Some people seem to be able to learn anything they want. You give them a book and access to the internet and a couple of weeks later, they’re speaking fluent Spanish or telling you how to do your accounting.
We talk about these people in reverent language. They’re “polymaths,” “auto-didacts” and “savants.” They’re special, we tell ourselves.
The truth, though, is that pretty much anyone can learn anything. It just requires adopting the right approach. You won’t become a polymath by following the crowd, but you can become one by striking out and committing yourself to learning, studying, and genuine interest in the world.
For most people, going to school feels like hard work. You have to motivate yourself to do something you don’t want to do. But self-educators don’t have that experience. They’re in love with the material and they are hungry for knowledge. That’s why the information they provide is so expansive when you talk to them. They just know everything by heart and don’t need to force themselves to remember anything.
Becoming a self-educated person is a powerful and liberating experience. You suddenly realize you had the potential and capacity to shape your own learning and destiny instead of having to leave it to someone else. The things you learn can shape your personal and professional life in ways you wouldn’t believe were possible.
But how do you become a self-educated learner? That’s the topic of this post. We discuss where to find the best resources, the learning techniques to adopt, and how to overcome challenges along the way. Here’s everything you need to know.
Let Learning Happen
People will often say you need to “know your why” when you first get into the self-education field. But that’s not the case for most learners. The majority do it because they enjoy the experience. It feels good to them.
Imagine if you were learning how to cook for the first time and you wanted to be a star chef. The goal is lofty and it might be a good “why,” but if you don’t enjoy the process, you’ll eventually fall off the bandwagon.
Think about it. Spending twenty years in a kitchen when you don’t enjoy it probably isn’t sustainable. It doesn’t matter how big your why is, if you don’t like the process, you won’t keep to it.
That’s why it is so critical to simply let learning happen. If you try to force it because you have another goal, you will encounter difficulties. It won’t be a genuine love of yours. It’ll just be something you are struggling with.
Know How You’re Going To Do It
The next step is to figure out how you’re going to educate yourself. Throughout history, people went to colleges and schools to learn about the world because that setup worked. However, now you’re in the self-education field, you need to develop strategies that let you absorb material by yourself.
Figuring out how you learn best requires asking yourself a series of probing questions, such as:-
- What learning environments do I prefer?
- What academic or intellectual strengths do I have?
- What tools and technologies can help me learn faster and get more done?
- Do I prefer to learn alone or in a group of people?
- What are the best sources for learning content quickly and accurately?
Once you ask yourself these questions, start writing down the answers. Experiment with different learning styles and methods until you find one that’s suitable for you. You may find you learn best in ways you didn’t expect.
Figure Out What You Want To Learn
Figuring out what you want to learn might sound like an easy problem to solve, but you’d be surprised how many people get it wrong. They go into a topic believing it will serve their purpose and only find out part-way through that it’s not for them.
The most important aspect of knowing what you want to learn is that it lets you narrow down your learning scope and focus on the most relevant and important information. It prevents you from getting side-tracked by other topics that might distract you or waste your time.
Again, finding out what you need to learn involves asking yourself a series of probing questions:-
- What standards or criteria do I need to meet or exceed to get to where I want to go?
- What foundations or prerequisites must I learn first before I can move on to the next step?
- What topics do I need to learn for my purposes?
- What key skills do I need to acquire during my education?
Thoroughly answering these questions can help you build a better picture of what you are doing and why you’re learning. Sometimes there might not be a purpose to your learning, which is when it becomes an interest or hobby.
Know When To Learn
The next step is to know when to learn something. Learning requires significant resources and time. It can take several years to master some topics, which is why many people struggle to complete educational courses. It’s a long process.
Knowing your when is important for several reasons. For example, you know when to learn a particular topic or subject in a timely manner for your job or business ventures. You can also learn the best time of day for learning. For instance, you might be a person who learns better in the morning than in the evening, or vice versa.
It’s also good to learn when you have the time, energy, and attention to do it. Learning can be cognitively demanding, particularly when you first pick up something new. That’s why you want to do it when you’re fresh. For instance, studying car repair manuals is probably a good idea on a Saturday morning because you usually have plenty of energy after a long night’s sleep. However, trying to figure out how to repair a washing machine or do calculus problems on Friday night isn’t ideal.
Become Deeply Involved In What You Learn
Another important secret to learning anything you want is to become deeply engrossed in whatever you want to learn. You should let it consume you, rather than seeing it as something to master.
Striving for specific learning goals can work well in the short term, but it doesn’t usually result in consistent life-long learning practices. But being deeply involved in something does tend to generate sustainable learning patterns. You want to continuously find out more because that’s what you like to do.
Share Your Experience
Another excellent way to self-educate is to share your experience with others who can provide commentary. Listening to what other people think is an excellent way to judge your abilities and discover any blind spots.
It’s also a good idea to teach other people about what you’ve learned. Becoming an educator is one of the best ways to learn about a subject because you need to know the material inside out. If you don’t understand something, people will pick up on it.
Review And Reinforce Your Learning
Lastly, you’ll want to review and reinforce your learning. You’ll need to go over it multiple times to ensure it stays in your mind.
The trick here is to be consistent. Avoid the temptation to constantly move on to the next topic. Review foundation materials until they become second nature.
Once you have a strong base, you’ll find it easier to learn more advanced concepts. And you’ll be able to play with them to solve problems.
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