn, turn abstract concepts and formulas into vivid pictures. Build a story around them. Stories invoke and steer emotions in us. They are the best way to capture information in our brain.
- After all, stories were the only way to pass knowledge for thousands of years.
- By turning bits of knowledge into vivid pictures and stories that convey emotions, you’ll remember things much better.
4. Work from a Not-To-Do List.
- To learn faster and better, you must do the work with the highest returns. A great way is to make a list of tasks that you should not prioritise.
- This will help you focus on the most valuable work and avoid what doesn’t matter.
- With a not-to-do list, you can spend your time on tasks that are crucial.
- Do the work with the highest value; even if it’s the least comfortable, you’ll reap the most remarkable results in the long run.
5. Remember — ‘Practice Makes Perfect’ is a Myth.
- Lousy practice never leads to mastery. Rather, as Jim Kwik says, “Perfect practice makes perfect.” According to Kwik, your most valuable asset is not time; it’s attention.
- It doesn’t matter whether you have a thousand years if you waste them doing lazy work.
- That’s why working with intensity and heightened attention is key to fast progress.
- Learning is like building muscles. You can either spend three hours lifting clumsily and chatting with friends or train with intensity for fifty minutes.
- Practise your learning with intensity and focus; you’ll reap extraordinary results in the long run.
6. Remove chaos from your life, and focus on overall well-being.
- Remove chaos from your life by following these tips:
- Clear your mind: mindfulness, gratitude, letting go.
- Clear your physical space: keep a minimalist and tidy space.
- Clear your digital space: organise your emails and files in folders with appropriate names.
- Clear your social life: ditch people who drag you down.
- And most importantly, fix your sleep, your posture, your breathing, your diet, and exercise regularly.
Learning fast is a skill. With the right mindset and methods, you can become good at it.
Moreover, efficient learning can boost your happiness and slow your ageing. So keep learning and keep growing!
….
Have you checked out yesterday’s blog yet?
Education Trends: 3 Habits of Highly Intuitive People That Make Them Successful
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
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