The Only Skill That Matters
The Proven Methodology To Read Faster, Remember More, And Become A Superlearner
Hindsight is always 20/20
After reading forty-two books in the last forty-two weeks, I kinda wish I would have started with this one! In The Only Skill That Matters, the author takes you on a journey deep into the pathways by which we learn and the tricks that great memory champions have used to learn just about anything.
I will admit that when selecting this book I was initially interested in speed reading skills. However, upon completion of the book, I realized that “speed reading” was a fraction of the content. Instead, what I discovered was that the actual content is more practical and extends far beyond the auspice of turning pages faster.
Learning to Learn
Looking back, I can see how my skill at learning has developed over the years. I can also see how this has been mostly a passive process… until now. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been a lifelong learner, just not about “learning”. Maybe I didn’t know that my “skill” at learning was sub par. After all, I’ve traditionally done well in areas I’ve put my focus – therefore, my conclusion would simply be that if I didn’t do well, I didn’t put in the effort.
After reading The Only Skill That Matters, I realize that my effort alone was not the complete story. Even in areas that I excelled, the truth is that my learning curve could have been accelerated. It makes me wonder why these skills aren’t more prevalently taught in schools. There is no reason that alongside English and Sex Education they can’t slot in a Learning 101 class!
The Path Forward
The Only Skill That Matters is filled with techniques that can immediately be adopted with little effort and large potential impact. One method discussed within the book is SQ3R, of which the first letter in the acronym stands for Survey. Without going into great detail of the remaining parts of the acronym, I can tell you that this step alone I am finding to be extremely practical. It can literally take seconds (maybe a minute), but the impact I am finding on my resulting focus and retention is phenomenal.
What's interesting is that if I was simply told to “survey” without understanding Why and/or How it works… I might not have been as eager to test it out. For that, I give kudos to the author for doing an excellent job of demonstrating both the Why and the How throughout the book, not just for this small “hack”, rather for all the methods shared within. Learning is indeed a skill, one I intend to improve, greatly improve!
A few of my favorite quotes from the book!
If you can learn effectively, you can learn – or become – anything you want.Jonathan A. Levi : The Only Skill That Matters
As Home sapiens, we’re especially adapted to learning in ways that are vivid, visual, and experiential.Jonathan A. Levi : The Only Skill That Matters
We only invented writing systems some five thousand years ago, and the average person couldn’t read until a few hundred years ago.Jonathan A. Levi : The Only Skill That Matters
Far too often, we approach a “new” subject as if it’s completely foreign, when in fact, the whole of human knowledge is connected in some way.Jonathan A. Levi : The Only Skill That Matters
The ability to remember a list of facts is very different from the ability to think originally on the subject.Jonathan A. Levi : The Only Skill That Matters
Unless you were dropped on your head or have a rare neurological disorder, there’s no such thing as a “below-average memory.”Jonathan A. Levi : The Only Skill That Matters
Perhaps you have always wished you had a “photographic” memory. Good news: you do!Jonathan A. Levi : The Only Skill That Matters
Creativity is NOT something you have or you don’t. It’s something you train, and something you can relearn very quickly.Jonathan A. Levi : The Only Skill That Matters
Cross-pollination states that learning one subject will have significant, unforeseen benefits when learning another.Jonathan A. Levi : The Only Skill That Matters
Even if a particular resource seems exhaustive, you still stand to gain from approaching a subject in as many different ways as possible.Jonathan A. Levi : The Only Skill That Matters
The more you approach something from different perspectives, the better, more holistic understanding you’ll have of it. If you think about the things in life you’ve mastered, it’s unlikely you did so by simply reading one book or attending one lecture on them.Jonathan A. Levi : The Only Skill That Matters
One of the greatest benefits of teaching: the people we teach unknowingly test us. They give us insights into what we don’t even know we don’t know.Jonathan A. Levi : The Only Skill That Matters
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