How I Hacked My Brain To Love Learning Hard Things (In 3 Steps)
Make it your superpower
Learning is my superpower.
And it can be yours, too. There’s no innate talent. It is just about studying strategically using science. This made me learn anything, from maths to machine learning to a new language, and learn skills for my PhD.
But it’s way more than just adding skills to your CV.
Learning how to learn rewired my brain forever.
After 5 years of learning new things because of my undergraduate degree, curiosity, and PhD, these steps worked for me.
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1. The Lego Mindset
Sometimes, things look more complicated than they are.
Rome was not built in a day, right? Most of the tasks require smaller ones. Think about them as Lego figures. You have big and small ones. Some are more complex than others. The same goes for your tasks, goals, and dreams!
The key to building a Lego figure is focusing on the smaller tasks.
Piece by piece.
Why not apply the same philosophy to any problem? That’s the Lego mindset. This cognitive schema allows me not to fear any problem. Unconsciously, my brain always tries to decompose those tasks into smaller ones.
I made everything simple, short, and actionable.
This was the first step in rewiring my brain.
Key ideas:
Think about anything as Lego figures.
Break down anything into Lego pieces.
Built anything piece by piece, task by task.
Make everything simple, short, and actionable.
2. Learning As A Habit
I’ve always been hungry for knowledge.
Just like you.
We may not like the same topics, but everyone loves learning something new (science, music, sports, history, trading, economy, programming, etc.). In my case, I love learning about biology, neuroscience, animals, and programming.
As an undergraduate student dreaming of becoming a neuroscientist, I knew I had to learn many skills.
So, I started slowly using the Lego mindset. I found online courses and started making study routines of at least 30 minutes. It may not look like much, but it took significant time at the end of the week and month.
I built a context that helps me start this (making things actionable). I prepared my desktop to trigger learning things. I set up a Pomodoro timer each time I read and scheduled my sessions.
I repeated the behavior consistently.
Month by month, I built new Lego figures for each topic I was learning. Whenever I understood something, my brain rewarded me with a shot of dopamine. I noticed a big change regarding how I approach problems and my grades.
I was changing.
Key ideas:
Make your behavior actionable.
Build a context to trigger that behavior.
Repeat the process.
Reward yourself after you finish that behavior.
3. Never Stop Learning
My habit was so successful that I needed to challenge myself.
This is when I knew I did something good for my brain.
It asked me to learn new things. And every time I approached a new problem, instead of panicking, my brain liked it. In a matter of months, I realized I had trained my brain to love doing hard things.
Of course, there’s a limit.
This is not a competition. Don’t rush in learning new things. You don’t want to overload your brain with information, right? This is called cognitive overload. Do it often, and you will cause stress. In turn, chronic stress can lead to other difficulties for your physical and mental health.
I never stop learning.
But I never overload my brain with information.
Key ideas:
Learning is a philosophy of life.
Never stop learning something new.
Never overload your brain.
Summary
Learning was the key factor when rewiring my brain.
I used the Lego Mindset to make anything simple, short, and actionable.
I built a habit of learning new things by working on my context, repetition, and rewards.
I never stop learning new things.
But I never overload my brain with information and hard tasks.
Ultra-learning saved my career.
It helped me learn anything without overstudying or overworking. But remember, each person has a different life. Perhaps you work full-time and also study. Or maybe you have a family, etc.
Be reasonable, and don’t fall into toxic productivity.
Here are some last recommendations:
Don’t compare yourself with others. Take your time.
This is not a competition. This is about you. Make it fun and healthy.
Please take care of yourself. That’s the most important thing!
Now it is your turn.
What are you going to learn next?
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