Ultimate Learning Framework

“Learning, at its core, is a broadening of horizons, of seeing things that were previously invisible and of recognizing capabilities within yourself that you didn't know existed”

-Scott H. Young

Introduction:

The desire to learn is one that has propelled us forward over the course of millennia. Learning engenders innovation. Innovation catalyzes societal development.

I’m a big advocate for self-education. I genuinely believe that it’s the key to becoming successful in the modern economy. School teaches you fundamentals that everyone learns. If you settle for the topics you learn in school, you will remain average. 

The only way to separate yourself is through self-education. 

Another important distinction is that school will teach you “what” to learn, not “how” to learn. 

Unfortunately, most people don’t know “how” to learn information. They take notes occasionally & wonder why they’re failing to comprehend & understand the information they seek to learn. I’m not talking about surface-level understanding of a concept, like knowing the definition. I mean really understanding the subtle intricacies of the concept. Being able to recall facts about the topic from memorization. Those are the skills that will be applicable & transferable in the real world.

Those who pursue higher-education, beyond the high-school & collegiate level, end-up developing their own systems for learning. It’s true that everyone has their own way of learning, but a general blueprint has been created for most people to master any skill. Not by me, but by Scott H. Young. He authored the best-selling book, “Ultra-learning” & somehow managed to learn MIT's entire 4-year undergraduate CS program by himself. In a year. That’s right, he learned all the content, completed all the required projects, & passed the final exams for all 33 of his classes. He’s that guy!

This post is a synopsis of his “Ultra-learning” framework. If you apply the principles shared in this post, you will be able to learn anything you want, regardless of complexity. Forget everything you’ve been taught about learning. This framework is fool-proof. 

Framework:

Starting off, the framework for ultra-learning has 9 steps. Each step is important & helps build the foundation for the next step of learning. 

Pre-learning →

1. Meta-learning: This is the pre-learning phase where you explore the topic you’re seeking to learn, and map out your learning trajectory. Set clear goals & deadlines. Break your long-term goal into micro-goals & milestones. Make sure to identify any potential bottlenecks & be prepared to deal with them. Complete this initial research phase before you begin the journey. It shouldn’t take more than 10% of the total allotted time you’ve set for this project. Remember: preparation is key. 

Note: Remove any distractions that could get in the way. Whether that’s a vice, or a toxic person in your life. Be merciless & remove anything that isn’t conducive to your goals. 

Learning → 

2. Focus: Once you begin consuming & immersing yourself in the learning process, you will eventually be faced with unaccounted variables. As you notice this resistance creep-up, make sure to bring awareness to it & remind yourself that it’s perfectly normal to feel this way. Persistence is an important trait to embody during this time. 

Taking notes is a great way to remain focused & engaged in the consumption process. Don’t overcomplicate the notes; just write down whatever you deem is important. 

3. Directness: As you continue the journey, you’ll be tempted to find the easiest & most fun options to learn & practice. Remember that specificity is key here. The majority of your time should be spent practicing the regressions of the thing you’re trying to learn. Not some random gimmick. Skills are highly specific, so you have to practice them directly. Remember: Direct practice has the highest transferability.  

4. Drill: This will sound counterintuitive to the previous step, but once you’ve gathered some experience with legitimate practice, you’ll become aware of your weaknesses. At this point, you can begin to supplement additional drills to touch-up your weak-points. Don’t neglect direct practice; just increase your overall repetitions & by incorporating drills. 

Application →

5. Retrieval: In order to apply the information you learn, you have to be able to retrieve it from your memory. This is the process of moving information from your short-term memory to your long-term memory. 

There are 3 ways to improve retrieval:

i) Passive review: Going over any notes you take.

ii) Concept map: Writing down the main concepts & seeing how they’re interconnected.

iii) Free recall: Challenge yourself to remember concepts without any assistance. Use mnemonics.

6. Feedback: This one is a little tricky. Everyone has a different perception of things, and it’s usually built upon their personal biases & mental fallacies. This makes receiving good feedback a difficult task. The key here is to find sources that you trust. People who have your best interest at heart, and are willing to keep it real with you. Don’t follow people’s advice blindly. Analyze their feedback, & most importantly, follow consistent feedback. If multiple people are telling you to work on the same thing, chances are high that they’re right.

Next Steps →

7. Intuition: At this point, you’ve mastered the fundamentals of what you’re trying to learn. You have a solid understanding of around 80% of the concepts.

What’s next?

Now, you can focus on attaining mastery. To become a “master,” you have to develop intuition. This means spending time with the concepts in flow-state. Practice till there’s no struggle in the thinking process when it comes to the field you’re trying to master. You want these concepts to become second-nature. Become subconsciously entwined with it. 

8. Experimentation: Once you’ve built some intuition, you can go off on your own. Veer away from the basics & go focus on different sub-fields that interest you. Try new strategies & challenge existing concepts. This is where you create your own concepts. Conduct your own experiments using the scientific method:

i) Make an observation

ii) Create a hypothesis

iii) Design an experiment

iv) Conduct the experiment

v) Collect data & make conclusions

vi) Iterate & repeat (if necessary)

Push past the boundaries in your field, & test things out. 

Closing:

Hopefully, you’ll use this framework to pick-up a few new skills. Personally, I’m going to complete Harvard’s CS50 course within the next couple weeks. After that, I think I’ll go a little more in-depth with cryptocurrency. I already use a condensed version of this framework to create all my posts, but I want to push myself to learn more complex skills. With that being said, I’ll catch you in the next couple days with a post about Alex Hormozi’s “Marketing-Matrix.”

Thanks,

J.R.