How To Master The Art of Learning New Skills

Unlock your potential with this learning expert's game-changing insights.

Hi there fellow book lover! 👋

Welcome to The One Percent Better Club 📚 - your weekly dose of brilliant ideas from the world’s best nonfiction books that are going to help you be one percent better today than you were yesterday! This week, I’m talking about the book The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin. So if you’re ready for that one percent upgrade, then let's dive in! 🚀

How Reading This Book Changed My Life:

As a result of reading this book…

🤯 I’ve completely changed my perspective on failure. Now, I see it as a valuable part of the learning process and an opportunity for growth rather than a frustrating setback. (Check out Idea #2)

🎧 I’ve developed multiple “pre-game rituals” I like to do before I write, play chess, or learn the guitar that immediately put me in the zone. (Check out Idea #5)

🎸 I’ve learned over a dozen new skill-learning strategies that have helped make my practice sessions more purposeful, focused, and efficient.

🧘 I’ve stopped getting into my head so much after I make a simple mistake. (Check out Idea #3)

💪 And much more!

Surprisingly, the first time I read this book, I didn’t really care for it. Maybe that will be your experience too. But for whatever reason, the second time I read this book, it just completely blew me away. Now, I finally understand why people like Tim Ferriss talk so highly about it.

Why You Should Read The Art of Learning:

Meet Josh Waitzkin, the man who’s mastered the art of skill learning.

At a young age, Josh was a chess prodigy - a chess master who was on track to be the next Bobby Fischer.

But eventually, Josh’s attention shifted to martial arts. More specifically, tai-chi.

Drawing on the same principles he learned in chess, he used these skills to become a master tai-chi competitor.

Josh even went on to beat top-level competitors in order to win a world championship.

But Josh’s skill mastery didn’t stop there…

He’s also a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. And now, he’s mastering the art of stand-up paddleboarding and foiling, a variation of surfing.

Crazy story, right?

In the book The Art of Learning, Josh tells the full story of how exactly he did all this.

But more than that, Josh reveals the underlying lessons he learned from becoming world-class in multiple skills.

So if you’ve ever struggled to learn and master a skill, then Josh’s insights will definitely help you achieve skill mastery.

Here are the 3 best ideas (plus 2 bonus ideas if you’re a paid subscriber) in the book The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin:

Let’s go!

💡 Idea #1) The 2 Approaches To Learning New Skills

Have you ever wondered why some people give up easily when learning a new skill, while others stay the course, no matter what?

Well, the answer lies in their mindset.

In The Art of Learning, Josh Waitzkin mentions Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck who categorizes how people learn new skills into 2 mindsets:

• Fixed Mindset

• Growth Mindset

So what’s the difference?

Basically…

A person with a fixed mindset believes that their abilities are fixed and therefore can’t do anything to improve.

A person with a growth mindset, on the other hand, believes their abilities can easily be improved with a little bit of practice.

Which one are you?

Sadly, many of us develop a fixed mindset in life, which limits our potential for success.

Why? Because when you believe that your talent is fixed, you’re more likely to give up when you encounter difficulties.

If, for example, you think you’re not good at math, then you’re likely to quit trying when you face a challenging math problem.

Instead of persevering and deciding to put more effort into studying, you’ll just say, “I can’t do this,” and give up.

This is why cultivating a growth mindset is the key to pursuing mastery.

According to Dweck, those who have a growth mindset are happier, more mentally resilient, and are the ones who inevitably make it down the road to mastery.

So ditch the fixed mindset, let go of the limiting beliefs that are holding you back, and embrace the power of practice and persistence.

With a growth mindset, you’ll be amazed at what you can achieve.

💡 Idea #2) Why You Should Invest In Loss

Do you hate losing?

Most people do.

Whether it’s a tennis match, a fight for a promotion, or a game of Monopoly, losing can be frustrating and demotivating.

But what if I told you that hating losing is the wrong mindset to have if you want to learn new skills? In fact, what if I told you that losing has its benefits?

