3 Skill Acquisition Books — How to Learn New Skills
It's about time to embark on learning a new skill. Perhaps you're interested in developing your professional skills to get a promotion, or improving your soft skills to thrive as a personal speaker or learning a new instrument for pure fun. No matter your reason, I don't believe you lack the excitement to start learning a new skill today! The advantages are many, and you can rip the benefits across different areas of your life.
I've embraced many different ones throughout my life: video-editing, writing, meta-learning, copywriting, entrepreneurship, personal finances, and most recently, learning the drums and stock options investing. Easier said than done; I've struggled with finding the right strategies to learn different skills efficiently and effectively. I don't want you to get stuck too. I'm sharing 3 books I read that were essential in helping me learn new skills.
3 Skill Acquisition Books — Books to help you learn new skills
The First 20 Hours by Josh Kaufman
"The First 20 Hours" is a book that will help you learn a new skill in just 20 hours. The author documents his own process of learning 6 different skills:
Programming
Yoga
Touch typing
Go
Ukulele
Windsurfing
If you want to begin your journey with any skill and are looking for fast progress, I highly recommend you this book. I've particularly learned a couple of skills in 20 hours and don't regret doing so. Of course, you will not get into a professional level within this time, but there is a lot you can do with 20 hours of skill acquisition. Believe me ;)
I wrote a blog post just about this book here!
The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin
"The Art of Learning" is the documentation of Josh Waitzkin's learning journey with chess and martial arts. Oppositely to "The First 20 Hours", this book highlights helpful principles for mastering any skill rather than just getting familiar with it.
I keep coming to this book even though I read it a few years ago. The lessons Josh draws from his experience have helped me many times when dedicating my time to learning different skills. I might not resonate entirely with Josh, as he became a Chess International Master, won several US national medals in Aikido and is a black-belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Still, I find it fascinating to dive deeper into the mind and systems of such an experienced learner.
I wrote a blog post just about this book here!
UltraLearning by Scott Young
This book explores the concept of "UltraLearning" — a strategic approach for intensive and self-directed learning. Rather than embracing slow learning, Scott suggests a more accelerated pace by embracing an UltraLearning project, where your goal is to make significant progress in a short period of time.
The author learned 4 different languages in a period of 12 months by living in Spain, Brazil, China and Korea. By immersing himself completely in these different countries, he was able to craft his own path, adapt his strategy along the way and accelerate his progress by exposing himself to the real world.
I wrote a blog post just about this book here!