How to master a skill?

How to master a skill? Why is it so difficult for people to master a skill? The point is not that it is a time-consuming process - we are used to investing in acquiring new knowledge. The sad fact is that most often we get more knowledgeable and effective knowledge than we put it into skills. Personally, it seems to me that the main reason people face great challenges in improving their skills is that they have never thought about basic skills acquisition techniques. At school, our success depended on the development of knowledge acquisition techniques, and most of us coped well with this task. But what did the school do to help us learn? Almost nothing, except for physical education lessons. So talking about what skills you should practice, I would start by discussing how? How effective is it to acquire any skill with minimal effort? The four golden rules of skill acquisition Rule 1. Practice in only one type of behavior Usually people, working to improve their skills, try to do as much as possible at the same time. People, having successfully mastered difficult skills, achieved this result, practicing at each moment in time only one type of behavior, not two, and even more so not a dozen at a time. Choose one type of behavior in which you will practice. Do not move on to the next one until you are sure that the first one has been fulfilled. Rule 2. Train the new type of behavior at least three times For the first time, when we try something new, we always feel discomfort. Any new type of behavior should be trained several times before it can be used freely and effectively. Never judge whether a new type of behavior is effective until you have practiced it at least three times. Rule 3. Quantity is more important than quality When practicing, focus on quantity and use the new type of behavior as often as possible. Don't worry about quality metrics such as fluency or the best phrase construction - all of this impedes effective mastery of the skill. Try to use the new type of behavior often enough, and the quality will come soon. Rule 4. Practice in safe situations Always try new types of behavior in safe situations until you feel comfortable. Don't use important meetings to train your new skills.

Neil Rekham