I was recently asked, “How do you learn a new skill?”. It is not something I have really reflected on. Unfortunately, there is no “Ben’s ultimate step-by-step guide for learning a new skill” to draw from, but maybe there should be.

Having spent nearly 28 years learning you would think I’d have some sort of process by now, or so the question implies. Luckily those years weren’t completely wasted, experience has shown some ways that work for me. I responded with four steps, using how I learnt to snowboard as an analogy.

This post is a reflection on the answers I gave, as well as questioning if it is possible to have a general learning process (for myself). I would also like to clarify that the interpretation of the question and my answers are specific to me. Nevertheless, I hope you find some parallels or the topic sparks some interest!

My Answer

I did some initial research by watching tutorials before I had my first lesson. It had the benefit of understanding general concepts, gaining some intuition about how it should be done and potential issues which could trip me up.

Then got stuck in, experiencing what it was like for myself, trying to test and solidify the concepts I had learnt while trying to avoid, but inevitably still tripping up over (some of) those potential issues.

Continue to practise and do further research, learning the theory behind the shape of the snowboard and how better to use it.

I get motivated to learn by the experience. It is harder for me to learn if I know I wont use it.

Reflection

Initial research

Depending on what you are trying to learn this may seem a bit of an overkill. However, at the very least this step is an understanding of the end goal. A skill could simply be skipping stones. You don’t need to read a book on it before giving it a go… quickly googles… if you don’t want to. If you do choose to, initial research can help avoid pitfalls / injuries and give wider context to the skill you are learning.

Getting stuck in

I believe, no matter the skill, there is no getting around this step. I jokingly proclaimed after watching the snowboarding tutorials, “I can now snowboard”. My body did not agree with me when I finally got to the mountain. I needed to practise the movements and commit them to my subconscious over time. Maybe it is possible to learn a skill without practise, but I would argue you’d either soon forget it or something else you have learnt is doing all the heavy lifting.

Continued practise & Advanced research

This is all about developing the skill. Honing the fundamentals more and more while bringing in and exploring other related skills or specialties. For snowboarding, that might be learning how to carve, or developing some aerial acrobatic skills (I have none). Progress made with these skills feedback into your original snowboarding ability and visa versa. Put another way, you can always skip a stone more, but when you’ve reached the limit you can always add a backflip…

Hidden step (perceived value)

When answering the question, I said “I get motivated to learn by the experience. It is harder for me to learn if I know I wont use it.“. Upon reflection, I believe this to hint at an additional underlying step, which is just as important as the rest (at least for me). A skill’s perceived value. It is a little harder to pin down, but it is the culmination of factors which drives a person to continue progressing. This could be how useful the skill is, a source of pride, simply enjoy doing it, or even having a social benefit, providing a community to belong to. Although not something you can directly influence, by integrating a skill more into your life you can raise its value to keep you motivated.

Conclusion

I don’t believe these steps to be particularly innovative, they look like an obvious generalisation of learning a new skill. However, it was a nice step towards formalising my own learning process, which I had never considered before.

It has also highlighted two important aspects for me. Firstly, no matter the skill, you can always do more. So before learning a skill, it is good to understand how far you want to go with it. Second, is understanding the motivating factors and whether they can carry you through to your goal. Both of these aspects help to create an environment for learning a new skill. All that’s left is to get stuck in.