Turbo Learning / by Alexander Lyadov

Whichever new field you take, you immediately find yourself in the Library of Alexandria. Endless stacks of multi-volume books of knowledge open up to your eyes. Perhaps you are interested in the field of psychotherapy, say, CPT, or you need to find the answer to the prosaic question: “How to choose a gas burner (because winter is coming)? At that moment, you feel like Alice falling into an Internet rabbit hole of videos, diagrams, and texts. As amazed as a child who discovers the world in a drop of water under a microscope, so are you, amazed at how many varieties of burners there are and the nuances about each. And if you’re a novelty-hungry person by nature, you risk getting stuck in this enchanted kingdom.

To make sure life is not wasted, you need to master the skill of turbo-learning anything. My approach is based on three pillars — clarifying your goals, singling out the main thing, and finding the expert. Clarifying one’s goals is necessary because the value of anything is a purely personal choice. Every hammer is meant to strike, but agree that a neurologist’s hammer and a blacksmith’s sledgehammer are different tools. Often we are looking for the perfect or best thing, but we end up with the Japanese proverb: “Ten men are ten shades of color.” Knowing yourself saves a lot of time.

Next, every object has a backbone or engine, as my jiu-jitsu coach used to say. Once you know this part, of course, you won't become a professional, but the necessary 80% of knowledge will be gained through 20% effort. Although I tend to observe rather than talk to people, I must admit that the fastest way to gain knowledge in an unfamiliar area is to ask questions of an expert. Well, if you are dealing with a Master, he will not only give you a comprehensive answer, but he will clarify your true goals beforehand in order to impart the essence of knowledge. That way you can get 99% of the results you personally want, investing just 1% of your precious resource.

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander


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As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

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