How to Learn, Retain, and Implement Information More Effectively
WHY this will help: I firmly believe, as do many experts, that lifelong learning is a key driver of success. Henry Ford said as such almost 100 years ago: “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” More recently, historian and author (of Sapiens, Homo Deus, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century) Yuval Noah Harari has said that continuous learning will be the only way to stay with or ahead of the rapid rate of technological growth. Being able to retain and implement the information that you learn will help you from becoming one of those who reads a ton but take no action. This technique is already helping me to take action on what I am learning.
WHO I learned this from: Brandon Turner - author of MANY real estate investing books and host of the BiggerPockets Podcast (#1 real estate podcast on iTunes) via Instagram direct message.
WHAT the lesson is: I reached out to Brandon to find out how to better retain and take action on all of the content I was consuming from books and podcasts. I asked him because he has made some crazy strides in his real estate business recently, doubling his cash flow in the past 90 days, based on just a single book he read. Surprisingly, he got back to me within a day with a great answer. Everyone knows that a great way to reinforce information is by teaching it. If you have ever had to teach someone a skill for school or work, you know what I’m talking about. Decomposing and explaining what you know to someone else helps you gain a more detailed understanding of what you are teaching. On top of that, Brandon explained that several studies have shown that even the idea that you MIGHT be teaching someone is effective for giving you a deeper understanding AND makes you more likely to take action. After all, if you are teaching someone a better business process you learned, but you are not implementing the process yourself, you’d be a hypocrite, and nobody wants to be one of those. He then suggested that I start a blog to share what I have learned with the rest of the world. This would 1) spread knowledge and add value, and 2) help me learn and take action at the same time. If you haven’t caught on yet, this lesson is where this blog comes from.
I hope that this tip helps fellow learners out there and inspires you to take action and start a blog or teach a friend! I also hope this brings you one percent closer to achieving one or many of your goals!
-Matt Tracy