17 Mar How to Actually Learn Anything (The One Trick No One Talks About)
Want to learn faster? Improve any skill? Master something new?
Most people think learning is about talent. Or intelligence.
It’s not.
The truth is, the people who master skills aren’t the smartest. They’re the ones who know how to learn.
I wasted years doing it wrong. Reading without applying. Watching without practicing. Thinking I understood something just because I consumed information.
Then I discovered one simple trick that changed everything:
Teach What You Learn.
Why Teaching Works (Even If You’re a Beginner)
The Role of Active Recall in Knowledge Retention
Most people assume you need to be an expert before you teach. That’s false.
🔹 Teaching forces clarity. If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t fully understand it.
🔹 Teaching exposes gaps. When someone asks a question you can’t answer, you realize what’s missing.
🔹 Teaching makes learning stick. We forget most of what we consume. But when you teach, the knowledge becomes part of you.
This is why elite athletes become better when they coach. It’s why students who tutor others retain more information.
And it’s why, when I started coaching Jiu-Jitsu, my own skills skyrocketed.
The Feynman Technique (The Smartest Way to Learn Faster)
Understanding the Feynman Technique for Effective Learning
Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman had a simple rule:
👉 “If you can’t explain it to a child, you don’t really understand it.”
His method?
1️⃣ Choose a topic. Pick something you want to learn.
2️⃣ Explain it in the simplest terms possible. If you can’t simplify it, you don’t fully understand it yet.
3️⃣ Find gaps and refine your understanding. If you struggle to explain a part of it, go back and study that section more.
4️⃣ Organize your thoughts and revisit them. Keep refining your understanding over time.
It’s the same principle behind the Rubber Duck Method in programming—where developers explain code to a rubber duck to clarify their thinking.
Sounds ridiculous. But it works.
How to Apply This to Your Life
Whatever skill you’re trying to learn, start teaching it immediately.
📌 Just learned a new training technique? Explain it to a friend.
📌 Trying to master a new concept? Write about it in simple terms.
📌 Studying a new language? Teach someone five new words today.
The sooner you teach, the faster you improve.
What is the biggest mistake people make? They consume information without using it.
Reading is good. Watching tutorials is fine. But if you’re not applying and teaching it, you’re just collecting knowledge you’ll forget.
Deliberate Practice: The Fastest Way to Learn
Most people learn passively. They read, watch, or listen—but don’t apply.
The fastest learners practice deliberately. Here’s how:
1️⃣ Immerse yourself completely. No distractions. Deep focus.
2️⃣ Analyze and correct mistakes. Find where you’re going wrong and fix it.
3️⃣ Break it into small parts. Master the fundamentals before moving on.
4️⃣ Use feedback. Record yourself, get critiques, and adjust.
5️⃣ Repeat, refine, and simplify. Keep improving your technique.
Every time I’ve recorded myself rolling in Jiu-Jitsu, I’ve spotted mistakes I never noticed in real-time. That’s deliberate practice.
“Consistent practice is crucial for mastering new skills. Implementing strategies like The 18-Minute Rule can help maintain daily learning habits.”
How Teaching Jiu-Jitsu Improved My Game
When I started coaching, I thought I already had a good grasp of Jiu-Jitsu.
I was wrong.
Once I had to explain techniques to white belts, I realized how many gaps there were in my understanding.
I had to:
🔹 Break things down step by step.
🔹 Find ways to make complex movements easier to understand.
🔹 Relearn techniques from the ground up.
The result? My game skyrocketed.
Why? Because when you teach, you’re forced to deeply understand.
The same applies to any skill. If you can’t teach it, you don’t truly know it.
Final Thought: Stop Consuming. Start Creating.
Most people stay average because they only consume.
But the real secret? Creation > Consumption.
📌 Don’t just read. Summarize.
📌 Don’t just study. Apply.
📌 Don’t just learn. Teach.
You don’t need to be an expert to start. In fact, teaching is how you become one.
So—what’s one skill you’ve been learning?
Drop a comment and share it. Let’s grow together.
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