How many times have we wanted to learn something on our own? Whether speaking a language, playing an instrument, drawing or playing a sport, there are many things that can be learned at our own pace and interest.
The problem is that, sometimes, we do not dare to start or, once we have taken the first step, we are not constant and what seemed like a great learning project becomes something else that we never finish.
For this reason today we are going to see Some key tips and ideas for effective self-learning starting with good motivation and being aware that to achieve our goals we must put in the maximum effort.
In this life there are many things that can be learned by going to formal and regulated education (school, university, academies…), but there are many more things that can be learned self-taught. What is needed is to know how to approach the learning process without falling into procrastination and abandonment. For this, the following tips are useful.
1. Do not fear the new
Historically, fear, based on ignorance, has always been an obstacle for human beings to expand their knowledge. An example of this is that in the Middle Ages, for fear of the unknown, no one dared to find out what was beyond the Atlantic Ocean.
Although over the centuries we have overcome this belief that the unknown is necessarily bad, Learning is not free of initial fears especially to things that conflict with beliefs that were very well established.
If we want to learn hiking, we should not be afraid to go to the mountains and try it for ourselves. We may fear that something is going to happen to us, but if we don’t check it, how will we really know if there was something to fear?
2. Do an introductory reading
The first step to start learning something self-taught is documenting what we want to master. Doing an introductory reading is always essential, since it allows us to see, at a glance, how extensive what we want to learn is.
As a brainstorm, you can search the Internet by entering the phrase “how to learn…”, “what is…”, “how to start playing/playing/speaking…”
In this way we will become familiar with the names of experts in the field, we will see the names of web pages or books that are considered useful for what we want to learn, and we will know of other useful resources to start with.
3. Select the best sources of information
Once the first initial reading is done, we must select what is best to learn the desired topic. It is very important that the self-taught process starts on the right foot, prioritizing quality over quantity.
We can search the Internet by entering “What are the best books about…”, “The best blogs…”
You can also use YouTube tutorials from people who have many followers or who are experts on the subject.
4. You learn from mistakes
Many people are afraid of making mistakes because, On many occasions, in the most classical education, it has been suggested that error is synonymous with failure.
Learning in a self-taught way allows us to see that no one is perfect, that each person learns in their own way and that we can make mistakes, from which we will always learn something useful.
Making mistakes several times should not be seen as a cause of frustration, but rather as an opportunity to reflect on why we have made those mistakes, see if they are common, and understand why something is different from how we thought it was.
5. We need discipline, but the good kind
The word discipline can sound a bit strong and may even be seen as something negative. On many occasions, and especially when talking about the learning process, discipline is understood as synonymous with punishment or penalty.
If we want to be good self-taught people, there is no doubt that we must be constant and for this we need discipline, but understood more as a personal trait than as a penalizing action.
We need discipline, but the good kind: we must devote ourselves fully and rigorously to the study and practice of the subject we wish to master. Only in this way will we achieve success.
6. Share what you have learned
During learning, whether self-taught or in a class context, we do not take on a role exclusively as a learner or exclusively as a teacher. These roles are not like oil and water; they can be combined.
Mastering a subject is not done by reading hundreds of manuals like a man possessed without making contact with other people. It is the interaction with other human beings that allows us to establish our knowledge. For example, by discussing our doubts we can expand our knowledge and, at the same time, we can explain what we already know to debate it, fostering a context that will always be beneficial for all participants.
This advice becomes especially useful in language learning. It is clear that learning the grammatical rules is useful to understand how the language is structured, but without sharing what we know by conversing in that language with other people, we will hardly be able to move forward and know what mistakes we make.
7. Don’t limit yourself to a single source of information
Whether it’s at your nearest library, bookstores, or the vast, sprawling world of the Internet, We can deepen the topic we have decided to address using various resources.
Although it is appropriate to start with a single source of information, to have a first contact with what we want to master, we should never settle for resorting to a single point of reference. It is possible that we find a free online course that is quite complete, but this does not mean that it has all the information that interests us.
The spirit of the self-taught person is characterized by never settling for what he has already learned: he always wants more. Even experts are constantly looking for new information, new articles, books and blogs.
8. With effort everything is possible
The idea is widespread that intelligence and talent come innately and, therefore, it is not possible to change them. Actually, this is not entirely true, since an important factor in improving our skills is effort and ccreation of habits that promote learning and do not let our energies be wasted.
