GET BETTER AT ANYTHING by Scott Young | Core Message
Summary
TLDRScott Young's 'Get Better at Anything' outlines a three-step learning cycle: observe, practice, and receive feedback. The video emphasizes the importance of actively copying experts, asking process-oriented questions, and practicing within a 'difficulty sweet spot' to build self-efficacy. It also highlights the value of seeking micro feedback from models and peers to refine skills effectively. Young's book offers 12 maxims for learners, promising rapid progress through example learning, extensive practice, and reliable feedback.
Takeaways
- 🚴 Learning a new skill involves a three-part cycle: see it, do it, get good at it, and feedback.
- 👶 As children, we learn by observing, attempting, failing, and receiving guidance, which can be applied to adult learning.
- 📚 To enhance learning, actively copy and mimic the skills of experts, such as writing by hand or replicating speeches, to notice differences and improve.
- 🤔 Ask experts to solve problems while explaining their thought process to understand their decision-making and learn the 'if-then' rules.
- 🏌️♂️ Engage in completion exercises to test your knowledge, starting with simpler tasks and gradually increasing difficulty to stay in the 'difficulty sweet spot'.
- 📈 Use flashcards and spaced repetition for cognitive skills, and practice trigger movements for physical skills to build expertise.
- 📉 Focus on feedback that is process-oriented rather than outcome-oriented to avoid being misled by temporary success.
- 📝 Keep a learning journal to document your thought process and seek feedback from experienced individuals or online communities.
- 🎥 Record yourself performing a skill and have experts evaluate your technique to gain deeper insights into your fundamentals.
- 🤖 Utilize large computer models for immediate, micro feedback on your skill sequence, such as chess engines or poker GTO models.
- 📈 Scott Young emphasizes the importance of learning from examples, extensive practice, and reliable feedback for rapid progress in any skill.
Q & A
What is the three-part learning cycle mentioned in the script?
-The three-part learning cycle consists of 'see it', 'do it', and 'get good', which involves observing, practicing, and receiving feedback to improve a skill.
How does the script suggest we enhance the 'see it' phase of learning?
-The 'see it' phase can be enhanced by not just passively watching but actively copying and extracting from the skills of others, such as copying passages from favorite writers to improve writing.
What is the purpose of asking experts to solve a problem while thinking aloud?
-Asking experts to solve a problem while thinking aloud helps to extract their thought process and understand the fundamental rules that guide their decisions and actions.
How can mimicking a great keynote speech help improve public speaking skills?
-Mimicking a great keynote speech allows learners to practice pauses, vocal variety, and delivery, helping them understand the components of an effective speech.
Why is it important to remain in the 'difficulty sweet spot' when testing what you've learned?
-Staying in the 'difficulty sweet spot' ensures that the learner is challenged enough to form new connections for improvement without becoming overwhelmed, thus maintaining self-efficacy and interest.
What are completion exercises and how do they help in the learning process?
-Completion exercises are tasks where learners start with a part of the information and try to complete the rest. They act as scaffolds, helping to build expertise and self-efficacy through frequent small wins.
How can flashcards be used to test knowledge of key concepts?
-Flashcards with keywords missing can be used for spaced repetition, where learners read the cards and try to fill in the blanks, reinforcing memory and understanding of the concepts.
What is the significance of seeking feedback on the process rather than just the outcome?
-Feedback on the process provides insights into the learner's approach and helps identify areas for improvement, whereas outcome-based feedback can sometimes be misleading and not indicative of true skill level.
How can large models provide micro feedback for skill improvement?
-Large models, such as chess engines or poker GTO models, offer immediate feedback on each step of a skill sequence, allowing learners to evaluate their decisions and understand their performance relative to optimal strategies.
What is the core message of 'Get Better at Anything' by Scott Young?
-The core message is that by copying the examples of others, practicing extensively, and getting reliable feedback, one can make rapid progress in learning any skill.
What does the script suggest for those who want a summary of insights from the book?
-The script offers a one-page PDF summary of insights from the book for those interested, which can be obtained by clicking on the provided link and subscribing to the email newsletter.
Outlines
🚴♂️ The Learning Cycle for Skill Improvement
This paragraph introduces the concept of a three-part learning cycle for mastering any skill, as outlined by Scott Young in his book. The cycle consists of observing (seeing), practicing (doing), and refining (getting good). Feedback plays a crucial role in this process. The author uses the example of learning to ride a bike to illustrate how children naturally follow this cycle. As adults, we can enhance each step using the latest learning research. For instance, improving writing by copying passages from favorite authors, public speaking by mimicking great speeches, and programming by writing code exactly as it's written. The key is to think like a skilled practitioner and ask experts to solve problems while explaining their thought process. This helps in extracting vital 'if-then' rules that underpin the skill.
