Second Cup: Understand your learning curve

How to stay motivated

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is that learning is not a linear process.
With many skills, there is a long slow start before

(00:25):
a rapid acceleration. As you learn anything new, you have
to hang on for that early climb. Today's tip, like
another one this week, comes from Whitney Johnson's new book
Smart Growth. In this book, Whitney explores how people learn
and change and achieve their goals. One of her key

(00:48):
images is the S curve. Now, don't think of an
S like you type a capital S or write one
with the two curves sitting on top of each other. Instead,
imagine it as a bit more stretched out and turned
a bit on its side. The slope of the first
stretch is low, but then there is a point of
acceleration where the slope increases until it levels out at

(01:12):
some other point. Whitney tells us that this S curve
represents how we learn. There is a long slow start
before a rapid acceleration of skill acquisition. Eventually there is
mastery with incremental gains, but that's a long way in
the future. Knowing what this curve looks like can keep

(01:36):
us motivated as we go. I can see that these
days with my fourth grade daughter, who is learning to
play the trumpet. Her school offers lessons, so she decided
to give it a try. Let's just say it has
not been easy. Learning to play the trumpet involves learning

(01:57):
how to shape your mouth and blow air in a
certain way. You have to figure out that part before
you even get around to playing the notes you are
aiming for and then playing them in the right order
for any given song. It took a long time before
she got a real trumpet sound. It then took longer

(02:19):
before she could play recognizable sequences of notes. Then finally,
right before Christmas, she managed to play something that truly
sounded like jingle bells. It was a proud moment. She
also told me that while she didn't think she was
particularly good at the trumpet at this point, she was

(02:39):
also making swifter progress than some of her bandmates who
were perhaps not practicing as much. We talked about why
that might be, and hit upon the rather understandable reason
that it is not rewarding to practice when you aren't
making music yet and honestly aren't really making much of

(03:00):
a sound beyond that of air rushing through your lips,
So people stay at the bottom of the S curve.
There is progress, but it is barely perceptible and possibly
not so pleasant. It is hard to see that you
might only be a dozen hours or so of practice

(03:22):
from jingle bells, and then once you get through jingle bells,
you can learn many more pieces. You can play real melodies,
so you want to play more, and when you want
to play more, you do play more, and then you
really start rising up the steep part of the S curve. Now,

(03:44):
there are many things in life that we won't bother
with the S curve. One way or the other. I
cannot play the trumpet, and I am pretty sure I
will go to my grave not knowing how to play
the trumpet. But if there is something you want to learn,
then it is probably wise to take Whitney's advice in
Smart Growth about paying attention to the S curve. Understanding

(04:08):
when you are in the flat lower part can give
you the motivation to just keep pushing through. There is
a rapid phase coming, It just takes a little bit
to get there. In the meantime, this is Laura, Thanks
for listening and here's to making the most of our time.

(04:38):
Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can
send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just
connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before
Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four, then Breakfast
p o D. You can also shoot me an email
at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com

(05:00):
that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For
more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart
Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your

(05:21):
favorite shows.