It’s a common misconception that learning new skills is a cutoff age. For example, if you want to become fully fluent in a language, you have to start learning as a kid (not actually). Or, if you want to become a gymnast, you have to hit the mat the moment you’re out of diapers (also not actual).
Sure, it might be trickier for an adult to dedicate the same amount of time to learning as an eight-year-old with no responsibilities, but given the right environment and mindset, people can learn new skills at any age. For example, at the ripe age of 30-something, I learned a new language, knitted, and even became skilled at writing with my non-dominant hand—all equally essential life skills.
If you want to learn a new skill or strengthen existing ones, here are the seven tried-and-true strategies I used to boost my expertise—and how you can, too.
1. Set Clear Goals
There’s an episode of The Office where one of the main characters, Michael Scott, declares bankruptcy to make all his money problems magically disappear. But as his colleague points out, “You can’t just say the word ‘bankruptcy’ and expect anything to happen.”
Similarly, with goals, simply saying (or declaring) that you will learn something doesn’t just make it so. Instead, set a SMART goal (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound) to get clear on what you’re trying to achieve.
Now, take your goal one step further by writing it as an affirmation. Here’s how:
- Use “I” statements: Make these goals personal to you.
- Make it positive: Write your goal regarding what you want to achieve—not what you don’t want.
- Write it in the present tense: Write your goal as if it’s happening now instead of in the future. This will encourage you to work on achieving the goal immediately rather than putting it off.
For example, instead of the goal, “I will stop working as a law clerk, and I’ll no longer have to commute for an hour into the office each day,” your affirmation might be, “I work from home as a software developer for a video game company.”
But don’t stop there. Once you set your goal, create an actionable, trackable plan to help you progress toward it.
Tip: As venture capitalist John Doerr puts it, “A plan is only as good as its implementation.” With your plan in hand, use these tips to help you build the necessary daily habits to achieve your goal.
2. Adopt a Growth Mindset
It can be daunting to learn a new skill. You might be tempted to tell yourself, “I wish I could, but I don’t have the talent to do [insert skill here]” or “It’s too late” (which, for what it’s worth, it’s never too late).
This is where adopting a growth mindset comes in. The term, which academic scholar Carol Dweck originally coined, refers to a way of perceiving challenges and setbacks. In Dweck’s words:
“Individuals who believe their talents can be developed (through hard work, good strategies, and input from others) have a growth mindset. They tend to achieve more than those with a more fixed mindset (those who believe their talents are innate gifts).”
Let’s say you wanted to join the circus as a trapeze artist (I can’t be the only one). If you believed that only people born with the gift of strength, flexibility, and not wanting to hurl when thrown around 50 feet in the air could successfully make it, you likely wouldn’t even attempt to swing upside down. But if you believe that there’s room for you to develop the necessary skills, you’ll put in the effort to learn, which, in turn, helps you build the required skills.
3. Use Active Learning Strategies
Let’s say you’re studying quantum physics (um, wow!). Now imagine if you only learned about it by listening to your teacher go on and on about atoms and subatomic particles. This type of passive learning would put you to sleep, and you’d probably have difficulty developing any true understanding of the material.
Enter: active learning strategies. At its core, these strategies require engaging in different hands-on activities, such as group discussions and role-playing, to promote a richer understanding of the content. Why? Because knowledge sharing benefits everyone. It forces you to truly process a subject, examine it, and nail the fundamentals.
This strategy doesn’t always have to go from theory to practice. You can also reverse the order.
Let’s say your goal is to hit one out-of-the-park home run. You have the strength and the hand-eye coordination, but for whatever reason, your hits just keep coming short. Instead of continually swinging and missing, you could listen to renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson explain the physics (i.e., the theory) behind a near-guaranteed home run. After that, you can take another swing.
4. Use Different Learning Mediums
There’s a popular theory that people have unique learning styles. I’ve uttered, “I’m more of a visual learner” once or twice in my life (mainly to stop my friends from trying to explain complex board game rules to me). But learning styles are flimflam.
