Get Better at Anything

Get Better at Anything is a 3-part framework for improving at any skill, based on the latest science, iconic accomplishments in the fields of mathematics, music, and more, and the author’s own, two-decade journey into what makes a great learner.

You know the Pythagorean theorem, right? a2 + b2 = c2. In 1637, the French mathematician Pierre de Fermat claimed there is no combination of whole numbers that solves this equation for any exponential higher than 2. This is called Fermat’s Last Theorem,  and it stumped the maths community for almost 400 years.

In 1994, British mathematician Andrew Wiles finally found a solution. How did he do it? By navigating the vast “problem space” of the theorem like a labyrinth. “A problem space is like a maze,” Young writes. “You know where you are now and you can tell whether or not you’ve reached the destination.” But the walls limit your moves, forcing you to “search to find the twisted path that reaches the exit.”

To efficiently navigate the problem spaces in your life, do so in 3 steps:

Frame the problem correctly. If you’ve ever stood too close to a painting to recognize what it shows, you know that the right perspective makes all the difference. Pick promising problems. While it’s impossible to know which problems are impossible to solve, we should do our best to pick ones where we can see a path to a solution. Explore the problem space one room at a time. This is exactly what Wiles did. He equates mathematics to stumbling around in a dark mansion, bumping into furniture, until, one day, “you find the light switch.” Often, solutions add up slowly over time, then come to us all at once.

The next time you face a big problem, think of it like a maze, and try this 3-step approach!

In my decade-long career as a writer, one big mistake I’ve seen others make is to never change the simplest variable in their writing: length. Some people crank out two-minute read after two-minute read only to be met with silence. Well, why don’t you try a four-minute one? How about eight? How about 15? Me, I sometimes published a two-minute poem, sometimes an eight-minute essay. Experimentation helped me find out what the audience liked and kept writing fun. Young agrees that in learning, variation is more important than repetition. After investigating how the 1940s jazz scene in New York produced so many legendary musicians, he found that “variable practice is one of the best strategies […] to promote transfer of skills to new contexts.” Here are 4 ways you can incorporate variability into your practice: Shuffle what you learn. Simply randomizing the order…