Overview
I recently read a book by Daniel Coyle called The Talent Code. It talks about the famous 10000 hour rule to mastering a skill and how to achieve those 10000s efficiently. This post will summarize the 3 steps needed to have the perfect session.
Content
While some people may have a natural talent. That talent is useless in the long run. The secret to becoming skilled at something is a neural insulator called myelin. In our brains, we have neurons that have nerve fibers. These fibers send signals to other neurons and that’s what tells our body to move or speak or dance.
Myelin wraps around these fibers and makes them faster, more precise and efficient. The more we perform a task, the more myelin is wrapped around those fibers. A pianist or tennis player has a large amount of myelin wrapped around the fibers he/she uses most.
I highly recommend reading The Talent Code as it changed the way I look at practicing and made me more efficient.
There are 3 parts to learning effectively: deep practice, ignition and master coaching.
Deep Practice
To achieve the most effective practice session, it is important to break down the problem into tiny steps. Try to make mistakes and learn from them. If it requires physical movement, do it excruciatingly slow. Struggling is good, because it helps you get better.
Ignition
You need motivation to start. The most powerful motivation is when you see someone you know or someone similar to you that has achieved an incredible amount of success. This pushes you to do the same. (Again, read the book to know exactly what I mean). This driving force will keep you from stopping and everytime you feel like you want to give up, you can use it to remind you to keep going.
Master Coaching
Having a mentor or a coach will allow you to get better much faster than someone trying to make it on their own. Your mentor knows exactly what you’re going through and will tell you how to improve. Some teachers will be specific “you need to keep about this when you get this kind of challenge” while others will be more distant “you did that task quickly”. In the end, they are needed in order for you to progress rapidly.
Conclusion
You should definitely read this book along with Outliers.