How To Learn Any New Skill Fast. Jeremy Fielding 105

"Develop the skill, don't be an expert" This one hit home for me. I tend to get wrapped up in the idea that i HAVE to be an expert at anything that i do, and this often leads to starting line anxiety.

So after being a mechanic for 18 years I made a huge decision to go to college. At 37 I started college. My end goal is mechanical engineering. What you said about asking others how they do something is spot on, they will normally show you how they do it. Over the summer I built a cnc pen plotter with my son. I plan on building a cnc router soon, much bigger than the plotter. Your videos are great, keep them coming.

All people need this lesson. Probably best before schooling

For those who would like to come back to a specific point in the video: 1. You must be motivated. - 1:03 2. Knowledge is not skill. - 1:42 3. You only need a basic knowledge to get started. - 3:14 4. Ignore the “nice to know” stuff and focus on application stuff. - 3:48 5. Identify your barriers and move them. - 4:09 6. Managing the cost. - 4:13 7. Mistakes will happen. 5:03 8. Buy used when possible. 5:35 9. Buy only what [tools] you need as you go. - 6:21 10. Managing fears that stop you from trying. - 6:32 11. You will suck at this for a while. - 7:12 12. Failures create powerful learning moments. - 8:11 13. Find the time to practice and make it routine - 8:39 14. Avoid plans that claim results in “just 5 minutes a day”. - 9:36 15. Find the shortest path to “hands on”. - 10:43 16. You choose the level of difficulty. - 11:46 17. Pick a project closely related to why you want the skill. - 12:22 18. Find tutorials on the essentials. - 13:16 19. Make specific notes of what result you want but don’t know how to achieve. - 13:41 20. Maximize the types of sensory input (hearing, seeing, touch etc…). - 14:16 21. Teach yourself with pre-made course material. - 16:07 22. Audit a college course on your target subject. - 16:22 23. Add more variation in the resources you use. - 18:27 24. Learn from multiple teachers, coaches etc. - 21:39 25. Recruit friends and family to help you find resources. - 22:33 26. Try to teach someone else the skill. - 23:28

I completely understand what you're talking about. When I started learning 3d animation I was learning at home. I struggled trying to learn. by the end of a year I had watched around 1,000 tutorials for the program. I didn't start to see any progress until about 3 years later. After 13 years I'm a professional CG artist now. I can 3d model, texture, sculpt, composite, VFX, animate, make molds, 3d print, create inventions from my own mind and more. Now trying to learn C+ - C++ for creating machines that haven't been made yet for a company I work for. 😅 I was looking at my job and I was thinking to myself " what can I do to make my job a little more easy. So I designed a machine that can do 3/4 of the job at 3x the speed and still keep the job of two people who work in the area. Then a tool I use every day had a part that fell off and I didn't like how it was fixed so I took a caliper and measured the dimensions then went home and made an attachment for the tool then 3d printed it. It's been going for about 5-6 months without a problem and it's way better than the part that was on it and the rivet trigger is almost a hair trigger now so I can rivet faster. 😅 And right now I'm working on an old machine that cuts wire I've been working on for almost a year to two years and researched how to make it work then model in 3d space. It's a working prototype that I'm getting ready to build sometime. 😋 This is the hard part when your doing all the modeling in 3d, coding, designing and building yourself, but you get a sense of accomplishment.😅 Sorry for writing for so long it's a bad habit. 😅

I like how you said, "Learn the skill, don't be an expert." It is similar, more simply put, to what I tell a new employee. I tell them, "Slow down, take your time, focus on learning this skill, and not being perfect or fast. Speed and perfection only come with experience and time."

As a musician I came into college on a shaky foundation. My sight reading was awful, and a professor hammered it into my head that I should practice something as slowly as it can be correctly done, and that I needed to swallow my pride and take my time. I now apply that as a machinist.

Young man I have so much respect for you. Never stop.

When I listen to you I think of this quote. "The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool". You are a wise man.

I constantly add to my role model list, but at age 40, I have narrowed down my role models. Johnny Kim (former Navy Seal, currently with NASA) and you. Both of you possess the drive to overcome obstacles, and find ways to impact others. Thank you. These two characteristoscs are 2 of the many that I try to teach my son (he's 3.)

Thank you for this Mr. Fielding, 25 year vet now going BK to school! Love your work PLEASE keep it up. I know this is sad but I learn more from you and youtube than the classes that your taxes are paying for.

Best channel on YouTube. Seriously.

This is the best subject that never seems to be taught anywhere. How to learn and grow your skill set and knowledge base outside of a formal set curriculum. Learning how to successfully create your own curriculum to learn what you are seeking is the most powerful skillset you can develop. The point at which knowledge and skill combine is where all the magic happens. You are a true teacher in every sense of the word. Thank you.

One of my biggest frustrations as a senior electrical engineer has always been needing to learn a small portion of an overall larger subject, and getting information overload...needing to find a resource on that small topic, but having to wade through a mountain of info before finally finding what I need. It takes time, and quite often there is quite a lot of wasted time. This is where finding a mentor is helpful, who has a lot of experience with that topic.

I’ve been learning primitive skills. Starting fire with sticks, shelter building, wild foods etc. As soon as I start a new topic I try learning the topic along side my 4 and 7 years olds. As they ask their questions I try! to answer them. Thank you for all the great content.

One thing I'd add to that list is commitment. Finding the motivation to start can be difficult, but having the commitment to continue, especially when the results aren't immediately forthcoming, can make all the difference.

When we are trying to acquire a new skill diligently, most people will want to cheer you on and will often offer free support of some type. Experts are people that tryed and failed more and faster than others in most cases. That's how they became so good.

My wife is tired of me telling her how everything works. But seriously, this is a great video and should be shown to every teenager, every year..

So much wisdom in this talk. Knowledge is not skill and we don't need perfect knowledge to start developing skills. Just get going! Love all this guy's videos.

I learned Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and building websites, 10 years ago. Then started a business doing it for others. Now I own a different business that is successful because of that and I keep learning to keep moving my business ahead. Thank you!!!