In The Art of Learning, Josh Waitzkin says that in order to get better at a new skill, you need to experience loss.

Why? Because learning a new skill always has a steep learning curve.

In the beginning, you’re going to lose a lot, but that’s perfectly normal. I mean, you’re just starting out, what did you expect?

But with time and effort, you’ll gradually improve.

In other words, you need to lose first before you can win

This is what Waitzkin calls “Investment In Loss.”

When Waitzkin was 10 years old, for example, he started competing in adult chess tournaments.

Naturally, he started off losing a lot. Obviously, this was frustrating for him. But instead of giving up, he embraced the fact that he was losing a lot and used his losses to help him improve his chess. More specifically, he started identifying his weaknesses and then started working on improving them.

The result?

After relentlessly investing in losses, Waitzkin became the youngest chess master in history at age 15.

By putting himself in situations to lose, Waitzkin was able to radically improve his chess skills.

In fact, Waitzkin says, 

“Most of my chess growth has always come from studying my losses very deeply.”

So whether you’re a writer, an athlete, or a programmer, don’t be scared of losing.

Instead, embrace it as an opportunity to learn and invest in loss. Yes, it may suck at first and be frustrating, but it’ll make you a lot better in the long run.

💡 Idea #3) Avoid The Downward Spiral

When Josh was 18 years old, he spent 4 years in New York City, teaching chess to a group of talented young players.

The class was once a week and the club was about 2 miles away from his apartment.

So every Wednesday, Josh would walk the 2 miles to the chess club, viewing the city and thinking about what he wanted to talk about for his chess lesson.

But then one day, during one of his weekly walks, Josh experienced something he’ll never forget…

One fall afternoon, Josh is walking towards the chess club and he arrives at a light, waiting for it to change, and he sees a woman with her headphones on, dancing to her music.

But to his surprise, Josh then sees the woman suddenly step right into the street!

And as the woman’s looking to her right, a bicycle comes flying right at her from the left.

Luckily, the biker was able to turn away at the last second, giving her a solid but harmless bump.

In The Art of Learning, Josh says,

“In my memory, time stops right here. This was the critical moment in the woman’s life.”

Why? Because she could have just walked away unscathed if she had just stepped back onto the sidewalk.

But that’s not what she did. Instead, she turned to her right, with her back towards oncoming traffic on her left, and started cursing at the bicyclist.

And as she’s yelling at the bicyclist, a taxicab comes speeding around the corner, and before she knew it, the woman was hit by the taxi from behind and sent reeling ten feet into the air, smashing into a lamppost, and was knocked out and bleeding badly.

The ambulance and police arrive shortly after and Josh eventually keeps on walking towards the chess club, hoping she’ll be okay.

As Josh walks into the chess club, shocked by what he just witnessed, he feels compelled to share the lesson of this story with his students.

Leaving out the gravity of her injuries, Josh explains that this tragedy sadly didn’t need to happen.

According to Josh, the woman indeed made a simple first mistake, which was looking the wrong way and stepping into the street in front of traffic.

But that’s all it should’ve been - a simple mistake.

Because here’s the thing…

The first mistake rarely proves disastrous. Instead, it’s the second, third, and fourth mistakes that create a devastating chain reaction.

This is what Josh Waitzkin calls “The Downward Spiral.”

Yes, it’s easy to get emotional when you’ve made a mistake, but it’s important to regain presence and clarity of mind afterwards.

In relation to the woman on the street, the biker should’ve been a wake-up call for her. She wasn’t hurt, but instead of reacting with alertness, she got angry. Not thinking rationally, she decided to angrily stay in the street. And, as a result, eventually got hit by a car.

So the next time you make a mistake, whether you miss an easy basketball shot or you make a chess blunder, remember the story of Josh and the woman on the street and don’t let it lead to a downward spiral.

💡 Idea #4) Learn Enough To Be Able To Self-Correct