Master the Basics
March 14th, 2005 by Steve Pavlina
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If I could say that I have a superpower, it would be that I learn very quickly. More than any other skill, this one has been the most valuable to me over the longest period of time. Even when I’m not particularly good at something initially, I’m usually able to learn it and pick it up fast. This comes from specific habits I’ve developed that support rapid learning, and the most important of these habits is this:
Begin with the attitude of expecting mastery.
Whenever you attempt to learn something new, go into it with the expectation that you’re eventually going to master it, however long that will take. Expect to become an expert. Think of yourself as a top pro in training.
If you’re learning to play golf, think of yourself as a future professional golfer. If you’re learning leadership skills, see yourself as a future world leader. If you’re learning martial arts, imagine you’re the next Bruce Lee. It doesn’t matter if you ever actually achieve mastery. That’s not the point. The point is that focusing on the goal of ultimate mastery will sharpen your present focus. If you imagine that someday you’re going to be leading your country, you’re going to pay a lot more attention to learning how to lead and manage people on small projects.
When I started to learn public speaking, I began with the expectation that I’d eventually be one of the top speakers in the world, even if it would take me decades to get there. This gave me a context for working really hard on the basics over the past year because a top pro must be able to handle the basics nearly flawlessly.
Another way to apply this idea is to imagine that you’ll eventually have to teach whatever you learn to someone else. If that works better for you, great — use it.
Think about how this attitude will sharpen your present moment actions. Suppose you’re about to learn something totally new to you. Let’s say it’s learning to play chess. In the first scenario, imagine you don’t care how good you get and that you just want to try it to see how it goes for you. In the second scenario, picture yourself as a next world chess champion, putting even Gary Kasparov’s amazingly successful career to shame. Can you see how the second attitude will sharpen your focus for learning chess today — right now — even if you never do become a grandmaster? What would you do differently with the second attitude that you wouldn’t do with the first?
The attitude of mastery causes you to take a long-term strategic approach to learning. You understand that any early weaknesses will be magnified as you progress, so you take the time to lay a solid foundation with no gaps. If you’re learning to play golf, you’ll take the time to perfect your grip and your stance early on, knowing that if you try to progress to advanced techniques too soon, you’ll only reinforce bad habits.
One of the reasons people fail to learn quickly is that they don’t build a solid enough foundation. They cripple their progress by forcing themselves to move past concepts they haven’t yet mastered.
If you can’t get an “A” grade in arithmetic, you shouldn’t progress to algebra — if you do then you’ll be crippled trying to learn calculus.
Master the basics first, no matter how long it takes. Earn your “A” in every single basic skill before you move on to advanced skills. This is the fastest way to learn in the long run. Earn the right to graduate through each step from novice to intermediate to expert.
Now if you ever find yourself stuck trying to learn something new, and progress seems really slow, and you just don’t seem to be getting it, then ask yourself this: Is there a prerequisite skill I haven’t yet mastered? Almost always the answer will be yes. If you’re having trouble learning creative writing for instance, have you mastered basic grammar, writing sentences, writing paragraphs, etc.
Go back and brush up on basic skills as often as needed. Top pros in virtually any field will invest a lot of time doing this. Professional golfers will hit hundreds of golf balls at the driving range. Chess players will practice opening book moves and end-game scenarios over and over. Professional football players (American or European version, take your pick) will do grueling physical workouts to keep their bodies properly conditioned. One of my fellow Toastmasters often tells me that the best way to improve one of my speeches is “Practice x 3″ … i.e. practice, practice, practice.
If you experienced a shoddy education early in life, take responsibility as an adult to correct it. Go back and re-learn what you should have learned as a child until you achieve mastery of all the basics. If your reading, writing, and math skills aren’t at least at a 12th grade level after graduating high school, then you make them so.
Success in many endeavors often comes not by applying some complicated fancy new technique but rather from consistent mastery of the basics. You don’t need to buy a fancy new piece of exercise equipment to lose weight if you master any basic exercise. You can lose all the weight you want just from running or biking.
This goes for personal management habits too. You can inject all kinds of fancy technology into your life to try to become better organized, but it won’t mean squat if you haven’t mastered the basic skill of self-discipline. Throwing extra technology on top of an undisciplined person will just make a bigger mess.
If you ever catch yourself thinking that the solution to your problems is something fancy and complicated, I challenge you to question that assumption. Can you reduce the problem to a deficiency in basic skills? New technology will only make you more of who you already are. If you’re inherently disorganized, technology will merely turn your physical clutter into techno-clutter. If you can’t cook, more cookware isn’t the answer.
There are no shortcuts here. When you want to learn something new, adopt the attitude of mastery going in, and then put in the time to master the basics. This is what it takes to achieve enduring success.
March 14th, 2005 at 8:51 pm
Steve writes another one of those he-must-have-been-inside-my-head-recently articles!
