B y now, learning new #skills should have automatically become a part of your everyday life. The practice of learning is extremely habitual because it is the one thing that we all have been doing since birth.
Learning to walk, speak, eat solid food, new subjects, make friends, social etiquette for instance are a few of them. These skills we naturally acquired most subtly and optimally.
However, now the constant pressure of adult life, distractions, excess resources, perfectionism, and competition hinders our ability to master a skill independently.
But I recommend you follow and incorporate the following learning model to learn a skill on your own.
Given below are 6 elements that run this learning model of individual learning.
⚪‣ Building Awareness
To start your journey, it is needed that you choose a path. Hence, begin by choosing a skill. It could be a passion or an area of interest. Next, read more into the skill, to know it’s associated benefits, demand patterns, usage, verticals, etc. This will be helpful in the following step where you develop an emotional connection with the skill.
⚪‣ Emotionally Connect to Seek Purpose
After the hardest part of choosing the skill, it is natural that you build an emotional connection to it. This will attribute a purpose to your learning. Moreover, it will considerably increase your desire and focuses to learn. Most people I know have that one purpose that drives them to be better at the skills they choose to learn.
⚪‣ Choosing Your Resources
Since you plan to go solo on your learning journey, it is time you choose your learning resources carefully.
● First, decide if you want to proceed with a paid or open-source channel.
● If you choose the former, decide on a budget, and then allocate it mindfully.
● However, if you choose to not spend anything on the learning process, know the basics of referring to free credible resources. Search for the most authentic literature on the skill.
● There are also many digital skills exchange platforms where you can easily learn a skill on your own or under the vigilance of a mentor.
● Read up and collect all information you can find.
The goal of this step is to give yourself a real insight into the skill and fall into the next stage of planning with realistic goals.
⚪‣ Planning and Goal Establishment
Before beginning with this step, you must be clear on every front related to the skill you want to learn. Therefore, thoroughly execute the above step (3).
In the planning stage, you are to decide on a workable time-table concerning -
● Days and time you can attribute to skill learning
● Place of learning
● Off days and timely breaks
● Rejuvenating activities and relaxation methods
● Sections of learning for each day
● Methods of learning and assessment
Your time-table will prove highly effective only when it is made with total transparency and shaped of realistic goals.
It is required that you understand your learning style, attention span, mastery level, and other related aspects and create an individualized timetable.
A pro-tip is to BEGIN SMALL.
⚪‣ Be Regular
The biggest challenge of learning anything on your own is to find motivation. It becomes even worse if you plan to learn a skill in total isolation. Due to lack of competition, vigilance, or assessments, you may likely stray from the learning path. It is for these days, that you prepare a bunch of effective ways to motivate yourself.
If anything, being regular has significantly helped me in my journey of self-learning. Putting effort little by little gave me satisfaction from my learning process and I began to enjoy it.
⚪‣ Own Your Learning
Once you have begun to enjoy your learning, everything else becomes secondary. Arriving at this stage you become a self-driven, motivated, and responsible learner.
Additionally, these tricks will be highly productive -
● PRACTICE, PRACTICE & PRACTICE
● Put your everyday learning on paper
● Visualize what’s next?
● Assess and revise what you learn weekly
● Be open to learning from non-conventional sources too.
● Constantly practice and apply the skill for permanence in learning
● Avoid comparison with others or their learning proficiency
● Include your skill learning in your everyday life. For example, I learned the skill of networking and I make sure to put various networking techniques to use with the people I socialize daily.
The key takeaway of this 6 step skill learning model is to IDENTIFY YOUR LEARNING PATH and BE INCLINED TO LEARNING WITH A STRICT SENSE OF SELF-REGULATION.
Good Luck with your learning endeavor!