📈 Enhancing Feedback for Skill Mastery
The second paragraph delves deeper into the feedback component of the learning cycle. It emphasizes the importance of focusing on the process rather than just the outcome. Outcome-based feedback can be misleading, as it may not accurately reflect the quality of one's skills. To counter this, the author suggests keeping a learning journal to document the application of skills and seeking feedback on the process from peers or experts. Additionally, recording oneself while executing a skill and sharing it with experts can provide valuable insights. The paragraph also highlights the utility of large computer models for immediate feedback on skill sequences, such as chess engines, poker GTO models, and golf stroke gain data. These models help in evaluating decisions and understanding areas for improvement. The ultimate goal is to learn from examples, practice extensively, and receive reliable feedback to achieve rapid progress.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Learning Cycle
💡Feedback
💡Self-efficacy
💡Mimicry
💡Problem-solving
💡Difficulty Sweet Spot
💡Completion Exercises
💡Micro Feedback
💡Fundamentals
💡Brain Trust
💡Rapid Progress
Highlights
Scott Young's three-part learning cycle: see it, do it, get good, with feedback.
Learning to ride a bike as a child exemplifies the learning cycle.
Adults can enhance the learning cycle using the latest research.
Copying passages from favorite writers to improve writing skills.
Replicating a great keynote speech to enhance public speaking.
Writing code exactly as written to become a better programmer.
Asking experts to solve problems and explain their thought process.
The importance of asking 'why' to understand key decisions.
Extracting vital 'if-then' rules from experts to perform skills faster.
Staying in the 'difficulty sweet spot' when testing learned skills.
Using completion exercises to practice within the difficulty sweet spot.
Creating flashcards for cognitive skills and testing at spaced intervals.
Seeking feedback on the process, not just the outcome.
Keeping a learning journal for process feedback.
Utilizing large models for micro feedback on skill sequences.
The importance of self-efficacy in sustaining the belief in learning a skill.
Scott Young's 12 maxims for aspiring learners.
Offering a one-page PDF summary of insights from the book.
Transcripts
I recently read get better at anything
by Scott
young we can get better at anything if
we follow a three-part learning cycle
see it do it get good
feedback as children we learn to ride a
bike by first observing a parent or
sibling ride a bike then attempting to
ride a bike and falling and then getting
tips from a parent like don't look down
then we followed the cycle again we
watched a sibling look forward as she
rode her bike got back on the bicycle
and tried to again
and then received additional tips and
encouragement this learning cycle
continued until we demonstrated that we
could do it well or got frustrated and
gave up as adults we can use the latest
learning research to enhance each step
of the Learning Cycle so we can get
better at any skill quickly and have
zero desire to
quit to improve the first part of the
cycle don't passively watch people do a
skill copy exactly and extract
improve your writing by copying passages
from your favorite writer by hand while
copying verbatim you're more inclined to
notice stylistic choices that differ
from your own prompting questions that
will guide your learning enhance your
public speaking by replicating a great
keynote speech and recording yourself
delivering it do it over and over until
the pauses and vocal variety match the
expert as you mimic the speech you'll
better understand the components of a
great speech become a better programmer
by writing code out exactly as it's
written instead of just copy pasting it
into a reference
document as you copy the code exactly as
it is imagine what the programmer was
thinking as they wrote the
code copying will get you to think like
a skilled practitioner but to really
understand how skilled people think ask
them to solve a problem while thinking
allow to extract their
process if you want to be a better
golfer ask an expert golfer what they
would do if they s started hitting the
ball poorly if you want to be a better
programmer give an experienced
programmer a challenging problem and
then ask them to talk through their
process be like a curious toddler and
ask plenty of why questions to
understand key decisions like why did
you choose that logic
function and if you want to be a better
cook challenge a chef by removing
ingredients from a recipe and then
getting them to talk through their
problem solving process allowed when you
get confused stop them and ask how did
you come to that decision or what else
could you have done
there experts often skip fundamental
explanations because their actions and
decisions seem obvious to them but by
giving experts problems and then forcing
them to slow down and explain their
decisions you can extract the vital if
then rules that will allow you to
perform the skill the faster you learn
the fundamental rules of a skill the
faster you'll be able to perform that
skill
well now after the copy and extraction
phase you need to test what you've
learned and when you put your knowledge
to the test you must remain in the
difficulty sweet spot because if you
struggled too much at first your belief
that you can learn the skill will
diminish and your interest will Wan
