We all have things that we want to get better at and if you don’t then I’d suggest finding something. Find something that motivates you and will encourage you to grow and move forward. As humans we don’t do well when we don’t have something we’re striving for, we’re working for. We don’t want like to end up like those Tyler Durden describes in Fight Club those who’s “great depression is their lives”.
I don’t want that fate for you and you don’t want that fate for your life. And one of the biggest ways to avoid that is to have something that motivates you and goads you on. For me recently it’s been combat sports but there have been other things throughout the years. Things that when all else seems to be falling apart holds it together and keeps me pressing on.
But even if a hobby/vocation doesn’t have this power it’s still good to have them for numerous other reasons. To keep you moving forward, to keep your learning, growing, and stretching your limits. To expand your mind and what you are capable of achieving. Remember when a mind is expanded it can never go back to its old dimensions. Which is a good thing.
If you have trouble choosing something that gets you worked up, look at things that’ll provide good benefits to you. Join a club, try art, try a sport, just something that’ll get you out there and see what works for you. There are tons of skills out there to learn. Find something that fires up something in you and pursue it, doesn’t matter if its pottery making, carpentry, or whatever else. Find what works for you.
Something that’ll keep you thinking about it late into the night. Something beyond making money, being healthy, and mating/dating. All those things are important but we’re talking about something separate here. And of course your chosen skill/hobby could very well help with all of those things as well.
But that’s not the point of it.
Three Modes Of Learning
I’ve talked about this before but I want to reiterate them here. Essentially when you’re trying to learn a skill or improve at it there are three ways that you want to go about it. Roughly those are modeling, live practice, and then instruction. Let’s dive a bit into each so you can have an understanding of them. I’ll use examples from a few hobbies to help illustrate these points as well. So first let’s start with “instruction” as its the one that everyone is most familiar with.
Instruction
The instructional portion of learning is the part of learning where someone tells us how to do something. Most of us are familiar with this form of learning in school where a teacher will tell us about things and show us diagrams and the like so we can learn from this. While this form of learning has been put down a lot, when taken as part of a whole, it is actually a much needed part of the learning process.
We need those who are further than us in a given skill or field to help show us the way and illuminate a path for us. We need to see how things are done, and how to do these things effectively and efficiently. When this is the only form of learning, then learning is compromised, however when this is taken as part of a whole it is very effective.
Examples of instruction. A teacher giving a lecture to a class. An BJJ instructor showing a move on a uke then doing the move, drills are included in this portion of learning. A painter showing you how to paint a certain part of a portrait by doing it on his own canvas. Usually involves something ahead of you on the path and often comes with repetition.
A critical part of the learning process.
Live Training
This covers the actual “doing” of the thing. It’s where you do whatever it is you’re trying to learn or understand. You’ll hear many people say that this truly is the only form of learning that you need and there is some truth to that. Let me explain. Of the three modes of learning if you could only choose one, you would have to choose live training. Because it’s the one that ultimately “counts” in the end. It’s learning by doing.
Without this form of learning the others don’t really matter because they have nothing to connect to. However with the other two then this form of learning becomes that much more powerful. Look at it like the other two help fuel this form of learning and make it that much better. But yes if you could only do one form of learning this would be the one, because this is the one where you’re actually doing your skill.
Let’s look at some examples.
Say for getting your driver’s license it would be the actual act of driving around town with your learners. It’d be full contact sparring in boxing. It’d be sketching your own sketch if drawing was the skill of focus. It’s the actual doing of the thing. For ice skating it’d be when you’re actually on the ice, skating. For singing, it’d be when you’re actually using your voice to sing. And so on and so forth.
Of the three this is the most important, however using all three will give you the best results.
Modeling
Modeling is the form of learning that I think gets most overlooked. Modeling is where you watch something done at a high level and learn from it. Modeling makes use of mirror neurons and our subconscious’ ability to learn. To me this is the most underutilized form of learning and when used properly can really add fuel to the fire of your learning. Sort of like squirting lighter fluid on a fire.
To expand a little bit on modeling. We humans are imitative creatures, we learn best by imitating what we see. That’s how we learn the majority of what we’ve learned. Therefore it makes sense that an effective learning system would take advantage of this. In particular our mirror neurons. What are mirror neurons? According to Apa.org’s article “The Mind’s Mirror” mirror neurons are
Mirror neurons are a type of brain cell that respond equally when we perform an action and when we witness someone else perform the same action.
So when we watch someone do an act, our brains take it as the same thing. Therefore when we watch something done at a high level we are learning in the process, making use of our mirror neurons and even more than that our subconscious. This is the type of learning that is essential for smoothness and flow when doing something at a high level.
Some examples. Say you were an actor it’d be watching a Broadway production. If you’re a novelist it would be reading best selling novels. If you fight MMA it’d be watching UFC fights. If you’re a woodworker it’d be watching someone high level create a work of art from beginning to end. And so on and so forth. It’s watching something done at a high level and gaining understanding from it, something that your body will naturally do.
How To Put This All Together
But now that you have a basic understanding of the three types of learning. How to put it together and what percentages of each learning should you do? Well truth be told I can’t answer the percentage question accurately and here’s why. Different skills and different people require different things. Some skills are better suited to live training with less of a focus on instruction and modeling. While others not so much.
Likewise some people learn better through certain modes than others. However I would recommend never dipping below 20% of learning in any one category. Make sure that all three are part of your learning, no matter what it is. And honestly unless you’re at a professional level I don’t think that percentage of training each modality is going to make that big of difference.
Just make sure that you’re learning has all three and you hit them all when you can. Let’s look at someone who does MMA as a hobby. Say they can get to class four times a week. His schedule might look like this.
Instruction – Go to class Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Live Training – Spar on Saturdays
Modeling – Watch prelims of UFC card after sparring
For someone who’s doing a hobby that’ll be plenty.
Let’s take it up another notch. Let’s look at someone who wants to be a professonal novelist but currently works a full time. They’re in it for the long haul. They have roughly an hour every weekday night to work on their craft how should they spend it?
Live Training – Write at least 500 words a night Mon-Fri should be able to get done in half hour or less.
Instruction – Monday and Fridays read a chapter from a nonfiction book on writing better craft.
Modeling – Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday read a chapter or so from a fiction book in the genre they want to get published in.
Obviously there is a lot more that they could do and different ways to set this all up, but this is just one example. You come up with what works for you. Just remember to include all three types of learning when it comes to mastering a hobby or skill.
If you want more examples or help with your particular skill then shoot me an email at
charlessledge001 (at) gmail (dot) com.
I’ll be happy to help.
If anything I said here interests you I’d highly recommend you check out The Ultimate Alpha Collection which is a compilation of 16 of my books for the price of 5. It covers everything from being a man to making money to getting the right mindset to getting girls to fighting and more and is a resource no man should be without. Pick up your copy today!
-Charles Sledge
