This article follows on from Part I and details the application of the method: supercharge-your-learning-pt1

The Secret to Supercharging Your Learning – Part II

Application

I discovered and developed the principle parts of this method of highly effective learning through my efforts at learning to play guitar. I would play a whole piece, stumble at certain sections, continue and get through to the end and then repeat. It took an age to perfect a whole piece this way. More out of frustration than anything else I got into the habit of continuously repeating only the difficult sections, which helped but still had intermittent success because I attempted them at full, or close to full, speed. Only when I slowed everything down and made sure that my left hand and right hand could perform without error at a slow yet rhythmically perfect timing could I properly master these difficult parts. Once I could consciously play perfectly at that very slow speed I could gradually speed up and let my subconscious take over more and more of the process until I could play at the correct speed without consciously thinking about it.

Whilst a wonderful method to use for learning any instrument, it also transfers to all other skills. I have used it for developing artistic skills. I recognised that the most difficult parts of drawing the figure – the face and hands – required the most study and developmental learning and hence I focused most of my time on these things and again subdivided the task to understand the most difficult parts within it and to focus heavily on those parts. Consequently I became very skilled at drawing those parts. I considered it essential to do this and felt very dismayed when I once enrolled on a life drawing class to find that the art graduate teacher couldn’t draw hands and faces, and nor could anyone else in the class. Each of them continued to focus on the easy stuff – torsos and limbs – but none of them could complete a picture and an accurate representation of a whole person, head to foot.

I also used this method when studying German. I have attempted to learn German previously as I once lived in Switzerland and now live in Berlin. I did not have a focused approach and consequently kept doing the easy stuff and relied upon guessing with the hope that I might, by chance, get a correct sentence cobbled together. I felt very incompetent. German has many grammar rules and even simple sentences need a good grasp of many rules and details in order to construct them properly. I decided to enrol in an intensive language course in German and I decided that I would focus on understanding every grammar point very thoroughly. Understanding makes learning happen almost by default. Combine that with practice and memorisation and language learning becomes an easier prospect. A large part of mastering the complexities of German lies in knowing and remembering and quickly implementing the logic of the grammar rules. It goes along the lines of: If word x has position y in the sentence and is preceded by preposition z then adjective w and pronoun v must have ending p. It does indeed seem complex when written out this way but with understanding and repetition of the most difficult parts it does prove possible to master (I still don’t yet have full mastery of the language – I got through the beginner levels to the early middle level so don’t expect me to correspond in faultless German!).

I have also applied this method to learning hip-hop dancing. That proved more difficult for some of the more gymnastic moves where jumping and twirling and such things occur. Sadly, I don’t have Matrix powers of ‘bullet time’ so I can’t jump and twirl in the slow fashion that I use to master guitar playing. Instead I attempt to thoroughly understand the process of moves and the difficult parts and what I need to do to make the transition. I think through these parts so I can attempt to gain some recognition, initially after the event, of what I do right and wrong. I then experiment to improve the movement. I sometimes imagine, through visualisation, what I want to perform as this can help to engage the subconscious more readily into doing the right thing at the right time. If I can, I just focus on the transition point of the most difficult part but often I need to carry out the whole movement. I confess that I have not done well with mastering the more gymnastic breakdancing moves but that lies more with the fact that I don’t really have the stamina, flexibility and muscle strength to do these moves. This lack of ability (i.e. exhaustion) usually defeats me rather than a total inability to master the moves. The method still proves true even though my body doesn’t!

You can also use this method for reconditioning emotional responses to situations where normally you might give a response that you have decided that you want to change. For example, responding with anger or responding with fear to certain situations.

Learning New Processes

A difference exists between learning new skills and learning new processes that apply existing skills. Learning new skills is much more difficult because of the conditioning of mind and body and the refinement required. Learning a new process (such as operating a new electronic machine) is usually more based on learning new knowledge and instructions. It can prove frustrating at first but once an understanding of the process and the cause and effect mechanisms within it is gained then we can normally master these things quite quickly. However, the attitude needed is exactly the same. We do best to accept that the process will prove frustrating to learn and that we will initially feel very inadequate. We will find many things impossible to do in the moment and so we must accept the repetition and failure that will occur until we learn enough to make the process work and transfer it into our set of core competencies.

Supercharge Your Learning

I don’t normally indulge in hyperbole but I do recognise that it catches people’s attention. In this case, I think it correct to say that this method will supercharge your learning. By understanding the process of learning and how we master the formerly impossible and in addition by using a process of application that maximises our use of time and effort to the highest extent, we can get far more learning and personal development done, with more precision and effectiveness and in a shorter timescale, than by any other method that I can conceive of.

We will never have enough time so using time effectively can bring us great rewards and satisfaction. We also feel most content in life when we grow in our levels of competency and when we control ourselves and our circumstances with ever greater ability. This method will help you with both of these desires. If you don’t apply it then you will continue to make slow, if any, progress and end up using up a lot of time and resource without good and productive results.

‘Doing the impossible’ is the fastest way to come to a stop with anything. This lies at the heart of procrastination and is the biggest thwarter of all of our good intentions. We can do the things that currently remain impossible for us if we think about what prevents us and how to learn and master those current difficulties. If we focus intently on this transition point then we rapidly overcome the barriers that prevent us from moving forward rather than allow ourselves to become immobilised by them. If we accept that we currently do not have the competence to do what we want to do and just shrug that off by committing to learning and developing the necessary competencies then we eliminate procrastination and we unleash massive personal productivity.

Understanding forms the basis of learning and when you do not understand something intuitively then you must go through the initially slow process of conscious understanding and then enact slow but correct implementation in order to learn and next to master that thing. You now have the secret. Get on with it!

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