Tag / learning

by Nathan Coumbe

Why is learning hard?

Learning is an activity that moves you from a state of incompetence to one of competence.

That feeling—not knowing something—is uncomfortable. It’s why we avoid it. It’s almost physically painful at times, and we’re naturally wired to avoid pain.

It’s much easier (read: less painful) to be entertained by an online video “course.” At some point, learning requires doing. And when you do it the first, second, or tenth time, it sucks. It’s a painful process. The quality is poor.

MasterClass is popular for a reason: it’s full of high-quality videos of famous people who tell you how to do interesting things… without you ever doing the hard work of learning.

Do you really think that you can become a world-class screenwriter or negotiator by watching a video? Of course not.

You become a great screenwriter by writing screenplays. You become a great negotiator by negotiating with people over and over again. The first screenplay will be terrible. You will lose your first negotiation.

Learning content can give you new ideas and techniques to implement. But you have to actually implement it.

There is no learning without doing.

by Nathan Coumbe

How to learn a word

The best way to learn a new word is to have it paint a picture in your mind.

Adjectives conjure images of people who embody their meaning.

Verbs project images of the actions they represent.

Few people learn words by memorizing dictionary definitions and reciting them in their minds every time they hear them. The definition is great when it’s completely new and unfamiliar, but it’s only the first step. Mastery comes from the imagery conjured by the words.

Eventually, we develop an intuitive “feel” for the meanings of words and no longer need either the definition or the image they conjure. We become fluent, and the words roll off the tongue.

This path from incompetence to mastery is present in all learning. The “grammar” is just the first step.

by Nathan Coumbe

Leadership = Applied History

There’s a line on the History Major page at the US Naval Academy:

Effective leadership is applied history.

Leadership, more than anything, is decision-making—specifically decision-making that affects other people, not only you.

By studying history, you can examine the minds of other leaders and understand their actions and the resulting outcomes (good and bad).

You can learn lessons from other people’s experiences rather than from your own failures and setbacks. This will not only save you time, money, and emotional labor—in some cases, it might save lives.

As General James Mattis said:

“If you haven’t read hundreds of books, you are functionally illiterate, and you will be incompetent, because your personal experiences alone aren’t broad enough to sustain you.”

Learn lessons from others by studying history. Don’t repeat their mistakes when you can simply read a book.

by Nathan Coumbe

The teaching experience got worse after COVID

When the COVID-19 pandemic erupted, it sent all the children home for an extended period of virtual schooling. This showed parents what it was like to deal with lots of kids all day long.

Not just “deal” with them either, but also hopefully have them learn something.

Multiply parents’ experience with their handful of children by 10, and that was what the average schoolteacher dealt with on a daily basis for years before 2020.

What fascinates me about this, however, is that the experience didn’t lead to an outpouring of support. It didn’t lead to calls for higher pay, better working conditions, and more classroom assistance for teachers.

Instead, COVID-19 made schooling much, much worse for teachers as, inexplicably, it led to a focus on culture war issues and concerns over what was being taught in the classrooms.

by Nathan Coumbe

How do values appear in your life?

What do you value? And how do you structure your life so that the things you value are apparent?

If you say you value thinking, how do you engage with that value on a daily basis?

  • No social media?
  • Embracing boredom?
  • Avoiding mindless TV binging?
  • Walking in silence?
  • Writing when ideas strike you?
  • Writing or thinking in public? (Publishing something)

If you say you value your health, how does that show up in your day?

  • Eating lots of fruits and vegetables?
  • Cooking more meals at home?
  • Intentional movement?
  • Finding ways to build more movement into your day so you don’t have to think about it?

Values are developed through action. They requires practice to become part of who you are.

by Nathan Coumbe

You’re fired. Now what?

Here’s a question I’ve been noodling on:

What if you got fired today? What would you do?

But wait, it gets worse…

Not only were you fired, but your industry collapsed and no longer exists. And to make matters worse, all the specialized skills you built up in that industry are now irrelevant (hypothetically, an AI could do them all now and for free).

And, you can’t hide by going back to school for another degree.

You have to start something of your own—you have no choice.

What would you start? What would you build? What problem would you solve and for whom?

Take a 20-minute walk and think on this today.

by Nathan Coumbe

Deliberate practice and writing

Deliberate practice is essential for developing thinking and writing skills.

But how do you do that when it seems like such a nebulous skill to develop?

You practice by extracting the gist of an idea and writing it down in your own words. Then do it again tomorrow.

Now you’re a writer.

by Nathan Coumbe

Love and mastery

What topic do you most connect with?

What subject fills you with an almost religious fervor?

What do you spend your time thinking and learning about, regardless of what you’re paid to do?

This feeling of love for a field might be pointing you toward something worth mastering.

by Nathan Coumbe

Expertise must come before audience

We have the process backward for becoming well-known.

The current wisdom is to become famous (most likely on social media) to obtain a big audience. Once you have said audience, you can make a living off them by selling their attention or whatever random idea you decide to push.

However, the opposite approach is not only less sleazy but will also lead to lasting rather than fleeting success.

Imagine building a huge following on social media, then selling financial advice (or God forbid, products!) to that audience without knowing anything about the field. You’d quickly be labeled a fraud or scam artist. (Unfortunately, this happens every day.)

If, instead, you started by building your expertise in the field of finance, then built an audience who would benefit from your knowledge, you would have a group of people who trusted you. And trust is almost as good as currency in the modern economy.

by Nathan Coumbe

Philosophy, History, and Business – You Need All Three

Why is it considered strange that my bookshelves are full of history, philosophy, and business texts? Furthermore, why is there a cultural push to make people choose between those seemingly disparate subjects?

If you want to study business, you must go all in on it. There is no room for history or philosophy. Or so the prevailing wisdom says.

But that’s ridiculous! Let’s put aside the fact that some of history’s most outstanding leaders were business people as well as great leaders, philosophers, and students of history.

You cannot be a well-rounded citizen without these three subjects combined. One helps you understand yourself and what’s right; another enables you to understand the world and why things are how they are; and the third teaches you how to serve others while making a living yourself.

When combined, all three do a bit of each and compound the effects.

We need more polymaths, Renaissance Men (and women!), and multipotentialites, not fewer. Stop stressing over “picking,” and follow your interests wherever they lead.