Description

The author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Ultralearning explores why it’s so difficult for people to learn new skills, arguing that three factors must be met to make advancement possible, and offering 12 maxims to improve the way we learn.

Life revolves around learning—in school, at our jobs, even in the things we do for fun. Yet learning is often mysterious. Sometimes it comes fairly effortlessly: quickly finding our way around a new neighborhood or picking up the routine at a new job. In other cases, it’s a slog. We may spend hours in the library, yet still not do well on an exam. We may want to switch companies, industries, or even professions, but not feel qualified to make the leap. Decades spent driving a car, typing on a computer, or hitting a tennis ball don’t reliably make us much better at them. Improvement can be fickle, if it comes at all.

In Get Better At Anything, Scott Young argues that there are three key factors in helping us learn:

See—Most of what we know comes from other people. The ease of learning from others determines, to a large extent, how quickly we can improve.

Do—Mastery requires practice. But not just any practice will do. Our brains are fantastic effort-saving machines, which can be both a tremendous advantage and a curse.

Feedback—Progress requires constant adjustment. Not just the red stroke of a teacher’s pen, but the results of hands-on experience.

When we’re able to learn from the example of other people, practice extensively ourselves, and get reliable feedback, rapid progress results. Yet, when one, or all, of these factors is inhibited, improvement often becomes impossible. Using research and real-life examples, Young breaks down these elements into twelve simple maxims. Whether you’re a student studying for an exam, an employee facing a new skill at work, or just want to get better at something you’re interested in, his insights will help you do it better.

About the Author

Scott Young is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Ultralearning, a podcast host, computer programmer, and an avid reader. Since 2006, he has published weekly essays to help people learn and think better. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Pocket, and Business Insider, on the BBC, at TEDx, and other outlets. He doesn’t promise to have all the answers, just a place to start.

Praise For…

“Scott H. Young knocks it out of the park with Get Better at Anything. This concise guide will help, no matter what you are learning—or teaching!” — Barbara Oakley, author of A Mind for Numbers and instructor of Learning How to Learn, one of the world’s most popular online courses

“The ability to efficiently learn hard things is like a superpower. In this phenomenally wise book, Scott H. Young reveals exactly how to obtain it!” — Cal Newport, New York Times bestselling author of Digital Minimalism and Deep Work

“Get Better at Anything is a master class in accelerated, effective learning. Learning grounded in seeing how others are succeeding; experimenting with and testing new ideas in the real world; and, most important, being open and receptive to the feedback that inevitably comes back. Almost everything we do depends on learning new skills, new attitudes, and new behaviors—this book is an indispensable guide to mastering that skill for a twenty-first century rocked by change and uncertainty.” — Tiago Forte, author of Building a Second Brain

“Full of fascinating insights and practical tips. Scott H. Young has written an excellent guide to getting better at getting better.” — Brad Stulberg, author of Master of Change and The Practice of Groundedness

“By far the best book on learning available today. The best method by the leading expert. Actionable, intriguing, inspiring. Read it now before learning more, to be supereffective.” — Derek Sivers, author of How to Live and Anything You Want

“Young breaks down the science of learning into actionable advice. A must-read for anyone who wants to master their craft.” — Nir Eyal, bestselling author of Indistractable