KC31: The Immersion Strategy – How You Can Pick Up Anything Super Fast! Episode
Are you seeking to learn something different?
Enthused to pick up a new skillset fast?
In this episode, I’ll share how I used the immersion strategy many times in the course of my life to learn rapidly
I’ll be sharing 3 examples from my own journey and my simple 5 step process you can use and hopefully give you a very good sense for how you can quickly pick up a new skillset or even a new language in your own life
Let’s start by defining the word immersion…
It means to plunge in, dip into, sink, submerge
From the 1640s, it meant absorption in some interest or situation
I.e. To involve deeply; absorb
And interestingly, in 1965, immersion became known as a method of teaching a foreign language which was trademarked by the Berlitz company
How The Immersion Strategy Came About For Me
Ironically though, while the intent of the immersion strategy is good, it came about in my life through a bad environment
How so you ask?
In my much younger days, I recall many friends around me in school cursing and swearing
Expletives in English and Chinese dialects were peppered into the air every day
That’s how I picked up vulgarity and probably how I first consciously got an inkling about immersion
It’s essentially the osmosis principle at play!
I’ll now share 3 examples from my life to better illustrate & demonstrate the immersion strategy
1st Example From My Life
#1 – Around 14 years old, I vividly remember most of my classmates making the most of the transition times between classes by playing a game of chess against one another
Not knowing how to play the game myself and not wanting to be left behind, early one weekend, I visited the library to borrow the title How To Learn Chess In A Weekend by Dorling Kindersley
And believe it or not, that very weekend, I invested most of my time sitting in the toilet reading the book and Learning the rules & basic strategy of chess
This was followed by a few weeks of studying opening, middle & end game chess strategies and just as important, playing chess against my classmates whenever I could
After some time of consistently playing the game, I ranked 2nd in class only to a genius from East Malaysia called George
That’s immersion for you!
2 More Examples…
#2 – Around 17 years old, I got REALLY interested in web scripting & programming languages and so I bought a PHP book by Wrox that was pretty expensive and thicker than a typical bible
I started immersing myself into the contents right away and got pretty obsessed by practicing coding into many late nights often only sleeping around 3am
This eventually panned out into me creating lots of websites for myself and even for my clients
#3 – As a quick & final example, since my mid to late teens, I’ve been feeding myself on human nature, psychology, personal development and related material
This led me to making many sales calls, running a top notch professional development organization and speaking to, assisting & coaching many people around the world to this day
You’ll never know where your immersions could lead you to…
Some will be short-lived while others continue on for a long time or even for life
Trust you enjoyed these 3 examples
My 5 Step Process
Now let’s get into my 5 step process before you embark on learning anything new going forward
#1: Be clear… on your personality & values and your life’s purpose, mission & vision… Know your WHY behind what you plan to learn and… see if it aligns with what I just mentioned
Otherwise, based on experience… It’s largely a waste of time
#2: Set a measurable target or goal for the skillset or language you want to learn
#3: Get a personal mentor or coach if you’re absolutely serious.
It’s the MOST effective way I know for learning!
#4: Get started & set ample time aside to practice and even to teach it. Particularly important if you’re learning & mastering a new language
In the 1960s, the learning pyramid developed have shown we retain about 90% of what we learn when we teach what we learnt or use right away
#5: Celebrate!
Wrapping Up
Take time to acknowledge and even to reward yourself for your newly acquired skillset and move on to the next
As this episode comes to a close…
Is there a new skill or language you’ll like to learn quickly?
If not… ask yourself…
What is the #1 skill I need to learn now to grow well?
Time is of the essence…
Start immersing into your focus subject today!