It is possible that we want to learn to paint and we see that there are people who in a few attempts are already able to make still lifes, while we are still in the most basic. This does not mean that we will never paint well, what happens is that we need to dedicate more time to it. With effort anything is possible, success is something that will come sooner or later.
9. Discard the trivial
It’s okay to try to know as much as possible about a topic or watch many tutorials where we are taught various ways to do the same thing, whether it’s painting, playing a song on the guitar or learning a language, but we must know how to discard the trivial.
We will encounter many things that we have already seen before, and others that we really don’t need to know. Spending time on unnecessary things will waste our time and make the path to the goal seem titanic.
But this must be done carefully. If we are beginners, it is better not to risk it and try to absorb like sponges all the information and useful advice from experts on the subject that interests us. This way we can have a good background at the beginning.
10. Measure progress
Measuring progress is extremely necessary to ensure that we are on the right track. It usually happens that, no matter how much we want to, By not writing down what new achievements we have achieved, we stay stagnant and, in the long run, we become frustrated.
Although there are self-taught resources that make it easier for you to write down what you have achieved, especially language applications that tell you which lessons you have done and which ones you haven’t, in other situations you are responsible for writing down everything you have already seen.
It is highly recommended to write down what has been happening in a diary or diary, have a more or less meticulous record of how the session went and, if possible, set weekly goals.
11. Define the best format to learn
Starting to learn on your own can be done in multiple ways, and this is the main advantage of learning self-taught. The problem is knowing how to choose the most appropriate way to do it.
Video tutorials are perfect for music or language skills. They are also useful for learning how to use a program, draw, do physical activity without getting injured…
The articles written, both on blogs and on specialized pages, and other resources can touch on various topics and be very useful to delve deeper into them. A good way to know if an article is good for learning something is if it has at least about 1,500 words, and is accompanied by images.
If you are one of those who prefer the physical format over the computer screen, it is a very good idea to buy a specialized book. There are all kinds of them, but those that have solved exercises to understand what it is about learning are especially useful.
There are also audios, which are ideal for those people who have little time to stand in front of a computer screen or at a table and read. They can be listened to while on public transportation or exercising.
12. Define our time and place of study
We do not always have all the free time we would like, which is why, to dedicate ourselves to the study of something that interests us, we need to define our time and place of study.
This must be done very thoughtfully. We are interested in choosing a time of day when we have no distractions and that the place where we go to study is a good learning environment. If we are one of those who find it difficult to get started or who feel that this new hobby takes away time for other priorities, We can start very gently, dedicating only one hour a week to it.
Once we see that one hour a week is something we can handle, we can increase the number of sessions and their duration until our study time has become a habit for which we always have the desire and time.
13. Practice makes perfect
Finally, and as something that seems quite obvious, the idea that practice makes perfect must be fulfilled.
Without practice we will never learn what we want to master. We must be patient and constant, and be aware that with effort, time and desire one day we will have reached our goal.
Main habits to avoid
Finally, we are going to discuss three habits to avoid to ensure that the self-learning process flows in the best way.
1. Repeat mistakes
As we have already seen, we should not be afraid of making mistakes, as long as we see this as an opportunity to understand what we have done wrong and how we can improve it. What you should not do is assume that making the same mistake over and over again is inevitable and not dedicate any energy to avoidance.
This is what we would call a vice, something we do out of inertia and that, even though we know it is not right, we continue doing it over and over again, trusting that all the good we do will compensate.
It may be true that we do other things so well that vice is not a big problem, but that may not be the case. It is necessary to try to find a solution, because perhaps not solving it will determine the quality of the rest of the learning.
2. Being disorganized
In a world where social demands are many, disorder does not help. If we want to dedicate ourselves to learning something on our own, to ensure that we succeed we must take the bull by the horns and establish an order.
Not recording progress, having distractions nearby, having a table full of papers… are factors that hinder self-taught learning. Learning becomes something chaotic that is doomed to failure.
3. Lose consistency
Without perseverance, there is no learning. As simple as that. We cannot start learning whenever we feel like it because, if we do so, between sessions and sessions, The time will be too long to be able to establish the new learning well.
Consistency is difficult to maintain, but it is necessary. It is true that we will progressively lose motivation and we will even feel a certain wear and tear and it will give us the feeling of being stagnant, but that does not mean we should stop dedicating ourselves to what we want to learn.
