Consistency isn't enough to learn a skill.

written by JOSH GESSNER | The Curious Competitor

Hot Take: Consistency isn't enough to learn a skill.

Here's my 3 part theory:

Most people have multiple areas they want to improve:

Career, side hustles, passions.

And so we spend time on all of them.

This is exactly what I did in 2022:

I had just undergone surgery on a herniated disk in my back.

I couldn't play baseball - so I had time for my interests and passions.

I created a daily schedule, delegating time to all:

Wake up, go for a walk to Starbucks while listening to a Pimsleur Spanish lesson.

At the coffee shop, learn the stock market and trading.

After rehab, continue my course for learning Python.

Read personal development until I went to sleep...

Looking back, my intentions were good - but there was way too much going on.

I was trying to get good at 5 things at once.

I didn't realize the issue until a year later:

I was under the impression that consistency = success.

"If I spend 30min/day on learning something, within a couple months I'll be pretty good at it"

Especially after reading Atomic Habits - I was all in being consistent.

The issue became clear after a couple months:

I made progress with all of these skills - but not as much as I hoped.

I could understand some Spanish, but couldn't speak it.

I built simple coding projects, but had trouble with intermediate level tasks.

A year later, I found out the reason why.

I was scrolling Youtube when I came across a concept from @dickiebush:

Immersion over Consistency.

In 2023 Dickie tried learning 2 skills - Sales, and DJing.

He approached learning sales with complete immersion:

• Read 6 sales books

• 2 Sales courses

• 50 sales calls

In the span of 4 weeks.

He approached DJing with consistency.

He committed to 1-1 coaching every Friday for a couple months.

The difference was night and day.

He gained proficiency in sales, while making minimal progress with DJing.

When you choose one thing to obsess about (immersion):

You make rapid, dramatic improvements.

This ties into how @naval thinks about becoming great:

"Pick one desire, and one desire only. The universe will help you get it. Let go of everything else."

“The universe is rigged in such a way that if you just want one thing and you focus on that, you will get it. But everything else, you got to let go.”

Obsession is the ultimate competitive advantage.

When you obsess, you place all of your focus into a singular goal.

You allow your mind think, solve and obsess about it - even when you're doing unrelated tasks.

This is what some call Incubation Theory:

Incubation Theory is when you step away from a problem and engage in unrelated activities.

This allows the mind to create ideas and solutions subconsciously.

• 'Aha' moments

• Sudden insights

• Shower Thoughts

Often occur during the incubation period.

I came across this from @thesamparr.

He describes how he uses incubation as a part of his writing process:

A method he learned from the best writers in the world.

To gain the full effect of this process, you need immersion. Not 30 mins a day.

Immersion creates an environment where you're thinking about a single thing for every sencond of the day:

Consciously, and subconsciously.

As I shifted my mentality from:

'Put in 30-60 min everyday'

to

'Obsess over one thing and learn as much as I can for a period of time':

I was able to rapidly learn and make break throughs.

3 part theory:

1) Pick 1 thing to obsess about. Forget everything else - for now.

2) Allow your brain to incubate.

3) Conscious and subconscious focus on 1 thing leads to the most progress.