researchers called this lowering one's
self-efficacy but if you struggle too
little you won't trigger your brain to
form new connections that allow you to
improve one way to work within the
difficulty sweet spot is to start
practicing a skill with completion
exercises if you're learning how to
write good stories start copying a
paragraph from a good short story and
then close the reference material and
try to finish it on your own if you're
learning a language hear the start of a
common phrase and then try to complete
it if you're learning poker or chess
watch a game being played hit pause and
then guess the next move and if you're
learning to program have a friend or AI
remove critical pieces in a section of
code and then try to fill in those
sections for most cognitive skills you
can create flashcards of key concepts
with keywords missing and then test
yourself at spaced intervals by reading
the flashcards and trying to fill in the
blanks for most physical skills you can
start with a trigger movement and then
try to complete the rest of the routine
in different
scenarios completion exercises are like
scaffolds temporary structures used to
help you build your
expertise these learning scaffolds are
great for Building self self-efficacy
because they generate frequent small
winds that fuel the belief that you can
learn a
skill gradually increasing the
difficulty of completion exercises is
quite straightforward you just create
more and more gaps to be filled if you
deleted one critical step the last time
delete two this time your goal should
always be to get roughly four out of
five completion exercises
correct Scott young says nothing gives a
greater boost to our confidence than
seeing ourselves success
Ed now when it comes to the feedback
part of the Learning Cycle don't just
focus on how you did but on how you did
it as you advance in this skill the
feedback you get can be
misleading you can write a program that
runs well with poorly written code you
can produce a video that goes viral on
YouTube due to algorithm that quirks
rather than
quality relying solely on outcome
feedback can mislead you into thinking
your skills like programming skills and
video production skills are much better
than they actually are which can lead to
enormous frustration when your results
steadily Decline and you don't know
why that's why for any skill you're
learning you should do two things seek
feedback on your process and get micro
feedback from large
models seek feedback on your process by
keeping a learning journal and write
down how you apply your skill to solve
problems like how you thought through a
complex hand in poker or position in
chess then routinely post sections of
your learning journal to Reddit for
comment or share sections with a Brain
Trust of experienced people that aren't
afraid to point out flaws in your
approach when possible record yourself
executing a skill while talking through
your thought process alloud then send
the video to an expert to
evaluate if you don't have a deep
understanding of the fundamentals it
will quickly become apparent in your
explanation
video now the second way to enhance
feedback is to get mic feedback from
large
models utilize large computer models to
get immediate feedback on every step of
a skill sequence in chess there's chess
engine models that tell you if you're
winning or losing after every move in
poker game theory optimal models GTO
models help you evaluate each decision
you make by telling you if you're making
the highest probability
decision in golf there's something
called Strokes gain data that compares
your performance to the average
performance for your skill level so you
know if each shot you make is better or
worse than average and which area of the
game you need to
improve there are big data models like
these available for almost any skill
these days and now with large language
models like chat GPT you're able to
periodically explain your process and
get feedback to refine your
approach in the end rather than just
seeing doing and reacting to a result
copy people who are great and ask them
processed questions
then practice completion exercises
within the difficulty sweet spot so you
experience several small winds and
sustain your self-efficacy that is you
continue to believe you can learn the
skill you're trying to learn and then
get feedback on your approach from Brain
Trust and large models as Scott young
says when we're able to learn from the
example of other people practice
extensively ourselves and get reliable
feedback rapid progress results
that was the core message that I
gathered from get better at anything by
Scott young this book includes 12 maxims
that every aspiring learner must
internalize I highly recommend it if you
would like a one-page PDF summary of
insights that I gather from this book
just click the link below and I'll be
happy to email it to you if you're
already subscribed to the free
productivity game email newsletter this
PDF is seting in your
inbox if you like this video please
share it and as always thanks for
watching and have yourself productive
week
تصفح المزيد من مقاطع الفيديو ذات الصلة
Get Better at Anything: 12 Maxims for Mastery
Ultralearning - How to Rapidly Learn and Master New Skills - (SUMMARY)
Desenvolva qualquer HABILIDADE em tempo recorde com esse PLANO PRÁTICO
Social Learning Theory
Ultra-learning: How to Learn Anything Faster
How to Learn Anything FAST? The Ultralearning Methods
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)