Reading time: 2 mins

If you know me, you'll know that I'm very picky about what material I consume

I don't read every chapter of a book and I don't finish most courses. Not because I'm lazy, but because I don't see the need to.

Why consume much more than you need to know?

If you've gotten the main point of the book, why waste more time on it reading through the lines like you're studying for an exam?

The best way to learn a skill is to start working from level zero all the way to your desired level by overcoming obstacles along the way by gaining specific knowledge.

I first learned about that term “specific knowledge” from Naval's podcast

Here's the link:

So basically, you can't truly learn anything without some “experience”. It's why you're having troubles landing that job even after an excellent degree from college.

You still lack the specific knowledge you can only gain from experience in a field.

So how do you gain this specific knowledge anyway?

How To Learn Better (By Acquiring Specific Knowledge)

In my opinion, schools do a terrible job at giving students the much needed skills for survival in the real world.

All they do is teach you a bunch of random stuff all so you can have “general knowledge” on useless concepts and theories.

Because let's be honest…

How many times have you had to use what was taught in a classroom in most real life situations?

How did they help you solve real life problems? Through calculus? Obviously not.

So instead of learning exactly what most people learn and end up like a mindless zombie at the end of the day, why not practice selective consumption and only consume the information needed to solve particular problems and reach specific goals?

Seems like a much better option now don't you think?

So let's break this down a little further…

1. Visualize Your Goals

First, you need a clear picture of what your ideal state is. Your dream destination.

Do you want to get that girl you like? Or maybe you'd like to travel to your dream country next summer.

Whatever it is—so long as it's achievable—take note of it. This will be your north star.

Sometimes, we don't know what we want in life and that's really bad. That would mean that we're just living life how it comes with zero plan ls for the future.

So if this is you, the best thing to do is to lean in to your interests. They don't have to be big ones, just things you genuinely enjoy doing. As you keep doing it, ask yourself this question: “what next?”. Whatever your answer is will most likely be your next goal.

2. Know Your Weak Spots

Next, find the obstacles that can prevent you from reaching your goals. These are your weak spots.

The whole point of this is to understand the areas you actually need to improve upon. Not just turning into an information junkie and learning about everything.

There's nothing much to say here honestly.

Just find where you need to grow. And handle that.

And that leads me to my last point.

3. Read To Tackle Those Weak Spots

Reading books is by far the most beneficial habit you can develop in this era of screens and gadgets.

Books are wells of knowledge. In fact, most of the time, a single book is all you need to start seeing results (assuming you're implementing what you learn)

So, get yourself books on topics you know very little about (your weak spots) and read them.

After which you put your knowledge into practice and test your skills along the way. This is how you learn better, by tackling the root problems head on.

That will be all for now.

I usually write up to 900 words but I'm going to have to cap this at 800 for now. I don't think I have anything more to say about this.

So if you learned anything useful and found this interesting, don't forget to share this newsletter with your friends. That will be awesome 👍.

Alright, till next Sunday.

— Abdulmalik Salawu

P.S: Whenever you're ready, there's one more way I can help you.

→ Book a call with me so we can help grow a kick-ass brand on twitter