A common thought is that it takes 10,000 hours to learn a new skill. Research has also shown that the beginning hours are the most frustrating and difficult which is why learning a new language or a new activity is so hard.
Josh Kaufman in his book, ‘The First 20 hours: How to learn anything…fast’ teaches that rather than focusing on the whole 10,000 hours we should deliberately concentrate on the first 20 hours. It is a rather simple and deliberate process. First, you begin to deconstruct the skill desired. Secondly you must then learn to self-correct. Lastly, remove barriers to practice, such as procrastinating. Of course you must practice for 20 hours; forty minutes a day for thirty days.
As speakers, trainers or facilitators, we are constantly improving our old skills and learning new ones. Rather than making New Year’s resolutions, which for most people get sidetracked, maybe it is better to use the advice of Josh Kaufman.
Take a skill, whether a new or existing one, and concentrate on deliberately improving it for 20 hours.
You may be surprised on how much fun you have and look forward to working on the next skill.
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