6 Habits of Super Learners

Read a lot
Reading is exercise for your mind. It allows us to roam the expanse of space, time, history, and offer a deeper view of ideas, concepts, emotions, and body of knowledge.

View learning as a process
Learning is a journey, not a destination. Keep mastering new principles, processes, worldviews, thinking models, etc.

Adopt a growth mindset
A growth mindset is a learning theory that revolves around the belief that you can improve intelligence, ability, and performance.

Teach others what you know
Learners retain 90% of what they learn when they explain/teach the concept to someone else, or use it immediately. The ultimate test of your knowledge is your capacity to transfer it to another.

Take care of your brain
The health of your brain can significantly change how you record, process, and retrieve information. Eat foods that prevent cognitive decline: blueberries, leafy greens, whole grains, protein from fish and legumes, unsaturated fats.

Take short breaks, early and often
Downtime is crucial to retaining anything you learn. Taking breaks gives your brain time to recover, helps you learn better, and improves your retention rate.

“You don’t know anyone at the party, so you don’t want to go. You don’t like cottage cheese, so you haven’t eaten it in years. This is your choice, of course, but don’t kid yourself: it’s also the flinch. Your personality is not set in stone. You may think a morning coffee is the most enjoyable thing in the world, but it’s really just a habit. Thirty days without it, and you would be fine. You think you have a soul mate, but in fact you could have had any number of spouses. You would have evolved differently, but been just as happy. You can change what you want about yourself at any time. You see yourself as someone who can’t write or play an instrument, who gives in to temptation or makes bad decisions, but that’s really not you. It’s not ingrained. It’s not your personality. Your personality is something else, something deeper than just preferences, and these details on the surface, you can change anytime you like. If it is useful to do so, you must abandon your identity and start again. Sometimes, it’s the only way.”
— Julien Smith, The Flinch