The First 20 Hours

The First 20 Hours lays out a methodical approach you can use to pick up new skills quickly without worrying about how long it takes to become an expert.

One of my favorite Warren Buffett anecdotes is about what James Clear calls his 2-list strategy. When his pilot Mike Flint asked him how he could figure out his career priorities, Buffett told him to list his 25 biggest goals and then mark the top 5. After he’d completed the exercise, he expected Buffett to recommend he focus on the top 5 and spread the remaining 20 in between. But he didn’t. Buffett told him to avoid the bottom 20 at all cost, for they’d only get in the way of his biggest dreams.

Whether what you want to learn is something you hope will change your career or just a passionate hobby, the same logic applies. Don’t focus on what’s “kind of interesting” and don’t try to learn multiple new things at the same time. All-in. Whatever you learn next should be the thing you’re most excited about right now.

This doesn’t guarantee you’ll stay motivated, but it sure maximizes the chances. The first few hours of learning are always the most brutal, because you’re instantly confronted with the fact that, as a beginner, you suck. So the more fun you can have with it, the better.

I like Josh’s sixth principle, because it addresses an issue few people talk about when wanting to learn new things: irrational obstacles. When planning practice sessions, it’s easy to imagine and anticipate practical problems, like a distracting phone, a long drive to the gym, etc. But the biggest preventer of progress are the sessions you don’t start at all, because you’re afraid of failing, looking bad in front of others, and so on.

When Josh started windsurfing, he was worried about drowning and hypothermia, so he always brought someone along to watch him and bought a really good wetsuit. But he was also fretting about not having been in the water forever. Besides making a list of potential distractions and taking measures to prevent those, think about your fears, doubts, and other beliefs that might hold you back.

Why do you have them? When did you develop them? Do you really think they’re true? Doubt your own doubts, so you can start learning with the enthusiasm of a child.

When I began to practice writing, I wrote whenever inspiration struck. I had a few initial ideas, but then, my imagination quickly “dried up.” Except that’s not how it works. As long as you sit down and start thinking, you’ll always come up with something. It was only six months later that I set…