I believe the ability to learn how to do almost anything within the capability of most people. That might sound like a bit of a strong statement but I really believe that. Yes, it is easier for some people. They might have some natural talents or abilities or personality traits that make it much easier to learn new things, especially when they are motivated. But that doesn’t mean that the traits you have that are a disadvantage can’t be overcome.

I have, over the coarse of my 20 year career in shops taught myself a lot of skills. I have also learned a lot from other people. Now, I am not the best in the world at all of the things I do, but I am at least competent enough to sell many of those skills as something I can do professionally. Body work, paint, sheet metal and custom fabrication, MIG and TIG welding, engine building, engine machining, metal patination, stained glass window repair and fabrication, electrical wiring in fixtures, automotive electrical and mechanical troubleshooting and diagnosis, and become an “expert” on several different vehicles that I was specializing in at the time. On top of that I do much of my own tile, sheet rock, plumbing, electrical and carpentry work on my own house, and I am confident I could go into any of those fields and move up pretty quickly if I had to change careers today.

All of these and many other things I have learned more or less on my own. I did learn a few things at college, but most of what I use regularly, maybe welding excluded, I learned by myself or on the job. I am one of those people who has some traits that can help in this. I also have to fight some traits I have that make it difficult. I’m statistically smarter than the average bear, I have the ability to obsess over something until I’ve absorbed a large enough amount of information to feel confident in my new knowledge and translate that into useful actions. I an a perfectionist and I have uncommon amounts of patience for boring or annoying tasks. I am however, easily distracted if I get unfocused, a procrastinator and am impatient, so I can get discouraged when results don’t come instantly.

Figuring out what positive and negative learning traits you have is one of the first steps in determining what you need to do to set yourself up for success when learning a new skill. When you understand your shortcomings and your strengths you can use that knowledge to your advantage, but you really need to be honest when evaluating yourself.

How does any of that help you learn a new skill? The same methods of learning do not always work for everyone. Maybe people are more visual learners, some people aren’t good at following written instructions. When you know your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to learning, you can lean on your strengths to compensate for deficit somewhere else in the process.

I have thought long and hard about how to teach new skills to people, which can often be very difficult. The way you learn something is directly correlated to how well you can retain and utilize the new information. I think about it like this; when I rely on my GPS to navigate me somewhere it takes me probably two to three trips to learn landmarks well enough to be able to drive there on my own unaided. However, when I am following verbal or written directions I usually only have to go someplace once in order to remember it pretty well.

The reason for this is likely a common phenomenon you might recognize. Many people notice that when they go to a new place for the first time it seems to take much longer to get there than t does to drive home over the same route. This is due to the beginner’s mindset. The beginners mindset is the same reason you might notice you remember more about every day on a vacation than you would about any one day on a normal week. This mechanism that allows us greater perception of our surroundings when something is new or unfamiliar.

The good thing is, that I believe this mindset is actually teachable. It takes effort, but you can train yourself to be more aware, and this is important because the lessons we learn on the way to learning how to do one thing can often teach us things that are critical to learning lots of other things.

In my next post I will discuss the beginners mindset and how it relates to not just learning a new skill, but increasing your attention to detail and more. One of the best ways to learn something new is to just try it, so go out and try something, and check back soon or join our mailing list for more tips, how-to’s, and discussion of how to become a better doer of things.

Ciao,
Marc Allen