Instead of confining yourself to only one learning method, try this approach, courtesy of Daniel Willingham, a psychologist at the University of Virginia:
“Think of everyone having a toolbox of ways to think, and [ask] yourself, which tool is best [for the job]?”
Take learning a new language, for example. To learn how to write in Japanese, the best tool for the job might be a Japanese grammar textbook. But if you want to improve your listening and verbal skills, reading a textbook won’t be as effective as chatting with a native speaker.
In an age where so much information is available, don’t limit yourself to just one book or course. Mix things up!
5. Learn from Someone with More Experience
There are many times when I’ve written something where the words feel just off—but I can’t quite figure out how to fix it. This is where getting feedback from someone with more experience can be helpful. For example, if I’m writing for a new-to-me medium like video scripts, I’ll ask my teammate Krystina to review my work. Because of her many years working as a public radio journalist, she’s quick to spot potential tongue twisters and uneven beats.
If finding a mentor or asking someone for feedback makes you a little uneasy, I’ll give you one of the best advice I’ve ever received: ask. In the worst-case scenario, they say no, and you’re no worse off.
Tip: If you want to improve your writing, but human feedback isn’t readily accessible, try asking AI for feedback instead. Here’s how to create your writing coach.
6. Practice
This one might seem obvious, but let’s clarify the difference between two types of practice that are key to building a new skill:
- Rote learning: This involves memorizing information based on repetition. For example, reciting the French alphabet from A to Z repeatedly.
- Deliberate practice involves intentional, goal-directed rehearsal and applying your learning to different situations. For example, pronouncing a randomized mix of French vocabulary using your knowledge of pronouncing each letter. And if a combination of letters is particularly tricky for you, you might seek out more words containing those combos to improve your fluency.
While rote learning might help you, say, recite the French alphabet super fast, it won’t, by itself, help you achieve verbal proficiency. Instead, this is what deliberate practice and applying your knowledge to varied, real-life scenarios will help you achieve.
One final note: it’s tempting to practice what you’re already good at, but be intentional about practicing your weaknesses. Make time for it. For example, I’m very comfortable reading in French (to myself), but I’m significantly less comfortable speaking French out loud. So when I practice in my language learning app, I force myself to do more speaking exercises than translation ones.
Tip: Feeling meh about practice? Try these practical tips to start doing the work you need to do—even when you don’t want to.
7. Take Frequent Breaks
Ever get stuck doing a drill or a task? When this happens, my initial response is to double down on my efforts. For example, I might continue doing American Sign Language (ASL) fingerspelling exercises even if my fingers are tired and seemingly operating with a mind of their own.
But a more effective response would be for me to take a break. Otherwise, I risk repeating the same mistakes, practicing incorrect movement patterns, and setting my progress back.
While it seems counterintuitive, taking frequent breaks is just as important as practicing regularly. Done strategically, breaks can reduce brain fatigue and boost your performance.
Tip: Create a structured schedule that incorporates a mix of focus periods and breaks. The Pomodoro technique is an excellent approach for tackling less exciting exercises (like practicing piano scales) or tasks that require little thought. For other tasks that require creativity, innovation, and/or problem-solving, try the more flexible Flowtime technique.
Bonus: Keep a Record and Reflect on Your Progress
Since I saw my high school French teacher write on the chalkboard with both hands, I’ve been set on becoming ambidextrous. Unfortunately for me, true ambidexterity is rare. But that hasn’t stopped me from pursuing the ability to write with my non-dominant hand.
While I could have easily picked up a pen, put it to paper, and practiced writing with my non-dominant hand daily, I also recorded my practice sessions using my phone. This way, when I experienced a setback or wanted to see how far I’d come, I could go back to my early practice videos to assess my progress and get inspired to keep going.
Doing this helped me stay accountable to my practice. Because I reviewed my work, I could identify and correct mistakes the next time I practiced.
Tip: Try adding this step to your daily schedule to create a habit of documenting your progress. For example, you might end each work session by writing your takeaways in a notebook.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, learning a new skill is, well, a skill. The more you practice and experiment with different approaches, the better you’ll become at it. You might even look back on your journey one day and realize that, along the way, you’ve developed not only the skills you set out to master but also new learning skills that will help you in all your future endeavours.