I’ve spent years thinking that being well-rounded was more important than focusing on any one skill. I know enough about programming to know how to program, but not enough to call myself a programmer. I know enough about system administration to configure and run my GNU/Linux system, but not enough to call myself a system administrator. I know enough about writing to write grammatically correct letters and articles, but not enough to call myself a writer.
And on and on. I knew enough to be be “good enough”, and I thought it was satisfactory.
Then I found myself looking for full-time work for the first time in my life. Employers are looking for experts: expert programmers, expert web designers, expert database admins, etc. No one is looking for someone who knows a little bit of everything.
So when I read Covey’s line, “The enemy of the great is the good”, it really hit home for me. I spend my time trying to become a master at programming in C++ since my prior education was mediocre at best. I want to be an expert at game development, even though my last full game was a Pac-man clone in QBasic spaghetti code.
I can no longer pretend to myself that being “good enough” is good enough. I need to reasses my goals and habits to see what needs to be brought out of mediocrity and pushed to excellence.
March 15th, 2005 at 5:40 am
Being “good enough” at some things is fine. In running a business it’s important to have a working knowledge of all the areas of the business, but it isn’t necessary to master all of those areas.
However, the practice of “good enough” fails when you try to apply it to foundational skills which build on one another. These foundational skills are different for everyone depending on their career path. But fairly universal ones would include reading, writing, getting organized, maintaining one’s health, and communicating effectively with fellow human beings.
Lacking a key foundational skill is like being 100 pounds overweight. It makes everything you do a lot harder, slower, and less efficient, and it drains energy that could be used for other things.
March 15th, 2005 at 7:31 am
I found your blog by accident–but reading is now a part of my morning “ritual.” Excellent post today. Have you read the short book Mastery by George Leonard? Keep up the good work! Thanks, JB
March 15th, 2005 at 8:31 am
Nope… never heard of that book actually.
March 15th, 2005 at 12:15 pm
“Mastery” by George Leonard is an ok book, and it’s a quick read. It wasn’t as good as I originally hoped it would be. If I remember correctly, I first heard about it from reading Michael Gerber’s “E-Myth Revisited” book.
Regarding mastery, I really like Gerald Weinberg’s approach to mastery, plateauing, and learning curves in his book “How to Become a Technical Leader”. Actually, IMHO, anything by Gerald Weinberg is worth reading.
GBGames, if you haven’t already read it, the book “Now Discover Your Strengths” is a good book that discusses exactly what you are talking about. Namely, focusing your efforts primarily on improving your strengths, rather than trying to be “well rounded”, while still keeping your significant weaknesses in check, but not wasting too much time on them.
June 24th, 2005 at 6:17 pm
“One of the reasons people fail to learn quickly is that they don’t build a solid enough foundation.
“This is the fastest way to learn in the long run.”
Actually what you say, I am often repeating it. I really like to analyse people or anything. I like to understand the root of the failure.
Often when you will see people fail at school, at work, or anything. It is because of their way to learn often.
If you see someone taking 15 hours rather than 5 hours. It is also often a part of how they do it (learning for example). That is why I have quoted “This is the fastest way to learn in the long run.” as a very important sentence.
At school, we have probably been similar. We need very low time to achieve what other achieve. I have skipped a year (could have skipped a load, but parent did not want till I grow up and had the decision). Actually I was often unchallenged I guess… and that probably helped me being lazy (to my perspective/expectation at less)
(Maybe it will inspire you build up example) I often give the example of a book when you study. Lets say a Mathematic book. If you need to master 5 chapters let’s say and you go to chapter 2, without have mastered chapter 1, etc. And then you advance of chapter, just because INSIDE of you, you say, OMG! I have to reach chapter 5 by X days… well you are gonna fail. If you master the basic and then move on (just as you say). Then you will move on CORRECTLY. And actually chapter 3,4,5 will actually (or usually I should say) be WAY easier as you master the basic of it.
Often if you are all-around good (intellectual, logic, sports), you get good faster in other related field. I probably forgot most math formula, etc. But I am sure if I take a new class or attack a new topic involving math. I will be able to be #1. That is the same with basic skills. If you master them, understand them. You will get better faster with complex.
To resume, what I see in Steve’s post (and my thought) is this:
- Master the basics and more you advance, it will make more sense and often be way easier.
- Doing it good [and take the time it needs], often lead to long-term efficiency. (It may not look productive at first, but in the end, you will sure be the turtle that go a boost and beat the rabbit)
- Always aim to be the champion! That is quality of most winners (myself include!) I know. They believe in themself, they aim high, they want to be the master.
Note:
Now, I need to master basic of english. I am “ok” but I am probably far from being good. It not being my native language is not an excuse as I use English daily.
Even if we often [almost naturally] apply a recipe that make us good in almost everything doesn’t mean we will always take the correct step (start from basic) in everything we do! So it is good to remind ourself. To practice. Etc.