[sri]

here are some things that I've discovered/read about on the same journey

(some of the items in this list deal with the general "how to learn" than with "how to learn quickly" -- but i truly believe that to learn something quickly, deeply, throughly and effectively, you must have these learning fundamentals -- they should help you form a habit of learning, which is probably the most important thing needed to learn things quickly... hope it helps

1. Develop concentration and single-mindedness -- basically you must be able to focus on difficult things (and learning is quiet difficult) for long periods of time.
2. Willingness to be a fool -- that is don't be afraid of looking silly in front of others. from The Natural Way To Draw (p 3) -- "The Sooner you make your first 5000 mistakes, the sooner you will be able to correct them".
3. Not having internal resistance to new ideas and new ways of doing things -- the ability to hold an idea in your head without judging it
4. "I know it already" attitude is a killer -- if you think that you know something, but you really don't, then that attitude of yours won't let the new information thru, and so you will fool yourself
5. Ask small questions and derive answers from them -- "What does this mean?", "What happens if you do this, but not that?" -- this will give you knowledge of a thing, step by step -- instead if you take a giant step, you risk stepping over something that you don't understand
6. the fundamentals are absolutely important -- either in math or in basketball. they must become a part of you -- that is, you shouldn't think about to, they must become instinctive (see the book Mastery by George Leonard, about this)
7. Learn something everyday -- and if you aren't struggling they you aren't really learning. So struggle. This everyday practice will help you learn things faster and faster.
8. Like our steve is fond of saying, immerse yourself completely in that topic (probably for long periods of time) -- 5-6 hours a day for 10 months.
9. Have a role model -- who is at a level where you want to be. Notice how they act, how they work, how they talk, walk etc. -- this is, notice everything about them and try to discover how, how they live, relates to why they are an expert in that subject matter. Try to model their life...
10. ok, so you are half way to becoming an expert in a subject matter. and there will be beginners in that subject matter who ask some (so-called) stupid questions. people who are almost experts, dismiss those questions with a laugh (and that's probably why, they never become complete experts in their lives). to become an expert, listen to the beginner's questions and concerns with absolute respect -- they are teaching you something: figure out what that is. basically, learn from everyone and everything; and to do that you must have a humble attitude.
    
11. be enthusiastic when you come across a problem you don't know how to solve -- that attitude is important
12. and always read about and learn from other problem solvers -- how they do it, etc. For example, Donald Knuth is a preeminent computer scientist. There is an NPR audio interview with him -- in it he talks about how he thinks about efficiency (which is very important in computer science -- to make computers run faster) -- he thinks about efficiency even while brushing his teeth at night time -- "now, how can i make brushing teeth more efficient?". this kind of constant thinking about something -- "how can i make this more efficient?", "how can i improve in this area?" and relating them to the real world is a big, big plus -- cue Law Of Attraction