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I remember wanting to learn about a lot of topics (a new language, programming, math, neuroscience, animal cognition, etc).
However, I didn't have the time and money to enroll in another degree or take more courses.
Sounds familiar?
I know, it's not that we don't want to learn new things. We actually want to study a lot, right?
But we don't have either the money or the time for it.
However, everything changed when I embraced ultralearning, without even noticing it.
Let me explain to you why and how you can apply it as well.
What Is Ultralearning?
Ultralearning is a strategy popularized by Scott Young for acquiring skills that are both self-directed and intense.
Why should you care about Ultralearning?
Well, for both personal life and work!
You can apply it to learn all the things you wanted to study (a degree, skills, a new language, etc), and also apply it to your work!
For example, I use ultralearning in my current job to get answers to tricky problems.
Nowadays, being able to learn, adapt, and solve problems easily and quickly is a gold skill that every job will value.
Benefits of Ultralearning
I think there are 3 big benefits of ultra-learning:
- You will save a lot of money.
Tuition fees for universities or some interesting courses are too expensive.
By doing ultralearning, you can take all the great free resources on the internet available for you and learn them without paying a single cent.
- You will save a lot of time (and stress)
You can study at your own pace. You don't need to go to school or college or follow a schedule. You're free to choose your times!
By doing this, you can accelerate, transition, and rescue your career with ultralearning.
- Hidden Advantage in a Competitive World
There are new frontiers of learning.
As I said before, to be able to solve problems efficiently, to adapt, and to learn whatever they ask of you is a gold skill that every person will love.
How to Become a UltraLearner
Sounds good? Are you interested in becoming an ultralearner as well?
Great! Remember that even if you have a busy life you can apply ultralearning.
Ultralearning doesn't mean studying several hours per day.
It means to be consistent and intense during the time you decide to invest in your learning.
Okay, so how can you start?
In his book called "Ultralearning", Scott Young proposes 9 principles to start right away with this.
I will write an article summarizing these 9 principles, so follow me and stay tuned!
- Meta-learning: learn how your knowledge is structured, and draw a map for the topic you wanna learn. In other words, learn how to learn it.
- Focus: make time to concentrate and study. Focus only on that, make it a habit.
- Directiveness: learn by doing the thing you want to become good at.
- Drill: isolate a weakness in your learning and concentrate on it.
- Retrieval: recall the information you learned.
- Feedback: Try to get feedback from others and work on it.
- Retention: understand what and why you forget. Improve your encoding.
- Intuition: Understand how understanding works. Focus on examples in context.
- Experimentation: explore outside your comfort zone. Apply your knowledge in other contexts.
Wow! Those are a lot of principles, right?
You will learn how to apply them when you start building up your first ultralearning projects.
So now I will recommend you some incredible ones you can start doing today.
Ultralearning Project Examples
Before the ideas, I think that the main benefit of ultra-learning could also be its main weakness:
It's one taking responsibility for your own learning.
So make sure to decide what you want to learn, and how you want to learn it. Make your roadmap to learn what you need to do.
Understood?
Great!
Here are 2 ultra learning project examples to motivate you:
1. Learning a Degree
Scott Young's most known ultralearning project is taking an entire computer science degree from MIT in just 12 months.
You read that right, 12 months!
He took all the free resources available on the internet from MIT. He organized a roadmap to study every day about the topic and made it a habit.
He applied all the 9 principles I told you before, and finished a 4-year degree in just 1!
The most important part of accomplishing a massive ultra-learning project this is to organize a roadmap based on the structure of the knowledge (principle 1) and study it as a habit.
This was about computer science, but you can google for free resources of a degree of interest and start crafting your ultralearning roadmap!
2. Learning a New Language
Another ultralearning project could be to learn a new language.
For example, I found a course from the Deutsch Welle to learn German from 0 to B1.
Each level had around 18 chapters, each with 4 sub-chapters. I organized myself to learn and study one chapter per day.
I also studied the requirements for each German level and found tests (both writing and oral) and books from Goethe to test my learning.
By doing one per day, I went from 0 to B1 German level in less than 2 months (54 days exactly).
I saved a lot of money by taking multiple courses.
I also saved a lot of time (going from 0 to B1 would take me 2 years).
Again, you can google and find resources from your target language. Build a roadmap and start studying it!
Conclusion
Ultralearning is amazing. It made me able to learn anything without overstudying or overworking.
It saved my career.
But remember, each person has a different life.
Perhaps you work full time and also study. Or maybe you have a family, etc.
So here are some last recommendations for you if you decide to be an ultra-learner:
- Don't compare yourself with others. Take your time.
- This is not a competition. This is about you. Make it fun and healthy.
- Please take care of yourself. That's the most important thing!
I hope you can achieve your goals with my secret career technique now.
And I hope you love ultralearning as much as I do.
I will write an article summarizing these 9 principles, so follow me and stay tuned!
Good luck!
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