How to Learn Anything – Micaela Richmond

“The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice.” -Brian Herbert

Learning is a Superpower

Have you ever really wanted to learn something, but didn’t know where to begin?

We’ve all been there.

School got me used to having a curriculum, a guide for what to learn and how to learn it.

In the real world, curriculums don’t exist. No one sits you down and tells you what to begin with. No one sets the pace for you.
In the real world, you’re free to learn how you want to—but for some reason, the freedom makes it harder.

Utilizing your greatest asset, the internet, are you ready to learn the system that changed my life forever?

Let’s dive in!

How to Learn Anything Online

Step One: Identify what you would like to learn

This is the most important step. You need to identify what you want to learn so you can direct yourself.

Identify what you want to learn, and get very specific. The more specific, the better you can navigate online.

Example: I want to learn about the sun. The truth is, the sun is still a broad topic. I might be trying to learn about its temperature, its rays, UV exposure, the effectiveness of sunscreen, etc. I need to go deeper.

Step Two: Google the thing/concept you want to learn and open 10-20 resources

Type what you want to learn about word-for-word. You can either use Google or another preferred search engine.

How Search Engines Work

Search engines take all of the information on the web, sift through it, and monitor its popularity. Search engines attempt to do all of the hard work for their users and present the best, most useful available content. Given this, most of the websites you find from your search will be relevant.

Example: I could just type into google “the sun,” but all types of different sites would pop up.

Instead, I will be very specific about what I hope to learn. I will type “the sun’s temperature.”

Once you have a lot of relevant websites in front of you, begin opening each one. I tend to open about 6 websites all at once. My goal with this is to compile as much information as possible. I will open each website, skim first, then if the website has proved its relevance, I will keep it as a tab in my window so I can dig into it further.

Step Three: Write notes and highlight useful information

As you go through each page, take as many notes as possible in this first pass. Notate what you thought was interesting, highlight information you have questions about, emphasize the main points and try to create an overview for yourself.

Each page will have a couple of unique points to add, but realistically, they will all be similar. This is good. This means that you’ve found the pillars. The pillars/foundation of a concept is necessary if you’re going to want to build on that.

Focus on your understanding of the big picture. You are ready to move on to the next step when you can explain the most basic/fundamental elements of a topic.

Step Four: Dig Deeper

Now that you have established a foundation for yourself, you are going to want to start getting more specific. Take one website, and go through the notes you took. What information has holes? What words do you not understand? What concepts are you unsure about?
Take those and repeat the search and notation process

As you go through this content, you’re going to start to create a mental layout. If the topic suits this, and you would like to, I always enjoy creating visuals. The more you learn, the more you will be able to connect two, seemingly disparate items. That is where real understanding comes from – understanding both how the engine works, and understanding how the individual pieces work within the engine.

Hit Your Target, and Move On

You can stop digging whenever the information you’ve gained suits the purpose. The truth is, there’s always more to learn. You need to have a clearly defined aim, going in, so that you don’t deviate too far from the path that will teach you what you hope to learn.

When to Use this Method

This direct method can be applied to learning conceptual knowledge. It is good for taking concepts you are not familiar with and gaining a firm foundation. There are two types of knowledge: conceptual, and applicable knowledge. This is not useful for application. When it comes to doing, the best way to learn is to do.

Taking the example of the sun, for learning about the sun, this method was perfect. If, however, I would have wanted to learn how to measure the distance from the sun, I would have to do more than just read on it. I would need to apply in some regard.

Embrace the Freedom

After having been on both sides of this myself, I understand that freedom is both exhilarating, and annoying. It is exhilarating to be in control of one’s learning destiny, but it can be annoying to be bombarded by so much information. When it comes to teaching yourself, no one tells you where to look, no one creates a parameter for you, and no one tells you when you’ve strayed too far from the original purpose of your search.

Define what you want to learn, create an aim, and begin to search. Embrace the freedom, and allow the search to become an adventure.

Remember: there is no other activity in the world that has such a high rate of return. Use it.