The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin
entity learning of intelligence: see overall intelligence or skill at a certain discipline to be fixed, not able to improve. They say, " I am smart at this." incremental learning: they believe that you learn and improve in steps for every skill. Difficult material can be grasped or learned - step by step - incrementally. They say, " I got it because I worked very hard at it." How to make extra money for your daily living.
Attitudes are more important than intelligence. Stickability is 95% of ability. Introduction I am like most people, and I live a pretty ordinary simple life. I am like you, and just like you, money seems to never be enough. I work a full time job, and I just didn't want to work two jobs to make ends meet and miss my children growing up. So I decided to learn a new skill, starting businesses, and at first I thought it would be complicated and over my head, but once I decided what it needed to not be, it got very easy. Simple notes on Learning Something New:
I watched as some experts learned new skills, took some rough notes, and then deconstructed how they did it. 1. Break into simple basic segments or components. Make the complex simple discrete steps. 2. Learn the fundamentals – what makes that skill function. What is the essence of the skill, what makes it successful or not successful. 3. 80/20 rule – what are the crucial skills that will achieve success in the skill. 20 % of the skills will in turn make up 80% of the output. What is that key 20% in terms of skills. 4. Take those fundamental skills and reference them to skills and knowledge you already know or have. What is the skill and what do you know today that gives you a head start in learning the skill. 5. Create measureables – How do you know you succeeded, nothing vague, everything measured and progrss proven. One or two measures, and they can be as simple as pass/ fail. 6. Document and review progress. Take notes, write what you tried and worked or what did not work so you and see where you stand. 7. Find experts, find examples to follow of people who have done it. History and the world is full of people who have succeeded at what you are trying to do. Copy them, learn from them. As Picasso said, the mediocre borrow but genius steals. 8. Immerse yourself in the skill, the practice, put the time in. 9. Create drills – deliberate practice, create drills that allow you to practice key skills over and over. Notes - The Sure Thing (entrepreneur as predator) - New Yorker - Malcolm Gladwell - 1/18/20106/5/2010
Notes - The Sure Thing (entrepreneur as predator) - New Yorker - Malcolm Gladwell - 1/18/2010
Great article by Gladwell, that shows the successful entrepreneur is not a risk taking, fool hardy person, but a rational predator who minimizes risk. Bullet points below on what makes or breaks a business. "The entrepreneur has access to that deal by virtue of occupying a "structural hole," a niche that gives him a unique perspective on a particular market." Read " From Predators to Icons" - Michael Villette and Catherine Vuillermot " The Illusions of Entrepreneurship" - Scott Shane "The Greatest Trade Ever" "his focus throughout the sequence is on hedging his bets and minimizing his chances of failure. The truly successful businessman, in Villette and Vuillermot's telling, is anything but a risk taker. He is a predator, and predators seek to incur the least risk possible while hunting." "Marty Gruss dilled a maxim into Paulson. ' watch the downside, the upside will take care of itself.'" "Negative-carry trades are a 'maneuver' that investment pro's detest almost as much as much as high taxes and coach-class seating. Their problem with negative-carry is that if the trade doesn't pay off quickly it can become ruinously expensive." Failed Businesses violate all kinds of established principles of new-business formation;
Taking excessive risks is a psychologically protective strategy: no one can blame you when you fail Predator is often quite happy to put his reputation on the line in the pursuit of the sure thing. Why are predators willing to endure abuse? They are sufficiently secure and confident that they don't need public approval. Shane says that the average person would have to earn 2 1/2 times as much money to be happy working for someone else as he would be working for himself. The predator is a rational actor - but deep down also a romantic, motivated by the simple joy found in the work. |
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