WEBVTT - Second Cup: Understand your learning curve

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is that learning is not a linear process.

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<v Speaker 1>With many skills, there is a long slow start before

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<v Speaker 1>a rapid acceleration. As you learn anything new, you have

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<v Speaker 1>to hang on for that early climb. Today's tip, like

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<v Speaker 1>another one this week, comes from Whitney Johnson's new book

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<v Speaker 1>Smart Growth. In this book, Whitney explores how people learn

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<v Speaker 1>and change and achieve their goals. One of her key

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<v Speaker 1>images is the S curve. Now, don't think of an

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<v Speaker 1>S like you type a capital S or write one

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<v Speaker 1>with the two curves sitting on top of each other. Instead,

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<v Speaker 1>imagine it as a bit more stretched out and turned

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<v Speaker 1>a bit on its side. The slope of the first

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<v Speaker 1>stretch is low, but then there is a point of

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<v Speaker 1>acceleration where the slope increases until it levels out at

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<v Speaker 1>some other point. Whitney tells us that this S curve

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<v Speaker 1>represents how we learn. There is a long slow start

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<v Speaker 1>before a rapid acceleration of skill acquisition. Eventually there is

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<v Speaker 1>mastery with incremental gains, but that's a long way in

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<v Speaker 1>the future. Knowing what this curve looks like can keep

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<v Speaker 1>us motivated as we go. I can see that these

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<v Speaker 1>days with my fourth grade daughter, who is learning to

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<v Speaker 1>play the trumpet. Her school offers lessons, so she decided

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<v Speaker 1>to give it a try. Let's just say it has

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<v Speaker 1>not been easy. Learning to play the trumpet involves learning

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<v Speaker 1>how to shape your mouth and blow air in a

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<v Speaker 1>certain way. You have to figure out that part before

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<v Speaker 1>you even get around to playing the notes you are

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<v Speaker 1>aiming for and then playing them in the right order

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<v Speaker 1>for any given song. It took a long time before

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<v Speaker 1>she got a real trumpet sound. It then took longer

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<v Speaker 1>before she could play recognizable sequences of notes. Then finally,

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<v Speaker 1>right before Christmas, she managed to play something that truly

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<v Speaker 1>sounded like jingle bells. It was a proud moment. She

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<v Speaker 1>also told me that while she didn't think she was

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<v Speaker 1>particularly good at the trumpet at this point, she was

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<v Speaker 1>also making swifter progress than some of her bandmates who

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<v Speaker 1>were perhaps not practicing as much. We talked about why

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<v Speaker 1>that might be, and hit upon the rather understandable reason

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<v Speaker 1>that it is not rewarding to practice when you aren't

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<v Speaker 1>making music yet and honestly aren't really making much of

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<v Speaker 1>a sound beyond that of air rushing through your lips,

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<v Speaker 1>So people stay at the bottom of the S curve.

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<v Speaker 1>There is progress, but it is barely perceptible and possibly

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<v Speaker 1>not so pleasant. It is hard to see that you

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<v Speaker 1>might only be a dozen hours or so of practice

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<v Speaker 1>from jingle bells, and then once you get through jingle bells,

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<v Speaker 1>you can learn many more pieces. You can play real melodies,

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<v Speaker 1>so you want to play more, and when you want

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<v Speaker 1>to play more, you do play more, and then you

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<v Speaker 1>really start rising up the steep part of the S curve. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>there are many things in life that we won't bother

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<v Speaker 1>with the S curve. One way or the other. I

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<v Speaker 1>cannot play the trumpet, and I am pretty sure I

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<v Speaker 1>will go to my grave not knowing how to play

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<v Speaker 1>the trumpet. But if there is something you want to learn,

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<v Speaker 1>then it is probably wise to take Whitney's advice in

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<v Speaker 1>Smart Growth about paying attention to the S curve. Understanding

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<v Speaker 1>when you are in the flat lower part can give

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<v Speaker 1>you the motivation to just keep pushing through. There is

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<v Speaker 1>a rapid phase coming, It just takes a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>to get there. In the meantime, this is Laura, Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening and here's to making the most of our time.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can

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<v Speaker 1>send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just

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<v Speaker 1>connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before

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<v Speaker 1>Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four, then Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>p o D. You can also shoot me an email

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<v Speaker 1>at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com

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<v Speaker 1>that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For

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