Get Better at Anything: 12 Maxims for Mastery
Written by Scott Young
Narrated by Scott Young
4/5
()
About this audiobook
The author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Ultralearning explores why it’s so difficult for people to learn new skills, arguing that three factors must be met to make advancement possible, and offering 12 maxims to improve the way we learn.
Life revolves around learning—in school, at our jobs, even in the things we do for fun. Yet learning is often mysterious. Sometimes it comes fairly effortlessly: quickly finding our way around a new neighborhood or picking up the routine at a new job. In other cases, it’s a slog. We may spend hours in the library, yet still not do well on an exam. We may want to switch companies, industries, or even professions, but not feel qualified to make the leap. Decades spent driving a car, typing on a computer, or hitting a tennis ball don’t reliably make us much better at them. Improvement can be fickle, if it comes at all.
In Get Better At Anything, Scott Young argues that there are three key factors in helping us learn:
See—Most of what we know comes from other people. The ease of learning from others determines, to a large extent, how quickly we can improve.
Do—Mastery requires practice. But not just any practice will do. Our brains our fantastic effort-saving machines, which can be both a tremendous advantage and a curse.
Feedback—Progress requires constant adjustment. Not just the red stroke of a teacher’s pen, but the results of hands-on experience.
When we’re able to learn from the example of other people, practice extensively ourselves, and get reliable feedback, rapid progress results. Yet, when one, or all, of these factors is inhibited, improvement often becomes impossible. Using research and real-life examples, Young breaks down these elements into twelve simple maxims. Whether you’re a student studying for an exam, an employee facing a new skill at work, or just want to get better at something you’re interested in, his insights will help you do it better.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
Scott Young
Scott Young is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Ultralearning, a podcast host, computer programmer, and an avid reader. Since 2006, he has published weekly essays to help people learn and think better. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Pocket, and Business Insider, on the BBC, at TEDx, and other outlets. He doesn’t promise to have all the answers, just a place to start.
Related to Get Better at Anything
Related audiobooks
The PARA Method: Simplify, Organize, and Master Your Digital Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything Is Changing – Including You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Procrastination: What It Is, Why It's a Problem, and What You Can Do About It Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Passion Struck: Twelve Powerful Principles to Unlock Your Purpose and Ignite Your Most Intentional Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Life Brief: A Playbook for No-Regrets Living Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Written: How to Keep Writing and Build a Habit That Lasts Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Optimal: How to Sustain Personal and Organizational Excellence Every Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5LIT: Life Ignition Tools: Use Nature's Playbook to Energize Your Brain, Spark Ideas, and Ignite Action Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Two Awesome Hours: Science-Based Strategies to Harness Your Best Time and Get Your Most Important Work Done Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learn Like a Pro: Science-Based Tools to Become Better at Anything Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 5 Resets: Rewire Your Brain and Body for Less Stress and More Resilience Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Skill Code: How to Save Human Ability in an Age of Intelligent Machines Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Uptime: A Practical Guide to Personal Productivity and Wellbeing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Live on 24 Hours a Day: The Complete Original Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The First Rule of Mastery: Stop Worrying about What People Think of You Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cultures of Growth: How the New Science of Mindset Can Transform Individuals, Teams, and Organizations Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5To Do: 41 Tools to Start, Stick With, and Finish Things Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Practice Perfect: 42 Rules for Getting Better at Getting Better Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAutomate Your Busywork: Do Less, Achieve More, and Save Your Brain for the Big Stuff Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Timeboxing: The Power of Doing One Thing at a Time Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Simple Rules: How to Thrive in a Complex World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Phone Fix: The Brain-Focused Guide to Building Healthy Digital Habits and Breaking Bad Ones Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Motivational For You
Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Seeing What Others Don't: The Remarkable Ways We Gain Insights Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Think Faster, Talk Smarter: How to Speak Successfully When You're Put on the Spot Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 50th Law Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Die With Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones by James Clear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stop Doing That Sh*t: End Self-Sabotage and Demand Your Life Back Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Create: Tools from Seriously Talented People to Unleash Your Creative Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Awaken the Giant Within Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Adversity for Sale: Ya Gotta Believe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Own Your Past Change Your Future: A Not-So-Complicated Approach to Relationships, Mental Health & Wellness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership 25th Anniversary: Follow Them and People Will Follow You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Change Your Paradigm, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Own It All: How to Stop Waiting for Change and Start Creating It. Because Your Life Belongs to You. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5ADHD for Smart Ass Women: How to Fall in Love with Your Neurodivergent Brain Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Your Next Five Moves: Master the Art of Business Strategy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets Of Americas Wealthy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Moneyzen: The Secret to Finding Your ""Enough"" Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Breaking Free from Broke: The Ultimate Guide to More Money and Less Stress Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Be Better at Almost Everything: Learn Anything Quickly, Stack Your Skills, Dominate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Get Better at Anything
5 ratings1 review
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Sep 18, 2024
I absolutely love his first book "Ultralearning", but this one really felt like a bit of a waste of time.
I thought this would be a bunch of interesting examples of masters and how they went about mastering their craft.
Instead it's just: this guy did a cool thing - some uninteresting and uninsightful research about it - then some bullet points at the end, it didn't feel like he dissected the methods that those people used to get to the level they are at, he kind of attempted to, but not really.
The whole entire book can be summed up into SEE - PRACTICE - FEEDBACK, you watch experts do their thing, then you do the thing, then you get feedback on the thing.
It's literally repeating this same thing over and over and over, honestly you can just skip to the last chapter and not really lose much at all, he adds nothing to this basic loop of see-practice-feedback.
His first book is an absolute masterpiece and I will continue to read it every couple of years, but this one felt just uninsightful? wasteful? I don't really feel like I know more now than I did before listening to this audiobook.
Maybe I got the wrong idea about what this book was going to be.2 people found this helpful