Keywords:: PermanentNote
Reference: R: Mastery by Robert Greene p. 59-60, 77
One of the goals of an apprenticeship is to acquire expertise or hard skills (related: TK P: Recipe for success: specific knowledge, authenticity, and product-market-fit: comes from curiosity and passion).
When it comes to learning, we have evolved to learn based on imitation and repetition. To learn effectively we need to make use of our mirror neurons by watching and imitating others and then repeating the activity over and over again until it sticks. This might be one of the reasons why early apprenticeship can be superior to prolonged studying in university. Apprenticeships enable you to learn in a natural manner.
If I had to name a metaphor for who you need to be during this period it would be a sponge. You must absorb everything from everyone.
People. Every person is a universe in itself. No matter if you like them or not, you can learn tones from their perspectives, experiences, and knowledge. Abraham Lincoln once said, "I learn from everybody, even if sometimes it’s what not to do."
Circumstances. The most successful are the ones who learn most rapidly. To learn rapidly you must not be fanciful. You must attain a growth mindset. This means that each situation whether good or bad is positive because you can extract a learning from it.
It's best, to begin with just one skill. The first skill, once you master it, will become the foundation for acquiring others. Especially in the beginning, you must avoid learning multiple skills at once. The reason is that your mind doesn't yet have the structure built up to which other skills might hang (related: P: The more you know, the quicker you learn). You must train your concentration, and avoid multitasking at all costs.
Related to knowledge building:
PN: Understanding facilitates remembering and P: The more you know, the quicker you learn: New skills behave similarly to new concepts - they need a foundation to which they can hang to.
Related to focus:
PN: Get into deep work: the ability to focus on complex ideas is one of the best skills you can have because it allows you to learn everything else quicker. The quicker you develop it, the better.
PN: How to get into flow: Flow is a state of deep immersion into the task. There are couple of steps that'll help you achieve that.
PN: One thing massive consequences: To choose the skill you want to learn you can use the one thing method.
When it comes to mastering a skill, time is the magic ingredient. Assuming that you practice at a steady level, the skill will become integrated into the structure of your brain. It will become easier and more unconscious to perform. You won't be distracted by details anymore and you'll be able to see the bigger picture, the potential connections.
It's like a path inside a forest. The more you walk it, the bigger it becomes, the easier it is to go along it. Ultimately, it becomes a concrete road. Such a road is hard to remove – like a mastered skill.
The only thing that can stop you are negative emotions. Frustration, anger, boredom, panic tend to occur when you're learning something new. What you must understand is that it's your brain's normal reaction to learning something new - especially if it's complex. You must remember that in terms of learning, consistency is more important than intensity. Therefore, you must not give in and continue to keep mastering the skill.
PN: Times of slack for serendipity, PN: Increase recall, solve problems, and increase creativity by leaving things unfinished (Zeigarnik effect): When you hit the wall during your practice, it's important not to try to push through it at all costs. Instead, it's better to release, let the unconscious mind do the work and get back to the task once you feel that you're ready.
Relevant notes:
Another goal of the apprenticeship (besides developing your expertise) is building your social skills or your soft skills. These abilities will help you navigate through your professional life, which is, as you will realize, as much about soft skills as it is about hard skills.
PN: Apprenticeship is the way to learn new skills: Greene talks about the most natural form of learning which is using one's mirror neurons through observation and imitation.
People are willing to defer to and perform favors for others who have acquired skills. It comes from the fact that throughout our history as a species, our existence depended on highly technical information like fishing, hunting, cooking, building huts, etc. It's more efficient to learn through osmosis than it is to learn through trial and error. (connection to PN: Apprenticeship is the way to learn new skills)