The difference between where you are and where you want to be is a lack of knowledge and skillset.

So how do you learn the fastest?

Throughout my entire life, I have grappled with this question. At age 3 I learned to read and from that day explored various domains like geography, music, mathematics, biology, languages, psychology, and so forth, while amassing top grades from elementary school to bachelor's. In my adult years, I continued with this obsession with learning, listening to audiobooks 5-6 hours a day while being adamant about advancing important skills and improving my life. After all, you must apply what you have learned or it is wasted.

Based on my 21-year exploration of our learning ability, plus books and courses like Ultralearning, Peak, Rapid learning, and Zero to Dangerous, here is what I have learned about learning:

Be totally present (focus and relax)

According to the fantastic online course Zero To Dangerous, you will learn new information and skills 5-30 times faster by being in the flow state. Indeed, modern neuroscience suggests we open up neuroplasticity (learning) by deliberate focus and higher energy levels. Only then does the wonderful combo of norepinephrine and two places of acetylcholine occur, rewiring your brain. In addition, total relaxation enables new pathways to be consolidated and established.

By being totally present, you can enter the flow state super-fast (here is how) and get deep rest, thus being the best for learning. From my 20 years of experience, I can warmly recommend Transcendental Meditation after your learning session.

Errors and failures are your best friends

Modern neuroscience suggests we must make lots of errors in order to pay attention to what needs to improve. If you never fail, you will never learn. Therefore, whenever you want to get better, try things out in public and fail as you go. Do not stop but always move forward. Errors and failures are the information you need to advance forward, making you personally antifragile.

Write things down and thoroughly explain them (active recall)

The fastest way to memorize information is by writing it down and explaining the concept as if you were lecturing on it. According to How To Become A Straight-A Student (affiliate link) you only need to do it once for it to stay forever.

As Elon Musk (an extremely rapid learner) says, you need to construct a tree of knowledge from first principles. Understanding something to the core requires a firm grasp of the bottom layer and ground up. Instead of memorizing it, understand it. Learn more about writing things down here.

Follow your curiosity as your life depended on it

According to Naval Ravikant, you gain specific knowledge by following your interests. Moreover, this specific knowledge will make you irreplaceable, valuable, and thus extremely wealthy. Plus that you will have the motivation and fortitude to continue because you intrinsically like it.

So apply what you have learned here and your life will never be the same again!