Okay so the learning at a 100X rate isn’t something to be taken literally but you certainly will learn a whole lot faster. What I’m going to talk about here is taking time to “overwhelm” yourself so that you can learn a subject/skill at a much more accelerated rate then you would otherwise. How much faster exactly? Well that’s going to depend on you. Could be 10x, could be 100x, in some cases even 1000x. Just know it’ll be accelerated.
I talked about this subject a little bit before in going deep on a subject/skill or submerging yourself in it and I’m going to be talking about a lot of the same concepts here. Whenever I want to drastically accelerate my knowledge/abilities with a certain skill or subject and I have the time there is a certain routine I go to that has helped me tremendously. It works great for when you’re laid off from doing an activity but want to come back better.
But there are plenty of other times that it’ll work great as well. But before we get into this there are certain things that are key to understand. Certain concepts to grasp in regards to learning and how the brain works that when understood will help make sense of all of that which comes after. I know this method is a little unorthodox but trust me when I say it works, actually don’t trust me go and try it yourself and see how it goes.
The Brain, Learning, & You
One of the biggest obstacles to learning that I see people place in front of them is thinking that they have to get all the information they can in their conscious mind and if they don’t then they’re not learning. When this is kind of the opposite of how learning actually works. I’ll use a couple of examples to illustrate. Also I understand that learning is a complex topic so can’t go into all the nitty-gritty here just want to highlight some basic things.
Now for the examples. How much do you learn when you cram all the answers for a test in the night before, ace the test, and then forget everything afterwards? The answer is not much if anything at all. Yet this is the way many people think they need to learn. They think they need to cram it all into their conscious mind and if they don’t then they didn’t learn. But like I said this isn’t how learning works.
Look at the ex boxer who hasn’t boxed in decades and yet knocks a guy out when he gets into a fight. Dempsey famously knocked out two muggers when he was in his 70’s (he won the title from Willard at 24 years old). And as well all know during a high stress situation like that you’re pretty much working on autopilot meaning Dempsey wasn’t sitting there thinking “Okay I’m going to the first with a 1-2 and then surprise the other with a shovel hook-6”, he just acted. Or as the old axiom says “You don’t rise to the occasion you fall to your level of training.”
Using This To Progress On A Skill Or Subject
So what does this tell us? One that the conscious mind is not all that it’s cracked up to be when it comes to learning and two that the subconscious mind is where the true learning occurs. Which brings us to some other things. One of the key one’s being how drinking out of a fire hose (not literally) is one of the best ways to learn and how using exhaustion and overwhelm can lead you to further levels of development.
In a weird way what you want to do is get your conscious mind out of the equation which then your subconscious mind takes over. I’m not saying this is the only way to learn or that this is the only way you should learn (should combine this with more traditional ways of learning for best effects) what I’m saying is that for a set period of time what I’m about to be laid out should be done to drastically increase the rate at which you learn a subject and/or skill.
And that is to overwhelm and exhaust the conscious mind to the point where you’ll probably feel like you’re “not learning anything” (this won’t be true but it will be what you feel like). Once there is when the real learning occurs. Once you think “I’m overwhelmed, my brain is full, and I can’t learn one more thing” that’s when you push even further and the real learning starts to occur. Again this to be used every now and then not every day and not if this is for say a test or something (then just cram).
Drinking From The Fire Hose
So let me give you of an actual breakdown. First off you want to overwhelm your mind in different ways. Let’s say for example that you want to become a better story teller. That means you want to plug yourself into story telling 24/7 until you just can’t stand it anymore. Watch X amount of videos on story telling each day, listen to a story telling podcast, read a non-fiction book on story telling, read fiction at night. Immerse yourself in the subject where you feel overwhelmed and exhausted.
Where you feel like you’re literally trying to drink from a fire hose. There’s one more key to this. When you do all of this don’t get angry or worked up because you feel like you’re getting overwhelmed you have to be relaxed as relaxation is key for the subconscious mind learning and picking up on things. Might want to do some meditation during this time period as well, it’ll help tremendously.
Slam your brain with all of this information. Put your brain through a hell week of information. Drill it continuously. When you think of learning more about story telling you should want to mentally vomit. There will be drudgery and your conscious mind will be saying “This is stupid, I’m not learning anything.” but keep doing, practicing, listening, reading, and writing to bring master and advancement of the subject and/or skill.
Try It For Yourself
The time you do this is up to you. Maybe you only have a day or maybe you dedicate a week to it (2 weeks is probably max I would do). Just day in and day out immerse yourself in the subject to the point of drudgery. Let your conscious mind turn off and your subsoncsious mind soak it all in. Then later (usually a month or so) you’ll suddenly realize how much more knowledge you have about a subject or how much more adept you are at a skill.
It’s not magic, it comes from putting in the work and letting the subconscious mind do what it does best. Also understand you should feel drudgery but not necessarily distracted those are two different things. You want to overwhelm your conscious mind with the subject not random happenings in life. This is a purposeful overwhelm not a haphazard one. There’s a big difference. One helps and one does not.
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
