The Zack Arnold Podcast

How to Master the Metaskill of 'Ultralearning' | with Scott Young


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Scott Young is the author of the soon-to-be bestselling book UltralearningHe’s also a writer & blogger, a programmer, traveler, and as he puts it, “an avid reader of interesting things.” For the last ten years Scott has been experimenting to find out how to learn and think better. He is known for learning the 4 year curriculum at MIT (one of the toughest schools for science and technology in the world) in under 12 months without taking any classes there, he’s traveled the world and at one point challenged himself to go a year without English and in the process learned four languages in that year: Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, and Korean.

Needless to say, Scott knows a thing or two about undertaking incredibly difficult learning challenges. And in our conversation Scott and I discuss the principles he outlines in his new book Ultralearning that you can follow to develop and master this skill and thus become better (and more effective) at learning just about anything you want or need to in order to achieve your most important goals.

In today’s freelance economy where knowledge is a ubiquitous commoddity and employees are essentially disposable and replaceable within days, there is perhaps no more important skill than having the ability to learn new things quickly to adapt to the ever changing technology and landscape we face every single day. And that skill is ULTRALEARNING.

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Here’s What You’ll Learn:
  • How Scott’s difficulty with learning led him to become an ultralearner
  • The method that you choose to learn with will change yours results
  • Pushing your learning bubble of comfort
  • What beliefs do you have that re keeping you from chasing your goals?
  • Approaching meta-learning concepts for the first time
  • Mapping out how you are going to learn a new skill rather than approaching it cold
  • The path towards the same goal is different for different people
  • Placing yourself in a position with an invaluable skill, so that you have a say in how you are paid, and what your time is worth
Useful Resources Mentioned:

ScottthYoung.com

Scott’s Blog

Ultralearning

Our Generous Sponsors:

This episode is made possible for you by Ergodriven, the makers of the Topo Mat, my #1 recommendation for anyone who stands at their workstation. The Topo is super comfortable, an awesome conversation starter, and it’s also scientifically proven to help you move more throughout the day which helps reduce discomfort and also increase your focus and productivity. Click here to learn more and get your Topo Mat.

Guest Bio:

Instagram|Twitter|Facebook

Scott is a writer, programmer, traveler and avid reader of interesting things. For the last ten years he’s been experimenting to find out how to learn and think better.

He rose to autodidact stardom when he learned MIT’s 4-year computer science curriculum in less than twelve months. Next, he taught himself four new languages in a year. Such extreme self- improvement projects may seem outside the realm of most of our capabilities, but Young believes that the principles and methods that he and other ultralearners employ are essential tools for anyone who wants a competitive edge in the fast-changing, aggressive workplace. In ULTRALEARNING: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career, Young reveals how basic strategies that he and other ultralearners embrace can give anyone the edge in organizing and executing a plan to learn something new deeply and quickly—and without teachers or tuition.

Show Credits:

This episode was edited by Curtis Fritsch, and the show notes were prepared and published by Elyse Rintelman. The original music in the opening and closing of the show is courtesy of Joe Trapanese (who is quite possibly one of the most talented composers on the face of the planet).

Note: I believe in 100% transparency, so please note that I receive a small commission if you purchase products from some of the links on this page (at no additional cost to you). Your support is what helps keep this program alive. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.



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The Zack Arnold PodcastBy Zack Arnold

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